Ideas for Choosing Your Ceremony Music
The Music for a Wedding Ceremony
The music for a wedding ceremony is usually quite different than the music for the reception. Generally, ceremony music will consist of classical selections and other slow, meaningful pieces while reception music is a bit more buoyant and danceable. Also, your ceremony musician(s) are possibly different than your reception musician(s), especially if you are having a church service. Organ, piano, violin, bag-pipe, or harp may speak to the solemnity of the ceremony while a band or DJ can play more exuberant numbers after the vows have been exchanged and all are ready to dance the night away.
You always have great leeway in choosing your ceremony music, however, there are some standard pieces that are very common for the various parts of the ceremony. If you have already picked your musical talent for your wedding ceremony, they will be able to both help you choose which pieces are played when and have samples for you to listen to. If you don't know what type of music you want, search for "listen free wedding music" on the internet. You can listen to many abbreviated works to help put together your list. Then you can have your chosen musician or church organist work with that list.
For the purpose of musical selections, there are 6 parts of a ceremony that each have their own type of music. They are: the prelude, the processional, the bride's processional, the interlude, the recessional and the postlude. Here are some commonly performed works for each section.
The Prelude - Sunrise Sunset from Fiddler on the Roof or a ragtime selection by Scott Joplin or Moon River from Breakfast at Tiffany's
The Processional - Canon in D by Pachelbel or a portion of Vivaldi's The Four Seasons or Jesu Joy of Man's Desiring by J.S. Bach
The Bride's Processional - The Bridal Chorus from Lohengrin (aka Here Comes the Bride) by Wagner or Trumpet Voluntary - Jeremiah Clarke
The Interlude - Ave Maria by Shubert or Edelweiss from the Sound of Music by Rodgers and Hammerstein or Flower Duet from Lakme by Delibes (use instrumentals)
The Recessional - Wedding March from Midsummer Night's Dream by Mendelssohn or Beethoven's Ode to Joy Chorus from the Ninth Symphony
The Postlude - similar selections to the Prelude
Read our article on the wedding ceremony and then take a look at other articles that may interest you as you plan your wedding (see at right).