“Do I have to use classical music for my church wedding ceremony? Why can’t it be the music that I listen to?”
I wrote in an earlier article about using classical music for your church wedding music. That article explains what it means for music “to be appropriate” for use in a church.
This time from a different angle
This time, let’s look at it from the “But I don’t listen to classical music!” perspective. After all, classical music doesn’t have the audience it once did. This impacts wedding music planning because it’s very easy to discount it as irrelevant.
If you read the earlier article, you’ll see that you basically have three options if your church doesn’t like your ceremony music choices:
- Deal with it and choose different music
- Don’t get married in a church
- Find a different church that doesn’t place a high value on music
I’ll help you with the first option, since that’s Wedding Music Unveiled’s purpose.
But my goal isn’t to get you to like classical music, only to appreciate its value and in doing so, think about whether it might still be the best choice for your wedding.
Some things to think about
If you’ve been avoiding classical music for your ceremony, consider these points:
- Do you really not like classical music or is it that you just don’t know much about it?
A mother’s “but you haven’t even tried it” line comes to mind here.
- Not everything is suited for every occasion and setting
Not every type of art or expression works in every circumstance. Even the music you love you probably don’t want to hear constantly.
Poetry doesn’t work well in casual conversation. You won’t find line dancing at the ballet. But poetry, casual conversation, line dancing and ballet each have their place!
- Special occasions demand something special, not something familiar and your wedding could not be more special!
What should be used for a church wedding ceremony (a ceremony being a formal occasion)?
Anything formal demands the best available.
A formal dinner party uses the best dinner settings, not paper plates. A formal invitation uses formal language and writing, not scribbling on a piece of notepaper. Your wedding vows will use formal language, not casual street language.
You don’t speak in formal language every day with your friends, but you will still speak in formal language during your ceremony during your vows.
So too, the music should also be appropriate for a formal occasion. (Of course there are weddings that aren’t formal, but those aren’t the church weddings we’re talking about here.)
Your reception might be a more appropriate place for less-formal music that you really want to use.
- Timelessness of classical music
When you look back on your ceremony years from now, do you want to view your church wedding music as timeless or as something that has likely long since been forgotten (and might even make you cringe)?
- Try to stop thinking of classical music as “bad”, “uninteresting” or “uninspiring”
“Classical” is just a classification.
If you like certain music, does that mean you automatically dislike anything that isn’t that style? Probably not. You like what appeals to you, regardless of its classification.
So there’s no reason that some classical can’t appeal to you, especially when given a chance.
But this doesn’t mean it always has to appeal to you. Of course there may be times you’re not in the mood for it. This is also true of even your favorite music.
If you need music ideas (and who doesn’t!), check out my Guide to Selecting Memorable Church Wedding Music which includes, among other things, 20 pages of music ideas!
Let’s hear your thoughts
Have you overcome not being a huge fan of classical music but still used it for your church wedding music and been thankful you did?
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