Bevlyn’s Thoughts: When I See You Smile
I’d long heard of Joe Augustin when he was reigning the air waves, but today, I had the rare opportunity to witness ‘live’ for myself the wits, intelligence, control and professionalism of this wonderful man when he took on the role of emcee for Germaine and James’ wedding. With him stringing the items together, everything was seamless.
James and Germaine had their solemnisation in the garden one level below the banquet hall, and while doing our rehearsal in the hall, we were simultaneously soaked in the worship songs performed by the couple’s talented church friends! It occurred to me that music has been used for celebrations since….the start of times (maybe it all started with random bangings first). Immediately after the solemnisation, the sound system was moved into the banquet hall and set up in lightning speed as the banquet was due to start in 45minutes’ time. Honestly all these would not have been accomplished without the great assistance by Germaine and James’ church friends!
With ZQ’s vocals on “It Had To Be You”, we all welcomed James and Germaine to join us in the ballroom. The evening kicked off well with a system in place – guests born before 1965 (and young children) were invited to make the first lines at the buffet spread. I took on the bossa nova number “So Nice” to signal the start of the buffet, and it didn’t take too long before everyone was bustling around with delicacies on their plates.
As everyone was having a fun and relaxing time, I wasn’t surprised when some of the couples’ church friends decided to do a spontaneous performance. With a friend on ukulele, Brendon and Cheryl performed a worship song, followed by the laughter-inducing “I’m Yours” with their concoction of lyrics. Not to be missed out too were the speeches; while Germaine’s cousin reminisced on their growing-up years, Germaine’s best friend held strong to the ‘code of sisterhood’ when Joe tried to pry into the ‘ex-boyfriend’ topic. And strangely, James’ good friend Adrian, unlike most best men, was very generous with praises and accolades for James. I decided that the couple must be really really really very nice people. And it is moments like this, I think, which constitute the personal touches at any wedding. 🙂
Before anyone even thought about it, the couple made it known that the party was far from ending; in fact it was to be continued down the beach, for anyone keen to join them for more booze. Wow!
And I finally solved the mystery of finding James very familiar-looking – he used to be in the same faculty as moi in NUS. Inconsequential, but I was very happy to not be mind-boggled by the unknown! I was also happy to see amongst the guests, couples whom we had sung at their weddings: Peifen and Ed (with their 1-year old daughter!) and Candice and Keat. I know Hsin Yeow was beating himself upside down for not being available to sing at this wedding, but it really couldn’t be helped with his schedule. It was also a pleasant surprise to bump into Eadwine and Sam, who were the photographer and videographer respectively, for the wedding in the opposite saloon haha. I love chance meetings!
Thank you James and Germaine, we had an excellent time performing to your warm guests, and we love your song choices. Here’s wishing you many many more years filled with sweet joy and happiness. Congratulations!!
Band: Bevlyn, Zhengquan, Feri, Matthew
Repertoire:
It Had To Be You, So Nice, Can’t Help Falling In Love, Fallen, Quizas Quizas Quizas, Bubbly, Collide, Kiss Me, Here There and Everywhere, 月亮代表我的心 (The Moon Represents My Heart), Way Back Into Love
La Vie En Rose, Head Over Feet, When I See You Smile, Sway, Love Of A Lifetime, Sympathique, Save The Last Dance For Me, 夜来香 (Fragrance In The Night), Something Stupid
Songs to Recommend:
When I See You Smile by Bad English – There is very good reason why the guests clapped enthusiastically after ZQ finished this song, it really is a very beautiful song! I love the piano riff!
Compliments from Germaine and James:
“We also engaged A Little Dream for a little light music during the dinner. I’ve seen them perform at at least four other weddings prior to ours, but they never get old. We gave them a songlist of evergreen songs as well as more current ones, ensuring that all our guests would enjoy the music. Bevlyn’s vocals in particular were excellent.”
