If you want to include a musical instrument, such as a violin, in your church wedding ceremony, you may be wondering how much music to have the musician play.
Should the musician play the whole ceremony? Instruments add a wonderful accent to a ceremony and help make it a personal and memorable event, so should you use them for everything? You’ll be paying him or her, so you might as well get all you can, and then you won’t need the church’s organ or piano, right?
Not quite.
In this article you’ll learn how to answer these questions.
To help you figure out what’s best for your wedding ceremony, I have three points for you to think about:
- Strike a balance in your music
- Can the instrument play alone or does it need another?
- Groups of instruments
Striking a balance
Too much of a good thing is too much.
The reason you’re thinking of having instrument wedding music in your ceremony is most likely to make it extra special.
If you have too much of it—if you have the instrument play everything—the effect is diminished. It’ll be special for the first few minutes and then everyone will be used to it.
Instead, if you use the instrument for some, but not all of the music, it will seem more special when it is heard. The trick is to achieve variety by finding the right balance and not using it too much yet still enough to make it worthwhile.
How well does the instrument work on its own?
Certain instruments work exceptionally well by themselves and others work best in combination with others.
Flutes and trumpets, for example, are instruments which are better used in combination with another instrument (even though both can effectively play an occasional piece completely solo).
Violins, cellos, and harps, on the other hand, are instruments that can be a standalone source of music (to varying degrees). Of course, they also work very well in combination.
If your chosen instrument is one best used in combination, plan accordingly.
If your chosen solo instrument works well by itself, you have the option to let it be your sole source of music but you can still use it in combination (for example, with your church’s organ or piano) to help achieve variety.
An example of balance: my recommendation
Use your solo instrument in about one-third to one-half of the prelude music pieces. Try mixing it up so there’s a piece where the solo instrument is completely solo (if it’s an instrument that works well completely solo) and at least one piece in combination with the organ or piano.
Use your instrument on one of the processionals (assuming you have one for the bridal party and one for the bride) and then also for your recessional.
The exception: groups of instruments
The exception to all this is if instead of having a single solo musician, you have several musicians, such as a string ensemble. In this case, it can still be a good idea to achieve a balance by using the organ or piano, either in combination or solo for variety.
But you can much more easily use the instruments for all the ceremony’s music in this case.
The main point you should remember is if you’re thinking of including solo instrumental wedding music, you generally shouldn’t plan to use it for all the music in your ceremony.
Where to turn for more
Be sure to browse around the site. I’ve got plenty of articles written with instrumental music ideas you’ll find helpful.
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