Wedding Music
 

Either somehow we don't already have this thread, or it's really old (or the search missed it).

So......here it is.


Anyway, I'm singing for my (male) cousin's wedding in April. The bride doesn't really know what she wants for music, other than she doesn't want to hire a pianist, so everything is going to be background tracks/recorded music. Or, her other option is flute (with no accompaniment).

I have one song that is a version of 1Cor13:1 set to music that I know I'll use. Also, probably "God Bless the Broken Road" (she was previously married, but it only lasted a couple months, so it's pretty fitting).

I was kind of thinking Jesu Joy of Man's Desiring on flute for a processional...depending on how big her bridal party is...I can't keep that one up forever.

Any other ideas? She's really laid back and is letting my aunt do the majority of planning (which my aunt is loving, since she always wanted a daughter). In fact, she's kinda at the point where Vegas is sounding like an option so she doesn't have to worry about this stuff anymore. So, like I said, she's open to whatever.

I'll also probably Google something like "wedding karaoke" for ideas.

If you're willing to do a capella and looking for a more solemn song, Set Me As A Seal by Rene Clausen is really, really pretty.

We did it as a quartet at my cousin's wedding, and fiance and I want it sung it ours too.

Here's a recording with a large group, but it really is equally pretty as a quartet.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qb6uY-y9HRI

That is nice. Our church choir has sung it many times.

My default suggestion, when a bride would ask for suggestions, has always been Ralph Vaughan Williams' "The Call." (Best YouTube performance is here, starting at 5:22) Not a wedding-specific text at all, but one that I think works very well for a church wedding. I have a reflexive dislike for songs that are just about "us" -- the bride and groom.

As for the flute, sometimes simple hymn-tunes can be the best. The problem with something like "Jesu, Joy of Man's Desiring" is that without the harmonies, it really loses something. Or you could try this. :D

My church has a huge, kick-ass pipe organ, so we used that...so I'm not much help. But our processional was a piece by Clarke that flowed easily into Trumpet Voluntary, which is what I walked down the aisle to. Our recessional was Air from Handel's Water Music.

Please take the venue into consideration. Some music begs for a cathedral-like setting, while other pieces work better in smaller churches. The church in which I grew up was small (seating for about 120, packed in), but had a HUGE pipe organ, donated by Andrew Carnegie. That always seemed at odds to me. BTW, loved The Call, MC!

This is what I'd like for our processional, but it's an instrumental. I will appear immediately after the bridge. My fiance (granted, a former music teacher) is more interested in Pachelbel's canon in D Major and the like. I have no problem with it, just not for that church, or the processional. We'll work it out, I guess.

There's a corner with your name on it.

It's an outdoor wedding.


How in the world is a former music teacher still able to listen to Pachebel's Cannon?? Males me think of this.



Like I said - this has to be stuff that has BACKGROUND TRACKS or KARAOKE CDS already made, since there's no pianist. I don't mind a cappella, but it loses something when it's one part, no harmony. And the wedding is also 8 hours away, and I know hardly anyone involved, so I can't put a group together.