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What questions do you have about wedding music?
I know what questions have been asked by many other couples in your shoes. Some of these might also be questions you have.
With some help from other musicians and some clergy, I assembled a lot of these wedding music related questions into an FAQ document. The questions come from our combined experience over the years with countless weddings and questions readers like you sent in.
These assembled questions and answers are all included with my Guide to Selecting Memorable Church Wedding Music.
I want to share a few of them with you since they may be questions you also have! And if so, I hope they help you make your plans. This is another way I’m trying to help you prepare for your wedding day!
I had to shorten the answers quite a bit to make room so I could squeeze more questions in. I hope you understand. The FAQ document that comes with the Guide has more complete answers and actually includes 14 pages worth of Q&A!
Wedding music questions and answers
1. Can I play the service music from my iPod?
There’s something unique and special about live performance; it just sounds more authentic. It has a meaning that recordings just cannot have. And authentic will translate into more memorable for you.
In a church, being authentic is actually important because music performances are not supposed to be entertainment but worshipful. But there’s still a more practical consideration: many churches simply don’t have sound systems capable of adequately projecting the sound. No non-professional portable sound system will be able to fill a large open space with sound.
2. Why do we have to pay the organist and pastor for the wedding service? Don’t they get paid by the church?
In many cases, weddings are not included in their salaries!
3. What instruments can I have play?
There’s no “right” or “wrong” instruments. It completely depends on the church. But some churches are better suited than others for certain instruments.
From a policy perspective, however, it’s usually the music itself, not the instrument that will make something acceptable or not acceptable. You really need to ask the church.
4. Aren’t there any good wedding music choices other than the Canon in D, etc.?
There are plenty! Choose appropriate music that you want to use to express your joy, not what is popular or what others tell you would be the perfect piece.
5. Why wouldn’t my church let me use Wagner’s Bridal Chorus (“Here Comes the Bride”)? Isn’t this the perfect wedding song?
It’s actually not the perfect wedding song, despite what Hollywood seems to think. Many churches will absolutely not allow this piece.
It has a secular, theatrical (operatic) history having nothing to do with worship. In the opera, it describes the bride’s trip to the bedroom, not the altar! Interestingly, the marriage fails. In addition, Wagner’s anti-Semitic reputation makes it inappropriate.
6. Why can’t we use our favorite (love) song?
Most love songs are focused on romantic love rather than the type of love that a church holds up as an example. For a lot more about this (which isn’t a music-related topic), ask your pastor or minister.
7. Can my soloist sing using a CD as the accompaniment?
Sometimes this can be a necessity, but often recorded music loses its personality when played back as a “live” performance. Just as with using an iPod for music playback, you’re also likely to discover that you can’t get the volume and clarity you’ll need with most church’s audio systems.
8. Do I have to use the church’s organist?
Not necessarily. But you should check with the church to see what their policies are. The organ is a very expensive musical instrument and playing one is unlike any other keyboard instrument. So churches often will be careful about who gets to play.
Now it’s your turn
Were these helpful? What other questions do you have? I’d love to hear your thoughts.
© 2010, Wedding Music Unveiled. All rights reserved.
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