Are you looking for unique, truly memorable ceremony wedding songs? Music that you won’t have to worry about your guests hearing at other weddings?
If so, you’re probably already trying to avoid overused music. I don’t need to remind you about how overused certain pieces are—you can be certain your guests will hear those overused pieces at almost every wedding they attend before and after yours. You may still be looking for music ideas to replace the overused choices.
The goal of your ceremony music
If you’re worried about choosing classical music or maybe even a little intimidated, remember the goal isn’t to select music that shows how clever or musically knowledgeable you are. The goal is simply to have ceremony music that expresses your great joy in just the way you’d like it expressed. To have music that reflects you, that is uniquely yours!
In this article, I’ll suggest ceremony wedding songs that are very appropriate for churches, but just aren’t all that well known. Be assured that they’re not pieces that are radical or “out there”, that might cause your guests to cringe, or that your church will question their appropriateness.
They’re just not used very often for whatever reason. I don’t know why they’re not used more. I’ve recommended and used some of them to great success.
The only downside to these pieces is that your request might surprise your musician! But, as long as you don’t spring the ideas on him or her at the last minute, the musician will likely be pleased to have some out-of-the ordinary requests! I’ve been careful to select pieces that aren’t so obscure that they’d be out of print or hard for your musician to find.
Unique ceremony wedding songs ideas
- Bach: Organ Concerto in C Major (makes a fantastic recessional or postlude)
- Franck: Panis Angelicus (also known by its translated English title “O Lord Most Holy”)
- Walton: Crown Imperial Coronation March
- Manz: God of Grace and God of Glory
- Manz: Jesus, Still Lead On (an easy but beautiful piece for organ or almost any instrument plus organ)
- Handel: March from the Occasional Oratorio
- McCabe: Trumpet Tune
- Pachelbel: Fugue in A Major
- Buxtehude: Canzonetta in G
- Elgar: Pomp & Circumstance March #4 (this is not the famous Pomp & Circumstance march used in graduation ceremonies!)
- Dubois: Toccata in G
For even more ideas (including preview links for almost all pieces), check out the Wedding Music Unveiled Guide to Selecting Memorable Church Wedding Music (you’ll find hundreds there). You won’t be disappointed!
I appreciate your comments
Have you heard any of these ceremony wedding songs used before or are you planning to use any? What did you think? I’d love to hear your thoughts. Please leave a comment below!
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{ 3 comments… read them below or add one }
As a parish organist, I would be thrilled if a couple requested music based on chorale and hymn tunes – especially since the underlying texts can provide so much meaning for the wedding ceremony, if only for the couple (but that can be rectified with a few textual notes in the service folder or singing the hymn if well known).
Paul Manz’s collection of Five Hymn Improvisations for Wedding & General Use, which contains God of Grace and God of Glory and Jesus, Lead Thou On, also has vibrant settings of Now Thank We All Our God and Praise to the Lord, the Almighty along with a quiet meditative setting of Let Us Ever Walk With Jesus. If the organist doesn’t have this collection, he should.
On occasion I have used John Behnke’s relatively easy setting of Lauda Anima (Praise, My Soul, the King of Heaven). Another possibility from the Concordia catalog is the opening movement of Charles Ore’s hymn concertato on Our God, Our Help In Ages Past – a festive organ and trumpet piece.
Thanks for your comment Chris!. I have the Manz collection you mentioned sitting out right next to me at this very moment. His two pieces listed in the article are from that collection (a detail mentioned in the most-recent Wedding Music Unveiled newsletter–a shameless plug, I know!).
Though not in this collection, Manz’s “Joyful, Joyful We Adore Thee” is an exciting setting of the popular Beethoven melody (which many couples like to use in their weddings).
I like the Charles Ore suggestion! I had never considered that for a wedding before. I love his arrangements and use them whenever I can, so I appreciate your suggestion to also consider them for weddings!
I suggested Donald Busarow’s “Ring of Gold” collection (CPH) in an earlier article. If you’re not familiar with it, you might want to check it out. It contains 7 nice vocal pieces written for weddings but using melodies of some well-known hymns.
Based on you comment about hymn- and chorale-based music, you’d appreciate a wedding we had at my church a few months back (I did not play it, so I. All-Bach, including these three chorale settings: Schmücke dich, Kommst du nun, Jesu and Christ, der du bist der helle Tag! Admittedly probably too much for most couples, but this couple wanted it (my church LOVES Bach).
This past week for Sunday worship I was tempted to use Manz’s setting of Joyful, Joyful, We Adore Thee as one of the preservice pieces to provide a foretaste of the hymn to come (Alleluia, Alleluia! Hearts to Heaven from Lutheran Service Book 477). I have most, but not all, of Manz’s organ books. Some of his pieces are very accessible and others need a lot of practice. They’re an opportunity of lifetime learning/enjoyment for the organist.