Selecting Music for your Wedding Ceremony
by Alla Brevé

The process of choosing the music for your wedding day is an enjoyable and rewarding one. It is an opportunity for you to tailor the experience to reflect your own personal tastes and preferences. Time-honored traditions can be varied or combined with original ideas to help provide cherished memories that are uniquely your own.

The amount of flexibility you have in making decisions is largely dependent on two factors: the location of your wedding and the versatility of the musicians you hire. If you are to be married in a church or other religious setting, there may be certain restrictions on the type of music that can be played. Some churches also have policies regarding the use of resident musicians, especially the church organist. Keep in mind that while you may be encouraged to use church musicians, the final decision is usually up to you. If you are being married in a location such as a hotel function room or garden setting, you will be less likely to face restrictions on your selections, but there may be stipulations regarding amplification of the music or the size of the group. Be sure that you have spoken with the officiant and to a representative of the establishment where the wedding is to take place to determine what limitations there are, if any.

Regarding the versatility of the musician(s), be sure to speak with anyone you are considering hiring about their experience and repertoire to make sure they can provide the music you may want. Some musicians will specialize only in classical music which is fine if that’s all you want but may be limiting if you want to consider music from other eras. Others may be very versatile but not have the quality that you are looking for. You need to hear the demo recordings of those you are considering and make up a short list based on what you hear. Be sure to ask questions! Good professional wedding musicians will always be happy to work with you to help you make final decisions as to the details of the wedding music. There are a wide variety of options. An experienced musician will have an extensive repertoire and will be glad to tailor the music choices to help create the atmosphere you want. The most common music elements of a ceremony are listed below.

a Prelude Music

To begin with, the musicians are often called upon to provide tasteful background music - "prelude music" - to accompany the seating of guests. Normally this comprises an appropriate selection of melodies from the classical repertoire but can certainly be customized to include any favorites that you may request and, for that matter, may include no classical music at all. This prelude music typically begins 15 to 20 minutes before the actual start of the ceremony so it's good to keep this in mind when you plan the duration of the booking time for the musicians. Often an hour of booking time is the musician’s minimum booking time anyway and this is usually just right for prelude and an average length ceremony.

a Processional Music

Next, is the processional music, which heralds the beginning of the ceremony. You will wish to consider whether you would like to have a separate selection for the arrival and seating of the mothers of the bride and groom, as is often done. Depending on the size of your wedding party, there also may be a separate selection for the wedding party as they walk down the aisle, and then a further different selection - the "processional" - as the bride walks down the aisle. Please keep in mind that it’s good to discuss cues for the musicians so that they know when to begin each piece of music for each stage of the processional. The musicians need to know a cue for when to begin the first piece (i.e. could be when the minister takes his or her place at the front of the room etc), when to start the second piece (i.e. after mothers are seated), and when to start the bride's piece (i.e. after six bridesmaids and a flower girl come down and the runner is laid out).

There is no requirement that you chose multiple pieces for the processional. Some people prefer a simpler format. In the case of smaller weddings or where the "aisle" itself is short or non-existent, it may not make sense to have different selections. A lot of different pieces of short duration could result in an undesirably rushed feel to the ceremony. Many people prefer to have one special selection to announce the arrival of the bride (including wedding party and/or escort) and smoothly accompany her procession to the point at which the officiant takes over. Again, the musicians will require a cue to begin the processional music. Sometimes it is best if a third party is available to discreetly approach the musicians and cue them without disturbing the flow of the performance.

a Music in the main part of the ceremony

You may also wish to include music in the main part of your ceremony. This could coincide with standard points in the church service at which there is typically music. Or, it may accompany a candle-lighting ceremony or period of reflection. Some couples simply wish to highlight a song that holds special meaning for them or include a featured piece in remembrance of absent loved ones. Then again, having no music during the main part of the ceremony is also very common.

a Recessional

The final phase of the ceremony music is the recessional, which occurs at the completion of the ceremony and accompanies the bride and the wedding party as they return down the aisle. This music (and further selections if needed) can continue as long as it takes most of the guests leave the room. The music choices here are usually festive in nature.

Those planning music for a wedding should ask the musicians for a song/ repertoire list and a demo CD as an aid to making the specific choices for the different points in the ceremony. Sometimes a phone conference is helpful so that the musician can make suggestions based on their experience of what works well in a given environment and/or type of ceremony. It may also be helpful to obtain a recording of wedding music from the library or a music store to give you an even wider range of possibilities. Even if these songs do not appear on your musician's list, professionals can learn new music with no trouble if you provide them with the sheet music and/or a recording and give a reasonable amount of notice. Whether or not there is an extra charge for this may vary between different vendors. In a case in which a special request requires extra time to learn because of its complexity and/or because there is no available sheet music, the likelihood is that there would be an extra charge.

Hopefully the above explanation will prove helpful. Any experienced ceremony musician will be very glad to consult with you on how to integrate your music choices and ceremony design and help you achieve just the right musical ambience for your special day.

Alla Brevé