If you just can’t find the right ceremony music for your wedding or you’re incredibly busy, you may be tempted to just ask your musician to pick something for you.

Don’t worry. All hope for having memorable ceremony music that reflects you is not completely lost (see Music That Reflects You) if you decide to do this!

But there are a few things to think about before you ask to make sure you actually get results you’re looking for (and not simply offloading a task to someone else).

Does your musician have the right experience to pick your music?

First, make sure the musician you ask has experience with the kind of wedding ceremony you’ll be having.

Musicians that routinely play for outdoor or ballroom ceremonies but have never played a wedding at your church (or even in a church) won’t know what sounds good there and might not share your vision for the ceremony.

Tell them what you’re looking for

Second, be sure to tell them what moods and styles you’re looking for, even if it’s nothing more than just “quiet” or “festive”.

Give them something to go on or they’ll just pick standard wedding repertoire for you. This won’t likely result in distinctive, memorable music that reflects you (it’ll reflect them and their choices!).

Give them a good starting point

Next, is there music you’ve found during your search that is at least similar to what you want?

A starting point like this rather than “I want something happy” will be much more likely to result in choices you’ll be pleased with.

Share your thoughts

Are you thinking about asking your musician to choose ceremony music instead of picking it yourself? Please leave a comment saying why (is it lack of time? is it difficulty finding the right piece? lack of musical knowledge?).

If you happen to be a musician reading this, what is it you like to know when someone asks you to help select their music?

Your comments are always welcome and appreciated!

© 2010, Wedding Music Unveiled. All rights reserved.

You’ve found a perfect piece of music for your church wedding. You mention it to your musician and you get back a “what’s that”? look. Or a response like “I don’t think I have that in my library.” Or worse, “I know I don’t have that piece.”

What to do?

Don’t worry, this doesn’t have to be the end of the world. Here are some tips for getting past this little hurdle.

When this happens

This is a not-so-uncommon occurrence for vocal solo music. But it can also happen with almost any piece of music (believe it or not, every musician doesn’t have a complete library of every piece ever published!). Fortunately though, most experienced church musicians or larger churches have thorough libraries built over the years that contain most pieces you might suggest.

But, if the musician just doesn’t have the music you want, what’s next?

Next steps?

There’s two things that have to happen in this situation:

• First (obviously), the music must be found and obtained
• Second, the musician will need to learn the music

One alternative for you is to just select a different piece of music.

That’s a real possibility and depending on how soon your wedding is, this may need to your next step.

But that’s not the alternative I want to focus on now.

I want to help you get the music you want for your wedding ceremony, because that’s the music that will make it extra special for you. Let’s save the alternative for a last resort.

Don’t wait to get started

So don’t necessarily drop the idea just because the musician doesn’t have the piece unless there isn’t enough time left before the wedding date to find and buy and learn the music.

This is a great reason to start your wedding music planning early: well in advance, not just one or two months in advance. An early start will help guarantee you get what you want!

So that’s my first tip: Start early and you have a better chance of getting the music you want!

The extra chapter on wedding music planning timelines, part of my Guide to Selecting Memorable Church Wedding Music will help you lay out your schedule in advance.

Someone needs to buy the music

If the music needs to be bought, someone—either you or the musician—needs to buy it. It’s generally best if the musician buys it.

He or she will be better able to find it (after all, do you know where to look for music?).

He or she will best know what to look for (you don’t want to waste time buying piano music when organ music was needed or vice versa). And if you don’t know what to look for, why risk buying the wrong thing and ending up further behind schedule?

Assuming the musician buys and pays for it be sure to recognize the extra effort they’re going through on your behalf.

Resources if you need to buy the music

But, if (for whatever reason) you end up buying the music or if you want to check to see how readily available a piece is, where do you turn?

My absolute first suggestion is Sheet Music Plus . They have the easiest-to-use search capability I’ve seen. In most cases, you won’t need to look any further.

Another suggestion is JW Pepper .

Both of these are music wholesalers. They’re not the publishers – they carry music from many publishers – which makes them great places to start.

If you need to try some specific publishers, here are some places you could look (in no particular order):

• Concordia Publishing House
• Edition Peters
• Augsburg-Fortress Publishing
• Wayne Leupold Publishing
• The Lorenz Corporation
• Alfred Music Publishing
• MorningStar Music Publishers

Yes, it’s a long list.  Fortunately, sheetmusicplus.com is so good at finding things, you may not need to look elsewhere.

Has this happened to you?

Have you “stumped” your musician? What happened and how did it work out (and how far in advance of the wedding did it occur)? Please tell your story in a comment below. I’d love to hear it!

© 2010, Wedding Music Unveiled. All rights reserved.

I try to make sure you get all the wedding music ideas you need from Wedding Music Unveiled. But you still may need more. That’s when it can be a good time to turn to commercial wedding music compilation CDs for ideas.

Compilation CDs can provide good ideas, but watch out for CDs that only contain the same old choices you probably already know about. Just like other wedding guides that repeat the same handful of wedding music ideas, wedding CDs don’t always provide new ideas.

When I find a decent collection, you can be sure I’ll pass it along to you. Let’ start right now.

You might want to check this out

Here’s one that I thought was pretty good: The Power and the Glory—Organ Music for Weddings.

It’s available as a CD outside the U.S., but inside is only available online via both the iTunes Music Store and Amazon.com’s music store.

It has 40 tracks which is both unusually abundant and especially pleasing. Many of the choices are still the same as you’d hear from many other sources. With so many selections, in this case you’ll also get some variety which should help to provide you with ideas.

You’ll benefit from hearing everything played on an organ

Because everything is performed on an organ, it’s much more likely to match your situation. Other CDs simply reuse orchestral recordings from other CDs. You can get an idea for melodies you like, but unless you’re planning to hire an orchestra for your church wedding, the recording isn’t too likely to match what you’d actually hear at your wedding.

For your church wedding, you’re most likely to have an organ as your primary instrument. Getting your wedding music ideas from recordings made on the same instrument you’ll have is valuable, regardless of what music you end up choosing.

What you’ll find

Wedding music ideas on this album include expected choices such as

• Pachelbel’s Canon in D,
• Jeremiah Clarke’s Trumpet Voluntary in D,
• Bach’s Jesu Joy of Man’s Desiring, and
• Bach’s Air on the G String

But again, all on the organ so you’ll know better what to expect.

You’ll also find plenty of familiar but less common wedding music ideas. Some highlights include:

• Handel’s Arrival of the Queen of Sheba,
• Handel’s La Rejouissance from the Royal Fireworks Music,
• Vaughan Williams Prelude on Rhosymedre,
• Charpentier’s Prelude to the Te Deum, and
• Walton’s Crown Imperial March.

There’s quite a bit more, including a few pieces I wasn’t aware of!

You might enjoy Norman Cocker’s Tuba Tune, one of the four Pieces for Musical Clock by Haydn, or other unusual (for weddings, at least) pieces.

Note that the collection includes two pieces that I strongly recommend against considering for your church wedding: Wagner’s Wedding March from his opera Lohengrin (also known as “Bridal Chorus” but popularly known as “Here Comes the Bride”) and Mendelssohn’s Wedding March from his A Midsummer Night’s Dream. Neither piece is appropriate for a church wedding and many churches specifically prohibit them.

Enjoy the suggestion and I hope you get some additional wedding music ideas!

Share your thoughts

What good CDs (or online music collections) do you know about? Leave a message and share with all of us! As always, your comments are welcome and appreciated.

© 2010, Wedding Music Unveiled. All rights reserved.

Are you having trouble finding good wedding songs?

For some reason, picking wedding songs for use during the ceremony seems to be one of the more difficult musical choices a bride gets to make. When asked for recommendations, I can also find this to be challenging, and as a musician, I have access to a lot of music.

Why so difficult? (And then I have music ideas for you!)

Is it that there’s less music?

Maybe there’s just less “wedding music” out there. Most of the music used in church wedding ceremonies wasn’t written for weddings, it seems to find its way into weddings over time. Even Pachelbel’s famous Canon in D didn’t become popular in weddings until late in the 20th century.

Is it different expectations?

Maybe our expectations for music during the ceremony is different than for the rest of the ceremony. For the rest, we’re okay with just about any music that’s appropriate for a church and for a festive occasion. But for during the ceremony, maybe we tend to want something that is specifically written for a wedding?

Is it a lack of recordings?

Or perhaps it’s just harder to actually find the music that’s out there. Since most people want to hear music before they choose it, it’s mostly music that’s been recorded that tends to get chosen. And there’s a lot of music that hasn’t been recorded. Many weddings songs I like to recommend haven’t been. Even some of the songs mentioned later in the article have links that point to YouTube rather than a “real” recording!

For example, here are some songs worth checking out that I just can’t seem to find recordings for:

• Richard Proulx: How Blest Are They
• Austin Lovelace: A Wedding Benediction
• Walter Pelz: A Wedding Blessing
• Leo Sowerby: O Perfect Love
• Raymond Haan: Benediction
• William Bradbury: Savior, Like a Shepherd Lead Us
• John Peterson: Jesus, Guest at Cana’s Wedding

Is it that we want to get it just right?

Or is it that because music during the ceremony is harder to “get right”? Is it the ceremony equivalent of the “first dance” song (which everyone wants to make sure is absolutely perfect)?

Is it more intimidating?

Maybe the desire to make the perfect choice also makes it a little bit more intimidating. A bride’s processional probably also has the same pressure to “get it right”, but at least for the processional, there are many well-known pieces available.

Wedding song ideas

Whatever the reason, I know that you need more choices to help make your ceremony music memorable and perfect. I’m always on the lookout for music ideas to pass along.

Here are some music ideas for you below. But don’t overlook these other articles containing good wedding song ideas:

• A Brand New Wedding Song For You To Discover
• A Wonderful Song for Wedding Ceremonies
• Wedding Songs for Church Wedding Ceremonies

Here are some good wedding songs (which I was able to find recordings for). Some are well-known, some not:

• Cesar Franck: Panis Angelicus (also known by its English title “O Lord Most Holy”)
• Hal Hopson: Gift of Love
• Donald Busarow: This Love
• Niles Borop/Dwight Liles: Only God Could Love You More
• Steven Curtis Chapman: I Will Be Here
• Johann Sebastian Bach: Sheep May Safely Graze (Aria from Cantata 208)
• Dorothy Gurney: the hymn “O Perfect Love”

You’ll find these and many more songs included in my “Guide to Selecting Memorable Church Wedding Music”.

I wish you the best on your search for your perfect wedding song. Please let me know how I can help. I’ll be sure to continue providing ideas.

What do you think?

What other wedding songs do you know of? What do you think of these suggestions? Please leave a comment and share your thoughts. Your comments are most welcome and appreciated!

© 2010, Wedding Music Unveiled. All rights reserved.

Want to inexpensively increase your music repertoire? Here’s a tip for you church musicians.

Not too long I ago stumbled across this sheet music collection that has since proved valuable to me. I can’t believe I hadn’t seen it before.

It was “An Album of Trumpet Tunes” (edited by Dale Tucker) from Alfred Publishing Company (alfred.com). It’s a wonderful, inexpensive collection of festive music perfect for weddings and other occasions.

This collection has 29 useful pieces in it, many of which were published individually in the venerable St. Cecilia Organ Series.

A wide variety of choices

You’ll find new and old alike with a nice variety of selections (at least, as much variety as you can get with pieces all in the “trumpet tune” style).

The obligatory classics you’d expect to see in such a collection are here,

• Purcell: Trumpet Tune in D Major
• Stanley: Trumpet Tune in D Major
• Clarke: Trumpet Voluntary (The Prince of Denmark’s March)
• Mouret: Rondeau
• Charpentier: Prelude to the Te Deum

Most of you already have these common pieces (and probably multiple versions), but it’s quite handy to have them all in one location in your music library. Especially for weddings & wedding preparation, where you can cover a lot of music with only a page turn as you play music for a couple planning their wedding.

There’s plenty of other music in here suitable for weddings. You might be able get some couples to try some of the worthy but not-well-known pieces by composers such as Alfred Fedak, David Lasky, Michael McCabe, Jon Roberts, Craig Penfield and others.

It’s these other pieces that really made me want Wedding Music Unveiled to recommend this collection!

You can find the complete contents listed on the publisher’s product page.

That’s it for now

Know of any other great wedding music collections? Please leave a comment to share with other readers. Your comments are always welcome and appreciated!

© 2009 – 2010, Wedding Music Unveiled. All rights reserved.

Where can you find music to choose from for your wedding ceremony?

1. Here.

Wedding Music Unveiled provide you with everything you need to plan your wedding ceremony music, including music ideas. We have many years of experience performing for church wedding ceremonies and are eager to share this experience with you.

Check back frequently or click Subscribe (the orange RSS icon) to be automatically notified of new articles. And of course, don’t forget to sign up for our free e-mail newsletter which contains more great ideas!

Our Guide to Selecting Memorable Church Wedding Music contains 20 pages of music ideas (in addition to many, many pages of other wedding music help)!

2. Try posting comments and questions here. I’d love for this site to grow into a community where readers help each other.

3. Ask your church wedding ceremony musician for ideas. This can jump start your planning by letting you know what music he or she is already familiar with. Just be sure to tell him or her whether you want recommendations that include the obvious choices or want more distinctive ideas.

4. For a connection with your family’s past, consider selecting one or more pieces that were part of a significant relative’s wedding ceremony, such as your parents, grandparents or other relatives.

5. Other web sites.

But be warned that you may have to spend time carefully reviewing their information as most other sites don’t differentiate what’s appropriate for a church and what can work for any wedding. Lists that work for an outdoor garden wedding may not be as helpful for a church wedding. Any music list containing both Bob Marley and George Frideric Handel is probably pretty generic and not likely to provide any wonderful new surprise ideas.

Of course, we’ll only provide suggestions suitable for a church wedding ceremony.

6. Wedding music compilation CDs, from retail stores or online retailers.

You’ll find that some of these are filled with the same commonly-used music you may want to avoid. However, it is possible to find some occasional great ideas.

You will also have to watch out for unrealistic recordings: you may hear a groups of instruments (even large orchestras!) performing that aren’t realistic for most weddings.

Even so, you can at least get some ideas and a sense for what you might want to include in your ceremony.

7. Online music stores such as Apple’s iTunes Music Store and Amazon.com often have the same CDs available but also offer tracks for individual download. Such stores offer the extra advantage of previewing tracks. The same concerns about compilation CD also apply here.

8. Some music stores sell books of wedding-related sheet music. If you can read music or have access to someone who can, this can provide some ideas. But, as with CDs, there’s a good chance that much of the music will be of the commonly-used variety.

What other music sources have you used or known to have been helpful? Have you heard a particularly good wedding music compilation CD? Leave a comment and join the conversation. Your comments are always welcome and appreciated!

© 2009 – 2010, Wedding Music Unveiled. All rights reserved.