Wedding Music Unveiled » Music Ideas

More Wedding Music Samples

dave — Mon, 10 Jan 2011 11:00:16 +0000

If you’re feeling overwhelmed by the wedding ceremony music planning you need to do, maybe you need some wedding music samples!

You’ve got so many decisions to make planning your wedding. Sometimes, you need a little help or inspiration. Sometimes that can be nothing more than seeing what others have done.

Here are sample wedding ceremony music listings. Maybe these examples will help you get past any feelings of being overwhelmed.

Ideas and inspiration from wedding music samples

These wedding ceremony samples are all from real-world weddings.

Regardless whose wedding they were for, how much (or how little) planning went into them, or how the pieces were selected, they are couples’ best efforts to put together meaningful ceremony music.

Don’t copy…seek inspiration

Don’t just copy them…that defeats the entire purpose!

Instead, look them over, listen to the music and find inspiration in them. Then make choices about what you like from amongst the many music selections you have in front of you!

++ Example Ceremony 1 ++

Processional: Debussy: Claire de lune

Hymn: “O Father All Creating”

Recessional: Bach: “Jesu, Joy of Man’s Desiring”

++ Example Ceremony 2 ++

Prelude: Purifoy: Hyfrydol

Processional: Handel: Largo from Xerxes

Hymns:

“Of the Father’s Love Begotten”
“Lord, When You Came as Welcome Guest”

Recessional: Purcell: Trumpet Voluntary

++ Example Ceremony 3 ++

Prelude: Telemann: The Heroic Music

Processionals:

(bridal party) Bach: “Liebster Jesu, wir sind Hier” (“Dearest Jesus, We Are Here”)
(bridal) Reger: “Nun Danket alle Gott” (“Now Thank We All Our God”)

Hymns:

“The Church’s One Foundation”
“Joyful, Joyful, We Adore Thee”

Recessional: Handel: The Trumpet Shall Sound

If this is helpful to you, you’ll want to check out Wedding Music Unveiled’s Guide to Selecting Memorable Church Wedding Music. It includes over 30 pages of sample wedding ceremonies as a bonus document!

Share yours

What wedding music samples do you have to add? Help inspire others!

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More Combinations of Wedding Processional Songs

dave — Mon, 27 Dec 2010 11:00:32 +0000

My gift to you: A few great wedding processional song combination ideas.

A majority of couples these days have two wedding processional songs: one for the bridal party (or sometimes the wedding party) and one for the bride herself.

When a couple chooses this direction, they have to find two pieces of music that go together well in a complementary way (because the pieces are played back-to-back). I doubt too many couples would want two pieces of music that clash.

I like to help couples plan their wedding music, especially when they have little experience with classical music and more especially because of this, they as a result feel a little unsure of themselves.

Combinations of wedding processional songs

Here is a handful of pairings of pieces that I believe work well together as wedding processionals:

Telemann: Grazioso and Brahms: St. Anthony’s Chorale
Charpentier: Prelude to the Te Deum and Telemann: Grazioso
Campra: Rigaudon and Bach: Wachet Auf
Telemann: Grazioso and Handel: March from Occasional Oratorio
Stanley: Trumpet Voluntary in D and Boyce: Trumpet Voluntary (Largo Andante)
Bach: “Sheep May Safely Graze” and Boyce: Trumpet Voluntary (Largo Andante)

Or make your combinations of wedding processional songs

Feel free to use any of these for yourself. Or better yet, try to put some of your own choices together to see how they sound. Remember, it’s all about expressing joy “in your own words”.

Where to get more help

If you need music ideas to choose from, just like these, my Guide to Selecting Memorable Church Wedding Music e-book contains hundreds of music ideas (on top of all the great tips and our popular wedding music planning checklist)!

Or if you just need some help getting your wedding planning started, check out my Church Wedding Music 101 video “mini-course”. It’s free, and you can get immediate access with your email address below (or on the side of the page near the top or by following the link).

If you’ve heard any great pairings of wedding processional songs, I’d love to hear about them. It’s exciting to hear the results of other people’s creativity.

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Music Ideas for Christmas Weddings

dave — Thu, 04 Nov 2010 10:00:06 +0000

In an earlier article, I gave you some tips for incorporating a Christmas-time “flavor” to your wedding music. The point of the article was that it is definitely possible, but you want to make sure your wedding is actually close to Christmas and that you don’t go overboard.

You can check out that Christmas wedding music tips article here.

Now I have actual music ideas for you. These ideas below will work fine. They’re not too “Christmas-y” (some aren’t Christmas music at all—but they’ll fit in perfectly).

As I mentioned in the other article, I suggest keeping the Christmas “flavor” to the prelude (or pre-service) music and maybe the processional or recessional.

My Guide to Selecting Memorable Church Wedding Music includes links for every piece of music I could find a recording for. If these links are helpful to you, please check out the guide. I think you’ll find it extremely beneficial to you. I’ll also include links for most of these pieces in my next email newsletter.

Christmas-time wedding music ideas

Brahms: Es ist ein Ros’ entsprungen (or Lo, How a Rose E’er Bloometh)

Franck: Pastorale

Franck: Prelude, Fugue and Variation

Sowerby: Carillon

D’Aquin: Swiss Noel

D’Aquin: Noel Grand Jeu Et Duo

Vierne: Pastorale, from Organ Symphony #1

Vierne: Berceuse

Widor: Adagio from Organ Symphony #5

Widor: Adagio from Organ Symphony #6

Zipoli: Pastorale

Domenico Scarlatti: Pastorale

Eugene Thayer: Alla Pastorale

Processionals & recessionals

Here are a few processional and recessional pieces that aren’t Christmas music, but will work well close to Christmas. If you need more processional and recessional ideas, Wedding Music Unveiled has other articles with even more suggestions.

Processionals:

Brahms: Es ist ein Ros’ entsprungen (or Lo, How a Rose E’er Bloometh)

Telemann: Grazioso (full name is la Grace from Heroic Marches)

Handel: Air from Water Music Suite No. 1 in F

Vaughan Williams: Rhosymedre

Recessionals:

Purcell: Festival Rondeau from “Abdelazer”

Handel: Arrival of the Queen of Sheba

Anything else?

Know any other pieces that would be good for a Christmas-time wedding? Leave a comment and share with fellow readers. Your comments are always welcome and appreciated!

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Trumpet Voluntary Wedding Music

dave — Mon, 25 Oct 2010 10:00:59 +0000

Like Clarkeʼs Trumpet Voluntary but want something a little different?

Jeremiah Clarkeʼs Trumpet Voluntary in D (also known as “The Prince of Denmarkʼs March”) is a very well-known and commonly-used piece of wedding music.

What do you do if you like the style of the piece but donʼt want that piece? Maybe because itʼs too commonly-used or because itʼs just not quite right for your. Or maybe you want something a little more modern sounding?

As luck would have it, the trumpet voluntary is not just the name of a piece but itʼs also a style of music in which many pieces have been written! Even better for you, many of these other pieces make great choices for weddings!

Donʼt think you need to have a trumpet as an instrument in your ceremony in order to include trumpet voluntary wedding music. Most trumpet voluntaries sound exceptional when well-played on the organ.

Many can also even be played on other instruments. For example, Iʼve heard Clarkeʼs famous Trumpet Voluntary played on piano, flute, harp, and classical guitar all in addition to the usual instrumentation of organ or organ plus trumpet.

Here are alternatives for you to check out:

Henry Purcell: Trumpet Tune in D
Georg Frideric Handel: March from Occasional Oratorio
Craig Penfield: Trompette Jubilante
David N. Johnson: Trumpet Tune in D (heʼs written many similar pieces!)
David N. Johnson: Processional
Michael McCabe: Trumpet Tune
Mark Thewes: Festival Trumpet Tune in D
Jon Robert: Trumpet Tune in G
William Boyce: Trumpet Voluntary
David German: Trumpet Voluntary in D
Marc-Antione Charpentier: Prelude to the Te Deum
Jean-Joseph Mouret: Rondeau

Have any ideas or inspiration or other suggestions? Iʼd love to hear about it!

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Piano Recessional Music for Church Weddings

dave — Thu, 23 Sep 2010 10:00:34 +0000

Piano recessional music for a church wedding can be hard to find.

For whatever reason, it seems to be easy to find piano music for every other part of your wedding ceremony. But not always so for the recessional.

Let me give you some ideas in case you are also struggling like this because you’re using a piano for your church wedding ceremony.

Many people use an organ as their primary instrument, but pianos are frequently used too and since I don’t give out enough piano music ideas, I’ll try to make up for that here.

Your recessional music should be joyful

In case you need a reminder, your wedding recessional ought to be upbeat and exceedingly joyful. This is what you’ll be exiting the church to in the first moments of your marriage. See this article for more thoughts on selecting your recessional music.

It doesn’t matter whether the instrument playing your recessional is an organ, a piano or bagpipes. Whatever the instrument, you want to communicate exuberant joy in this piece of music.

Fortunately, even though a piano is often associated with softer music, it is quite up to the task of playing joyful, upbeat music.

Ideas for piano recessional music for weddings

Here are some piano recessional ideas for you. Many are arrangements of pieces you may already be familiar with:

Beethoven: An arrangement of the Ninth Symphony’s “Ode to Joy” theme
Gordon Young: Prelude in Classic Style (written for organ, but piano arrangements are available)
Marcello: Psalm 19 (The Heaven’s Declare the Glory of God) (written for organ, but piano arrangements are available)
Purcell: Trumpet Tune
Handel: Hornpipe from Water Music
Gossec: Gavotte
Handel: Hallelujah Chorus (from Messiah)
Mouret: Rondeau
Clarke: Trumpet Voluntary in D (Prince of Denmark’s March)

There’s plenty more out there

Obviously, this is not a complete list, just some ideas to get you started. Really, your choices are limited only by yours and your musician’s imagination and skill.

Want to hear these pieces? Search the iTunes Music Store or other online sources.

I included preview links for these ideas in the last Wedding Music Unveiled newsletter. Sign up today (see upper right corner of page or below) to not miss out in the future! You’ll also get immediate access to my free Church Wedding Music 101 videos.

What ideas do you have?

I hope you have some ideas or inspiration now to help you move forward. I’d love to hear about the music you select. Or if you’ve heard a fantastic piano recessional, please share it with us. Either way, a comment with your thoughts is most welcome.

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Church Hymns for Weddings

dave — Mon, 16 Aug 2010 10:00:00 +0000

This article is written by guest author Robert Cruz, pianist, organist and choir director. I appreciate him taking the time to write it for you!

Since a wedding ceremony in a church is first and foremost a worship service, it is very fitting to include hymns as part of your ceremony music.

Many wedding rites allow for the use of hymns at various points of the ceremony, often as the processional/recessional or interspersed with the readings. The lighting of the unity candle, if included in your wedding ceremony, is another appropriate point for a hymn.

Hymns can get guests involved

In more practical terms, a hymn offers a chance for the congregation, who in most wedding ceremonies are merely passive observers, to become involved in the ceremony.

By involving the congregation in this way, the communal aspect of Christian marriage is underscored: the man and woman who make their vows in a wedding ceremony are doing so in front of a local congregation that represents the entire Church on earth.

Watch out for this possible downside

But at the same time, remember that not everyone at most wedding services are members either of the congregation in which the service takes place or even of any church and so could be unfamiliar with even the concept of singing hymns.

The choice to include hymns in the service therefore ought to be made only after considering your guests’ backgrounds and comfort level with hymns. There is nothing worse than having no one sing when a hymn is played. If you determine that the majority of your guests would be comfortable in joining in singing a hymn (or two. . .or three. . .) then by all means include hymns in your service planning.

Other ways

But otherwise, you can still include hymns in your service either in an instrumental arrangement with the text printed in the bulletin to guide the congregation’s devotions or possibly as a vocal solo. If you choose the latter, consult with your church’s music director for possible arrangements of particular hymns which are far too numerous in both quantity and quality to list here.

Lots of hymn ideas

Below is a list of several hymns whose texts would be appropriate for weddings. This list is by no means exhaustive nor do all the hymns listed occur in every denomination’s hymnal (and often there can be slight differences in names).

Consult with the music director of the church you are being married in for more selections or for guidance in what hymns would be most appropriate for that particular setting.

Abide, O Dearest Jesus
All People That on Earth Do Dwell
Children of the Heavenly Father
Christ Be My Leader
Christ Is Our Cornerstone
Come, Thou Fount of Every Blessing
Forth in the Peace of Christ We Go
Forth in Thy Name, O Lord, I Go
Go, My Children, with My Blessing
Gracious Savior, Grant Your Blessing
Great Is Thy Faithfulness
Guide Me, O Thou Great Jehovah/Redeemer
How Firm a Foundation
I Bind unto Myself Today
In Thee Is Gladness
Jesus, Lead Thou On
Jesus, Thy Boundless Love to Me
Let Us Ever Walk with Jesus
Lord, Help Us Walk Your Servant Way
Lord Jesus Christ, Be Present Now
Lord of All Hopefulness
Lord, Take My Hand and Lead Me
Not for Tongues of Heaven’s Angels
Now Thank We All Our God
O Father, All Creating
O God, My Faithful God
O God, Our Help in Ages Past
O Love, How Deep
O Morning Star, How Fair and Bright
Oh, Blest the House
Oh, That the Lord Would Guide My Ways
On Eagles’ Wings
Praise, My Soul, the King of Heaven
Praise to the Lord, the Almighty
The King of Love My Shepherd Is
The Man Is Ever Blessed
Thine Forever, God of Love
What Wondrous Love Is This

Your ideas

Are there other hymns you’re thinking about using? Please leave a comment which, as always, is much appreciated!

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Alternatives to Pachelbel’s Canon: 5 More Church Wedding Processional Songs

dave — Mon, 09 Aug 2010 10:00:21 +0000

Are you a “Canon” person or a “No Canon” person?

As you are undoubtedly aware, Pachelbel’s Canon in D is an extremely popular choice for wedding processional music.

I’ve had brides-to-be come to me looking for ideas for processional songs saying they want “anything but Pachelbel’s Canon!”. There are “No Canon” people out there!

If you like its style but hesitate to choose it for your own wedding it because it’s so commonly used, you may appreciate some alternatives.

In this article, I’ll give you five Pachelbel Canon alternatives you can consider instead that may help make your church wedding music distinctive and memorable.

Another alternative: just play it faster

Before I get to the list, here’s an alternate approach if you still want to use the Canon in D.

My recommended approach to dealing with common or even overused music that you’d still really like to use is to “change it up” a bit. This can mean anything from having an instrument play the piece to playing it in a different style (or tempo). Any of these can add a breath of fresh air to the piece.

In the case of the Canon, let me suggest this recommendation: play it quickly.

In today’s usage of this piece, it’s common to play it very slowly. However, the Canon was written for a much more upbeat style. Ask your musician to play it for you in a more lively, uptempo style and see if that works for you.

If you want to use the Canon but are afraid of how overused it is, this might be the solution your were searching for!

Here are 5 Pachelbel Canon alternative processional songs

Handel: La Paix from Royal Fireworks Music
Bach: Sheep May Safely Graze
Bach: Jesu, Joy of Man’s Desiring
Grandjany: Aria in Classic Style (for harp with accompanying instrument)
Purcell: Ciacona in G Minor

None of these are as overused as the Canon. The two Bach pieces might be the closest. They’re frequently used too, but they are nowhere near as common.

I included a few more alternatives in this week’s email newsletter.

What to do next

If you’re searching for something instead of Pachelbel’s Canon but in a similar style or with a similar sound, check these out. Find recordings from your favorite source or turn to your ceremony musician.

Articles with processional song ideas are some of my most popular posts. Search for processionals to find even more ideas. Sign up for my email newsletter—I frequently include music ideas.

What other pieces have you heard in weddings that you think would make a good Canon alternative? I’d love to hear your ideas! Please leave a comment below.

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More Trumpet Music for Wedding Ceremonies

dave — Thu, 01 Jul 2010 10:00:19 +0000

The trumpet is a spectacular instrument and makes a great choice for your wedding ceremony.

It’s a little less common than it used to be, but that’s no problem. Less common is a good thing!

Trumpets are a great source of music for weddings

A trumpet can be the source of festive brilliance as well as gentle warmth in your music.

In this article I’ll provide you more ideas for trumpet music for weddings – which you’ll appreciate if you’re planning to include a trumpet in your wedding ceremony music. In addition to the ideas here, check out these from the earlier article, 14 Brilliant Ideas for a Brilliant Instrument: Trumpet Wedding Music.

Trumpet wedding music ideas

So here are some pieces of music for weddings that a trumpet can do very well with, including some that you may not normally associate with the trumpet:

Campra: Rigaudon
Boyce: Trumpet Voluntary (can be played with 1 or 2 trumpets!)
Handel: Many of the dozens of pieces from the Water Music suites
Bach: Jesu Joy of Man’s Desiring
Handel: Largo (from Xerxes)
Mouret: Rondeau
Purcell: Allegro Moderato from Sonata in D (there’s a wonderful transcription by Charles Callahan that makes this piece more accessible to musicians with only moderate skill levels)

Spice up frequently-used music with an instrument

Some of the pieces, like Bach’s “Jesu, Joy of Man’s Desiring” or Handel’s Largo are already frequently used in weddings. I’d even say the Bach piece is overused. But using a different instrument to perform them can spice them up and make them seem much more distinctive.

This is important to remember as you work on achieving distinctive, exciting and memorable ceremony music!

After I chose the pieces for this list, I realized they’re all from the Baroque era — which isn’t a big problem. After all, Baroque music is a favorite for weddings and has a natural fit.

But there’s plenty more out there. If you want some trumpet wedding music a little closer to modern times, say, pieces that have been written in the last 100 years or so, check your email Inbox. If you are signed up to receive my free email newsletters, I included 5 modern pieces of trumpet music for wedding ceremonies in the last issue.

Take action

Check out these ideas and see if any of them will work for you for your wedding or check out the other articles with music for instruments. If you know of some other pieces of trumpet music for weddings, please leave a comment. Help out fellow readers with your ideas.

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A Sample Wedding Ceremony

dave — Sat, 26 Jun 2010 10:00:24 +0000

Let me show you a sample wedding ceremony.

If you need more, you can find 30 pages of sample ceremonies with my Guide to Selecting Memorable Church Wedding Music.

I want to take a closer look at one of them in this post in the hope that it will help you as you put yours together.

Click on the thumbnail image below to see the sample wedding ceremony and then the rest of the article will discuss it.

Note that if you receive my newsletter, you may have already seen this sample wedding ceremony – I included it as a bonus a few issues back.

Sample wedding ceremony:

To protect everyone involved, I changed all personal details – names, city, date, even the name of the church. I reconstructed the ceremony here from the original program. What you see is a page from the bonus materials that come with the Guide.

Let’s take a look at this sample wedding ceremony

I want to point out a few things about the ceremony. Not as a critique, but to help possibly connect it to your situation and give you ideas.

The ceremony style is traditional and very simple.
Note the use of two hymns. This is a nice way to reinforce that churches consider wedding ceremonies to be worship!
The music is pretty sparse. I’ll bet this was a smaller wedding – but not so small that hymns couldn’t be sung (hymns with a very small number of guests might make some feel awkward). Using a hymn in place of a vocal solo can be a nice way to get around finding a soloist.
The preservice music is brief: it probably began about 5 minutes before the ceremony started.
No recessional music is not listed. I’m not sure why. Was this an oversight? Was the couple still undecided when the programs needed to be printed?
There’s also no postlude. Maybe this was a smaller wedding. Skipping postludes is one of my recommendations for smaller weddings.

What you can get from this sample wedding ceremony are some ideas for structuring a simple, traditional-style wedding ceremony. You can also use it as a reference for a smaller wedding ceremony. Check out this article for thoughts on effective music in smaller weddings.

Remember this is just one sample wedding ceremony. The Guide contains lots more!

Your examples

I’d love to see other examples of wedding ceremonies (small or not). Help out fellow readers by posting details from your wedding or a sample wedding ceremony or two that you have laying around and used as an example.

And if you find this article helpful, please be sure to share it with your friends, family or coworkers. You can share the link very easily by clicking on the “share” link below!

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My 10 Favorite Handel Wedding Music Ideas (For His Birthday)

dave — Tue, 01 Jun 2010 10:00:39 +0000

Did you know that two of the world’s greatest composers had their 325th birthdays in 2010? And they both wrote lots of great wedding music? Well, they may not have written it to be used as wedding music, but we’ve since put it to good use!

Back in March, the world celebrated Johann Sebastian Bach’s birthday. But a month earlier was Georg Frideric Handel’s birthday. I’m finally getting around to a much-belated birthday recognition for him.

Still popular today

Like Bach, Handel’s music remains popular today. One of his works is recognized by almost everyone: his famous and loved Hallelujah chorus from the oratorio “Messiah”, which itself is also extremely well-known, with performances of it heard regularly, especially during the Christmas holiday period.

I wonder if it’s because the music of Bach and Handel is so well-known and loved that even today much of it still appeals to couples planning their weddings.

In any case, to celebrate this major birth anniversary, here are my favorite Handel wedding music suggestions!

The list is a mix of well-known and often used Handel wedding music with some less commonly-used pieces (but just as appropriate).

Take a look and see what you think. I don’t know that you’ll want to have an all-Handel wedding ceremony, but you certainly could! Just don’t tell anyone it was my idea.

Top Handel wedding music ideas

Not in any particular order…

Hallelujah chorus from “Messiah”
Overture from Music for the Royal Fireworks
Bourrée from Music for the Royal Fireworks
La Paix from Music for the Royal Fireworks
La Réjouissance from Music for the Royal Fireworks
Air from Water Music Suite No. 1
Aria (also listed as Larghetto) from Concerto Grosso No. 12 (Op. 6)
Hornpipe from Water Music Suite No. 2
Arrival of the Queen of Sheba (from “Solomon”)
Allegro Maestoso from Water Music Suite No. 1

I included a few sample music preview links. My Guide to Selecting Memorable Church Wedding Music has links for just about every piece of music (and as I usually do, I also sent all the links to email newsletter subscribers!

What do you think?

Is there other Handel wedding music that you like or you think should have made my list? Your comments are always appreciated.

Wedding Music Unveiled » Music Ideas

More Wedding Music Samples

Ideas and inspiration from wedding music samples

Don’t copy…seek inspiration

++ Example Ceremony 1 ++

++ Example Ceremony 2 ++

++ Example Ceremony 3 ++

Share yours

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More Combinations of Wedding Processional Songs

Combinations of wedding processional songs

Or make your combinations of wedding processional songs

Where to get more help

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Music Ideas for Christmas Weddings

Christmas-time wedding music ideas

Processionals & recessionals

Anything else?

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Trumpet Voluntary Wedding Music

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Piano Recessional Music for Church Weddings

Your recessional music should be joyful

Ideas for piano recessional music for weddings

There’s plenty more out there

What ideas do you have?

Related Posts:

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Church Hymns for Weddings

Hymns can get guests involved

Watch out for this possible downside

Other ways

Lots of hymn ideas

Your ideas

Related Posts:

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Alternatives to Pachelbel’s Canon: 5 More Church Wedding Processional Songs

Another alternative: just play it faster

Here are 5 Pachelbel Canon alternative processional songs

What to do next

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More Trumpet Music for Wedding Ceremonies

Trumpets are a great source of music for weddings

Trumpet wedding music ideas

Spice up frequently-used music with an instrument

Take action

Related Posts:

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A Sample Wedding Ceremony

Let’s take a look at this sample wedding ceremony

Your examples

Related Posts:

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My 10 Favorite Handel Wedding Music Ideas (For His Birthday)

Still popular today

Top Handel wedding music ideas

What do you think?

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