Wedding Ceremonies - Articles - Zimbio

Modern Wedding Ceremony Prelude Music

Fri, 7 Jun 2008 19:23:49 GMT

ABC Of Weddings: Q Is For Quartets

Sun, 4 Aug 2008 05:32:51 GMT

posted by polkadotbride

Quartets are often queried by couples as a quintessential part of a quietly elegant ceremony.

I took a round about way for this entry and ended up with quartets and your ceremony music. A quartet is a popular choice for your wedding ceremony but there are many others which can add to the ambience of your wedding day.

A string trio
A woodwind instrument
A soloist
Traditional organ
A harpist
Piano
Soloist
A band
Personal music player (I.e Ipod)

You’re not limited to one option either- you may choose a quartet for your ceremony, a pianist for your cocktail hour and a band for your reception.

You can find wedding musicians on most wedding directories or in magazines. However you may have some talented friends, a talented local musician, or may even consider asking a university or college if their musicians are available to play at weddings.

Here’s a rundown of the ‘types’ of music chosen for your wedding ceremony.

Prelude

Typically you should choose 4-5 songs for when guests are entering the ceremony location. These provide background music and can set the tone for your event. A light hearted celebratory tune will get guests into the mood. These songs are also known as the prelude and usually start about 20 minutes before the stated ceremony start time.

Jesu, Joy Of Man’s Desiring - Bach
Can’t Help Falling In Love - Elvis
Air On The G String - Bach
Heaven (Candlelight mix)- DJ Sammy

Processional

Next up is choosing a song for your walk down the aisle, otherwise known as the processional. Some weddings may have a different song for the bridesmaids to the bride, signaling the importance of the bride’s entry and giving her a dramatic moment.

Only Time - Enya
Wedding March - Wagner
Canon In D - Pachelbel
Kissing You - Des’ree
Wedding Processional From The Sound Of Music - Rodgers & Hammerstein
Trumpet Voluntary - Jeremiah Clarke/Purcell

Mercedes had her father play his guitar and sing before her wedding ceremony. Photo by Christine Tremoulet

Interlude

During the ceremony, you might choose to have special songs play. Perhaps during the signing of the registry or during a ceremony such as the sand ceremony. You may even choose to have a close family member of friend sing a song that’s special to you. Known as the interlude, this part of the ceremony can be a great place to put more of your special songs that are personal to you.

Possible choices

Ava Maria
The Rose - Bette Midler
Songbird - Eva Cassidy
Sheep May Safetly Graze - Bach
Clare De Lune - Claude Debussy
Your Song - Elton John

Recessional

Walking back down the aisle is one of the happiest parts of a wedding day- the music should be upbeat, vibrant and celebratory! This is known as the recessional

Possible Choices

Trumpet Voluntary - Clarke
All You Need Is Love - The Beatles
In My Life - The Beatles
How Sweet It Is - Michael Buble
Signed, Sealed, Delivered - Stevie Wonder
A Wonderful World - Louis Armstrong

Shannon & Rich had a Mariachi band play once their ceremony concluded at their wedding in Mexico. Photo by Millie Holloman Photography

Prolude

As the guests leave the church or ceremony venue and gather outside, more music plays. This is known as the prolude. The songs picked for this should be joyous and with a happy beat.

Possible Choices

Love & Marriage - Frank Sinatra
So Happy Together - The Turtles
Better Together - Jack Johnson
For Once In My Life - Stevie Wonder
My Baby Just Cares For Me - Nina Simone

Extra Tips

Keep in mind the tempo and length of the song as well as the length of your aisle.
Have a backup plan if you’re using a CD or portable music player in case these fail.
Listen to the lyrics of your chosen songs. Some just don’t work for a wedding! Consider using an instrumental version instead.
Depending on the skill of your musicians, they will be able to play anything for you- from classical to modern music

2009 Season Passes Available

Wed, 13 Nov 2008 22:26:00 GMT

posted by dunawaygardens

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2008 Wedding Ceremony Interlude Songs

Fri, 7 Jun 2008 05:07:00 GMT

Wedding Prayers by the Bride and Groom

Sun, 30 Jun 2008 17:30:58 GMT

posted by sdevans927

Depending on your culture or religion, you may have several different options when it comes to what kinds of wedding prayers will be offered during your wedding ceremony. Sometimes, the officiant offers some personal and improvised wedding prayers or a specially written wedding prayer calling for the long life and never ending love for the bride and groom. Other wedding customs have the officiant or other person with a role in the wedding ceremony, such as a family member of the bride and groom reading wedding prayers from a special book. A couple may be able to look through the different wedding prayers available to them, such as in one of these special prayer books and choose a prayer for their marriage, or they may write their own wedding prayers and give them to the officiant to read during their wedding ceremony. Still other cultures and religions have the couple offering their own wedding prayers to the Lord for His blessings and favor upon their new marriage. This is what my husband and I did in our wedding ceremony, and I would advise it to anyone.

Setting the Scene

My husband and I are Independent Baptists, and so doing something like this was never really dictated by our culture or religion.

We knew there were going to be a lot of wedding prayers offered from our pastor and uncle who were officiating the ceremony. But we wanted to pray together, and to have a wedding bench to offer up our wedding prayers together. So, when decorating the altar for our wedding ceremony, we got a smaller sized long table from one of our Sunday School classes and covered it with a white table cloth. We then added our unity candles on the top of the table and added two large white satin pillows at the base of the table.

Our Wedding Prayers

We decided to offer our own wedding prayers during the wedding ceremony immediately following the lighting of the unity candle. A song was sung by a good friend of ours, and once the song started we walked over the light the unity candle. Once the unity candle was lit we said our “I love yous” and he helped me kneel down on the two pillows in front of the table, then kneeling beside me. We prayed silently during the end of the song, and once the song ended, my husband prayed aloud. He implored God to be the leader of our home, and to bless our marriage. He then prayed that God would help him to be the husband he needed to be for me and our future family. It was a touching and emotion filled wedding prayer.

Any wedding prayers offered during your wedding ceremony should be personal for you both as a couple as you join in marriage and ask God’s blessing on your lives together. Adding the prayer bench for our own personal wedding prayers was important for me because we wanted our whole wedding ceremony enveloped in prayer. In my humble personal opinion, having Godly men and women pray for you in important, and can be a real blessing. But being able to pray yourself and seek God’s face and blessing is so much more important.

Basically, I’ve written this article to say that your wedding prayers are indeed important, and should be a large part of your wedding ceremony. Depending on your culture or religion, there may be certain wedding prayers or readings that will be a part of your wedding ceremony. But it’s so important to be able to offer your own prayers to God for His blessings on your marriage.

See Wedding Help for more great wedding ideas.

Wedding Prayers by the Bride and Groom

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