One chance. That’s it.
You get only one chance to plan your wedding ceremony. There’s no “practice” round. You have to get it right the first time.
Even more stressful is how foreign the work can seem, since you probably know very little about classical music or church music planning.
It makes sense to turn to others for advice to help make the ceremony as close to perfect as possible. But the advice needs to be helpful.
There is a lot of wedding planning advice. There’s even some advice for planning wedding ceremony music. But practically nothing for church wedding ceremony music.
Good advice is hard to find
The wedding music advice isn’t very helpful for church weddings. I looked.
Many wedding guides try to provide advice for every aspect of your wedding day. While it may be possible to be knowledgeable in many areas of wedding preparation, music rarely seems to be their specialty. Their music “expertise” is usually limited to rehashing the same old tired music selections and general advice you’ll hear elsewhere.
They also want to help the widest possible audience, forgetting (or not knowing) that advice for one type of wedding doesn’t apply to all. For example, advice for music for an outdoor wedding may not help you plan a church wedding.
So most of the wedding music advice out there just doesn’t apply to church weddings.
Advice to watch out for
When you’re searching, watch out for advice that may send you in a wrong direction or really isn’t all that helpful.
Here are two types of advice to stay away from:
- Music advice that doesn’t differentiate between church and “non-church” weddings.
The authors of these tips mean well. Some of their music suggestions might be perfect for some kinds of weddings or could be okay if you are using recorded music (which you generally won’t have in a church wedding).
The authors rarely have much to offer you in planning a typical church wedding ceremony and hide that by not differentiating between the two types.
What you need is help targeted to you and you need it from someone with the right experience.
- Music advice that is incomplete, wrong or just not very helpful (even if it seems helpful). This one is hard for you, because you may not be able to recognize it when you see it!
So let me help with examples.
Examples of advice that won’t help you very much
Here are a few examples of types of advice to watch out for.
My comments are in italics.
Example 1:
“Because You Loved Me” Celine Dion, “Best of Intentions” Travis Tritt, “Bless the Broken Road” Rascal Flatts, “Book of Love” Peter Gabrial, “Bourree” Handel, “Butterflyz” Alicia Keys, “Can You Feel The Love Tonight” Elton John, “Can’t Help Falling in Love” UB40, “Canon in D” Pachabel, “Canon in F” The O’Neill Brothers, “Cantique de Jean Racine” Gabriel Faur, “Caribbean Blue” Enya, “Carolan’s Welcome” (Tradition Irish), “Chapel of Love” Dixie Cups, “Chariot” Gavin Degraw, “Cheeseburger In Paradise” Jimmy Buffet, “Cherish” Madonna, “Come, Come Ye Saints” Jesse White, “Come, Thou Fount of Every Blessing” Morman Tabernacle Choir, “Coronation March” Sir William Walton, “Cry” Mandy Moore, “Don’t Change” Musiq Soulchild, “Don’t Want To Miss A Thing” Areosmith, “Dona Nobis Pacem” J. S. Bach, “Echoes Of Eden” Steven Curtis Chapman, “Endlessly” Brook Benton, “Everything I Do, I Do It For You” Bryan Adams, “Falling Slowly” Glen Hansard and Marketa Irglova, “Feels Like Home” Chantal Kreviazuk, “Find Out Who Your Friends Are” Tracy Lawrence
These came from a site (which I won’t name) that didn’t identify music pieces appropriate for a church ceremony.
How long would it take you to go through the list and find those appropriate for church weddings? (hint: I found only 4, maybe 5—can you find them?)
Another site I saw had a list like this that went on for 7 pages! It had recordings mixed in with pieces practical to play live (without needing a large orchestra, for example).
(Note that the listings here are not my recommendations and were carried over from the source exactly as is, misspellings, errors and all).
Example 2:
Ceremony music suggestions: Dvorak’s “From the New World” Symphony, Bach’s Brandenburg Concerto, Bach’s Prelude & Fugue.
Seems helpful enough, doesn’t it? But it isn’t helpful at all for you planning a church wedding.
Unless you can afford a large orchestra with conductor, have a huge church with room for the orchestra and happen to need about 45 minutes of music (how long the symphony takes to play) for your wedding ceremony, Dvorak’s “From the New World” Symphony is not for you.
Bach wrote not one, but six Brandenburg Concerti, all wonderful, but none of them short, and all of them requiring a skilled chamber orchestra. He also wrote dozens of preludes and fugues, only a very few that I’d consider using for a wedding.
Were you supposed to figure this out on your own?
Example 3:
“The safest wedding music idea for the marriage ceremony is to go the traditional way. If it is at a church, then it is more appropriate to stick to the traditional Wedding March and Here Comes The Bride.”
It’s like this author didn’t even feel like trying!
Example 4:
“Whether you choose piano, organ or a string quartet, arrange for your music to start at least 30 minutes before the ceremony begins so that your guests don’t arrive to silence.”
At least 30 minutes before!?! I can count on one hand (with several fingers left over) the number of weddings I’ve been to where even 30 minutes was necessary.
Example 5:
“Perfect choices are Bach’s Air on a G String, Vivaldi’s Violin Concerto No. 8 or Concerto No. 1 (from The Four Seasons, Spring).”
Just like example 2, the Vivaldi concerti require lots of time and large numbers of musicians. Perhaps this was meant for non-church weddings where you might use recorded music? The only piece that’s practical to play live is the Bach.
Too bad the author didn’t mention any of this. It would have been helpful for you.
You can count on us
Fortunately, you can count on Wedding Music Unveiled to be helpful (both in the planning and helping you overcome your fears so you can get to the planning).
Why? We’re focused on church weddings and only church weddings
What do you think?
Wondering what we think of advice you’ve seen somewhere else? Ask!
I provided additional examples (some rather entertaining) in the Wedding Music Unveiled email newsletter. Be sure to sign up so you don’t miss out in the future.
© 2010, Wedding Music Unveiled. All rights reserved.
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{ 2 comments… read them below or add one }
Dave,
I had never even considered the idea of “church” music and nonchurch music, but you are so right. No matter how much I may like a song and how much it may “speak” to me. Depending on what it says, it could make for a super awkward moment.
Oscar
Thanks Oscar!