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| Thatch’s Guide to personalizing the music at your wedding. |
“There are never ANY rules, as long as you have the guts to pull off what’s on your heart.” James B
Weddings are a special and rare opportunity for the couple to express themselves as a new and unique union. As with most celebrations an essential part of this is the song and music selection. The trouble with wedding music, though, is that the further from the ‘tried-and-tested’ model you wander, the more risk you’ll run of alienating your guests.
Having a friend perform that really cool underground, indie hit of yours at the ceremony might work wonders, but it could also be too disarming for your guests, having never heard the song. Playing the music that you alone want to dance to may be a fantastic idea, but your guests may also hide from the dance floor in silent revolt at the songs they’ve never heard and can’t relate to.
With a little thought on your side, it’s possible to give your guests a poignant and intimate taste of yourselves as a couple, whilst still being accessible to a guest list that will most likely (in this day and age) span the gamut of age, race, religion and culture.
There are never ANY rules, as long as you have the guts to pull off what’s on your heart. With that in mind, though, here is a sum-up of our never-fail approach to an unforgettable wedding. We've split it into two parts - wedding ceremony music and canapes and reception music.
WEDDING CEREMONY MUSIC
BRIDAL ENTRANCE SONG
Classic songs, such as the “Bridal March”, “Ave Maria” and “Air on a G String” will always work, but this is also a moment that you could consider using a song that’s really special to you, and that has been rearranged for the performer/s for this setting. In general, the musician/s (we suggest a guitarist and vocalist) should try using connected, arpeggiated chords (they’ll know what this means) and the singer should try use long connected phrases and be absolutely sure to enunciate the words clearly. This will turn any song into a beautiful processional.
Some ideas:
Traditional - Canon in D (Pachelbel)
Classic - Kissing You (Des'ree) - this works really well as an instrumental
New/Interesting - Give a Little Love (Noah and the Whale)
SIGNING OF THE REGISTRY
This is pure entertainment and whatever is performed here should be something that is beautiful and enticing to watch so that there are no awkward moments while everybody finds out whether you’ve learnt how to spell your new name, or not. As we said above, as long as it’s delivered smoothly, melodically and tastefully there is really no limit to the kind of song you can choose here. Anything from Snow Patrol to Andrea Bocelli or Wagner to Bach will do. Make sure it’s something that you love, and that the performer is comfortable with.
Some ideas:
Traditional - Ave Maria (Gunod)
Classic - You Raise Me Up New (Josh Groban)
Contemporary - Better Together (Jack Johnson)
COUPLE EXIT SONG
This can be grand, it can be happy, it can be tongue-in-cheek, it can be beautiful, it can be profound, it can be fast, it can be slow… ANYTHING goes! You and your guests are going to be so happy that nothing can really ruin this moment, as long as it’s delivered professionally.
A quick hint is to make sure this music starts without any real break as soon as the marriage officer ends what he has to say.
Some ideas:
Traditional - Arrival of the Queen of Sheba (Handel)
Classic - All You Need is Love (Beatles)
New - Your Love Keeps Lifting Me Higher (Jackie Wilson)
Having a friend perform that really cool underground, indie hit of yours at the ceremony might work wonders, but it could also be too disarming for your guests, having never heard the song. Playing the music that you alone want to dance to may be a fantastic idea, but your guests may also hide from the dance floor in silent revolt at the songs they’ve never heard and can’t relate to.
With a little thought on your side, it’s possible to give your guests a poignant and intimate taste of yourselves as a couple, whilst still being accessible to a guest list that will most likely (in this day and age) span the gamut of age, race, religion and culture.
There are never ANY rules, as long as you have the guts to pull off what’s on your heart. With that in mind, though, here is a sum-up of our never-fail approach to an unforgettable wedding. We've split it into two parts - wedding ceremony music and canapes and reception music.
WEDDING CEREMONY MUSIC
BRIDAL ENTRANCE SONG
Classic songs, such as the “Bridal March”, “Ave Maria” and “Air on a G String” will always work, but this is also a moment that you could consider using a song that’s really special to you, and that has been rearranged for the performer/s for this setting. In general, the musician/s (we suggest a guitarist and vocalist) should try using connected, arpeggiated chords (they’ll know what this means) and the singer should try use long connected phrases and be absolutely sure to enunciate the words clearly. This will turn any song into a beautiful processional.
Here's a hint: Whether you use live musicians or a CD, make sure that they get to the chorus quickly, either by cutting some lines of the verse or skipping straight to it. Your entrance will usually be no longer than 30sec (even though you will no doubt instruct everybody to walk slowly!) and you don’t want to wait awkwardly, at the altar, for the part that you love to still come.
Some ideas:
Traditional - Canon in D (Pachelbel)
Classic - Kissing You (Des'ree) - this works really well as an instrumental
New/Interesting - Give a Little Love (Noah and the Whale)
SIGNING OF THE REGISTRY
This is pure entertainment and whatever is performed here should be something that is beautiful and enticing to watch so that there are no awkward moments while everybody finds out whether you’ve learnt how to spell your new name, or not. As we said above, as long as it’s delivered smoothly, melodically and tastefully there is really no limit to the kind of song you can choose here. Anything from Snow Patrol to Andrea Bocelli or Wagner to Bach will do. Make sure it’s something that you love, and that the performer is comfortable with.
Some ideas:
Traditional - Ave Maria (Gunod)
Classic - You Raise Me Up New (Josh Groban)
Contemporary - Better Together (Jack Johnson)
COUPLE EXIT SONG
This can be grand, it can be happy, it can be tongue-in-cheek, it can be beautiful, it can be profound, it can be fast, it can be slow… ANYTHING goes! You and your guests are going to be so happy that nothing can really ruin this moment, as long as it’s delivered professionally.
A quick hint is to make sure this music starts without any real break as soon as the marriage officer ends what he has to say.
Some ideas:
Traditional - Arrival of the Queen of Sheba (Handel)
Classic - All You Need is Love (Beatles)
New - Your Love Keeps Lifting Me Higher (Jackie Wilson)
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