Wondering how you should list your ceremony music in your wedding program?
First, ask yourself whether you really want to include the music. There are perfectly good reasons both to list it and not list it.
Reasons to
Reasons you should consider listing your ceremony music:
- It’s classy (but I’m not saying it’s unclassy to not list it!)
- It shows how much thought and work went into your ceremony
- It communicates that you believe music is an important part of the ceremony and isn’t just “filler”
- Your wedding program will forever be a remembrance of your wedding ceremony. Why not be able to look back on it years from now and know exactly what was played?
Reasons not to
Reasons you might not want to list your ceremony music:
- Your goal is a very simple (or small) program or you are planning a very simple ceremony
- As part of a very simple or small ceremony, you just aren’t planning much music
- You’re up against a deadline and are either completely stressed out or haven’t decided on your music yet (Hopefully this is not the case, but I have seen cases where the music was still undecided just days before the wedding and the program still needed to be printed! It wasn’t pretty.)
Big tip #1
Here’s a tip for you: Even if you choose not to list the music, be sure to list your musicians.
Listing the musicians who help make your ceremony special is classy. Not listing them can be insulting.
Big tip #2
Avoid common and easy-to-prevent mistakes in your program by checking out Easy Tips That Will Save You From Wedding Program Embarrassment.
What music should be listed?
If you decide to include ceremony music in the wedding program, what music should be listed?
Some tips:
- Sometimes, certain music is left out because the music isn’t considered significant.
I always hate to see this (I think all your music associated with your ceremony should be significant to you). But, I recommend that if you do have some music (for example, the prelude or postlude music) that you really just don’t care much about, then don’t list it.
Why go through the trouble if it’s not significant to you? You’ve got plenty else to worry about.
- If you are listing some music, certain pieces should not be considered optional: Your processional music and all music during the ceremony itself.
For example, not listing a vocal solo by title and composer and instead just putting “solo” screams “I don’t care”. And if you don’t care about even the most important music of the ceremony, then why even bother?
- Hymns also fall into the category of music that should always be listed.
But, here there’s also a practical reason: people can’t be expected to sing (and that is the purpose of a hymn after all) if they don’t know what the hymn is. However, it is perfectly fine to only list the hymn’s title and number in the hymnal—it’s not necessary to print out all the words.
- It’s up to you whether to list pieces separately that are used just before the ceremony begins and played while seating parents and grandparents or while lighting candles.
It’s not necessary to list it as a special “seating of the …” piece. You can simply list such pieces with your other prelude selections. But, it’s entirely up to you.
There’s more on listing ceremony music in your wedding program in our Guide to Selecting Memorable Church Wedding Music. Be sure to check it out if you need more help.
What do you think?
Let’s hear your thoughts on listing music in your program. Are you going to do it? What influenced your decision?
Can you remember any impressions being made on you by music (or the lack of it) in programs for weddings you’ve attended?
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