Articles Miscellaneous

Choosing Your Wedding Music

Ok, time to fes up. If you're like the rest of the non-Classic FM listening population, you're hard pushed to tell Bach from Vivaldi or Mozart from Black Sabbath....ok, hyperbole - but you get the point. And if you're like most people there will be a piece of music that you've logged away in the depths of your mind with a little yellow post-it which says"find out what this music is for when you get married". Trouble is, who has time to sit down and work their way through the Decca back catalogue? You're getting married for Pete's sake! You've got cakes to organise, photographers to book, invites to plan - where on earth - and how on earth- are you supposed to start looking for a piece of music whose name you're not sure about?

No problem. That's where we come in.

Listed below is a collection of some of the best known pieces of music, most popular for weddings. And before you start getting all sniffy about not playing the same music as everyone else at your wedding - there is a reason why Smells Like Teen Spirit doesn't get played for walking down the aisle! Anyway, the choice is yours - these are just some of the most famous pieces and hopefully you'll find something that will suit the mood of your wedding. All files are in midi format for reasons of copyright, but you'll be able to recognise the tune and we have provided links to the CD of the full version in each case.

Bear in mind that these pieces can be and often are arranged for a variety of instruments. Once you've identified the piece you like, try listening to different versions of the piece until you find just the one for you. If you plan to have the piece played by musicians, make sure they have the arrangement that you want to hear. Pachelbel's Canon in D isn't quite the same thing when set to a techno beat.

As a general rule, music for the wedding ceremony falls into three parts - before, during and after.

Before

This is the time between the guests arriving at the wedding venue and the arrival of the bride. The music here should be light but reflective and should help to set the mood in building the anticipation of the Bride's arrival.

During

Music to march down the aisle by. Processional music to accompany the Bride from her entrance to the altar or the place at which the union will take place. The music here should be fitting for one of the biggest moments of your life. It should be grand, it should be classic, it should be beautiful and memorable. Why? Because you're worth it.

After

Music to march back up the aisle by. A more celebratory and joyous piece that lifts the solemnity of the act that has just been and looks forward joyously to the new life that you are leaving the ceremony to face.

Search for music on the Amazon site using the keyword "Wedding".

The music at the most beautiful and perfect wedding this author has ever attended covered a period of 900 years and included three pieces that could not have been more different.

Before - Illusions, a collection of choral works by Hildegard von Bingen, an 11th Century German Abbess.

During - The Concerto for Two Violins by Johann Sebastian Bach, 1685-1750.

After - Follow you, Follow Me by Genesis a 1970s Prog Rock outfit.

The result? A spectacular combination resulting in perfect harmony.