Musings on Music

Music is a subtle, but important-to-me part of our wedding.  For the most part, I have told J. he has full discretion to decide on reception music, both songs and genres, and he’s worked pretty hard to come up with ideas we both liked.  But for ceremony music, that is definitely my thing.  I sang in church choirs from the age of 5, took many years of piano lessons, continued to perform in high school (at one point I took third place in a regional competition in Michigan, which was quite the feather in my cap at the time) and I’ve sunk goodness knows how much money into voice lessons.  These days, the best I’ve got is karaoke, but I still love me some traditional music.

And this weekend we’re meeting with the organist at the church to nail our songs down!  So I’ve been doing some research on the music I personally love, and would love to hear at the wedding.  The church has an amazing pipe organ, so I know we’ll get some good stuff. 

One of the best resources I’ve found so far was actually on another blog, Wedding Music Unveiled, and they have a post titled “Avoid Overused Music! 29 Better Choices for Prelude Music for Wedding Ceremonies.”  The absolute number one thing I want to do is avoid overused music at our wedding, so I was psyched when I found this! 

Using this resource and my own background knowledge, I got to work brainstorming possible music.  I knew I wanted to incorporate some Christmas music, but I wanted to use it sparingly, because we don’t want people to forget they are at a wedding (as opposed to a Christmas service).  So here’s some things I’m thinking about, with links to youtube clips of the songs… comment if you have thoughts, because I’d love to hear them!  And by the way, yes, I do have a thing for Handel!  His music has a lot of life, and its recognizable for the music aficionados out there, but nice to listen to even if you’re not “into” music.

For the Prelude, I’m thinking we’ll do the Christmas music:

Still Still Still 

The Wexford Carol (this arrangement was closest I could find in terms of tempo)
 
While Shepherds Watched Their Flocks
 
Handel: O Thou That Tellest Good Tidings To Zion, from the Messiah

For the Bridal Party Processional, I’m totally up in the air:
 
Bach: Sheep May Safely Graze  (a throwback from my piano lesson days, this could also work in the prelude)

Handel: Air, from Water Music

Now, the Bridal Processional is easy.

Clarke: Trumpet Voluntary 

But I’m still a bit stumped on the Recessional:

Stanley: Trumpet Voluntary (possibly too overplayed for me…)

Handel: La Réjouissance

Bach: Brandenburg Concertos No.3,  i: Allegro Moderato

image source