At a small wedding I attended this summer on Martha's Vineyard, the bride's prelude music included Miles Davis's classic recording of Someday My Prince Will Come. It was her “something blue.” The choice was as perfect as it was unconventional, reflecting the couple's passion for jazz and broadcasting the message that, on this most important of days, every detail, including the music, had significance.
The music in your ceremony says as much about you as your choice of location, dress, flowers, and vows. If you are planning an informal wedding, the possibilities are limitless. You can be married to anything from a reggae band performing Bob Marley's Is This Love? to Frank Sinatra standards. (His version of Cole Porter's Night and Day, from The Very Good Years on Reprise, has surprising impact in the context of nuptial vows.) If your wedding will be formal, bold musical expressions are probably best relegated to the reception.
Early in your wedding planning you should discuss the music options with your cleric, the church organist or music director, or with the wedding officiant at any other venue. Religious establishments may impose restrictions. Learn what, if any, the repertoire or performance restrictions are, discuss the mood you want the music to create, and get suggestions and advice from experts.
Once you know what type of music you want for your ceremony, you must decide which songs will be performed and who will perform them. Popular wedding music is usually available in arrangements for a wide variety of instrumentation. To create a sense of majesty and grandeur, you might want the combination of trumpet and organ. For a more enchanting quality, choose a flute-and-harp duo, and for an intimate wedding, the charm of a string quartet. And never underestimate the power of simplicity: A solo cellist can produce achingly beautiful music.
This is the time to consider your budget. A church organist will cost about $150, a harpist $275, and a string quartet around $600. A small orchestra will perform for about $2,000. The number of musicians, the complexity of the music, and the level of professional experience of the ensemble will dictate cost, and of course, prices vary regionally.
Music for a traditional wedding ceremony, whether it will be held in a church, club, hotel, or house, is generally thought of in four “courses:” prelude, processional, ceremony, and recessional. The prelude is the music that is played as guests arrive, greet one another, and are seated. A period of thirty minutes is usually allocated for this course. It is a good idea to have your musicians begin playing fifteen minutes prior to the time the ceremony is scheduled to begin, so that music will welcome all guests, whether they arrive a few minutes early or late. The classic choice for the prelude is Bach's Jesu, Joy of Man's Desiring, as well as selections from Handel's Water Music, Mozart's Ave Verum Corpus, and Schubert's Serenade. The prelude music will set the tone for the entire wedding. For a joyous atmosphere, a popular choice is the Allegro from Bach's Brandenburg Concerto No. 4. To underscore the more solemn aspects of the occasion, you might prefer Bach's beautiful Air on the G String. Less common and equally appropriate choices for the prelude range from the Adagio from Albinoni's Oboe Concerto in D Minor, Op. 9, No. 2, to selections from Bach's Lute Suites.
Once guests are seated and the bridal party is ready to enter, the processional music begins. The processional First accompanies the bridal party on its walk down the aisle, and then, often after a brief pause and change of music, presents the bride. Pachelbel's Canon in D Major has been performed during the processsional at thousands of beautiful weddings and will be used for thousands more-and it may be your choice-but there are countless other options. Among the most attractive are Clarke's Trumpet Voluntary (The Prince of Denmark's March ), Stanley's Trumpet Voluntary, Purcell's Trumpet Tune in C, and Charpentier's Prelude to his Te Deum (though none will ever be more popular than Wagner's Wedding March from Lohengrin, the signature wedding processional). Ritual plays a big part in all of this, so don't hesitate to embrace tradition if that feels right. If you want something equally respectful of tradition but a bit less obvious, some excellent choices include Marcello's Psalm 19(The Heavens Declare the Glory of God) and Campra's Rigaudon, from his baroque opera Idomenée.
Music during the ceremony is optional, but it will add something momentous ro the proceedings. It will be the most pronounced of all, since it will be less an accompaniment than an element of the ceremony itself. Consider the nature of your vows (Are they traditional or original? Do they borrow from writers or poets), and then decide if the musical reinforcement should be in the province of a Bach cantata, a popular selection such as Annie's Song, the beloved hymn Amazing Grace, or something else entirely. Among the most popular classical pieces for the wedding ceremony are Schubert's Ave Maria, Bach's Arioso, Franck's Panis Angelicus, and Fauré's exquisite Sanctus. The ceremony is where popular music (if allowed) can fit best. Favorite secular pieces include The Wedding Song; One Hand, One Heart, and Evergreen. A lovely, more contemporary choice is Angel Eyes by pianist-songwriter Jim Brickman.
Once you have been pronounced husband and wife, music must communicate the celebratory mood as you sweep back up the aisle. Many pieces used as processionals can also double as recessionals (though the latter are often a bit more up-tempo). Among the popular choices are Mendelssohn's triumphant Wedding March, the hornpipe section from Handel's Water Music, the first movement of Bach's Brandenburg Concerto No. 1, and Walton's Coronation March (Crown Imperial). Other excellent choices include Telemann's Air de Trompette and Handel's Arrival of the Queen of Sheba. Plan to have recessiona music played until all guests have exited. If you have a receiving line at the ceremony, music should continue throughout.
A number of excellent resources ar available for the planning of the music for your wedding ceremony. Among then are materials published by the Americal Guild of Organists (specifically, a variety of tapes and a bridal guide with an extensive section on music).
There are also various companies involved exclusively in contracting music ensembles for weddings. Among the most reputable is Sterling Music Ensembles in New York City. The Los Angeles-based Classic Music Ensembles draws from a pool of the finest professional musician in Southern California, and for more than twenty-five years has been providing music for everything from intimate weddings to high-profile celebrity events. Both of the above will supply upon request, a cassette of their ensem bles and most popular repertoire choices. Your wedding consultant or officiant can point you toward musicians in your area. Finally, there are many wedding- music CDs, which offer an easy way to survey a range of selections. Among the best available are those issued on the Angel, London, and Sony Music labels.
The modern wedding invites a bride and groom to celebrate the personal while honoring the traditional. Tak~ the same care in choosing your music as you do in choosing your vows, and your wedding will be as distinctive as the union it celebrates.
—Laraine Perri
