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Wedding Ceremony Music For Those Of Us Who Can't Afford Elton John At The Piano

Written by Sheena Barnes

Finding the perfect music for your wedding ceremony is far from easy. On the one hand, there is so much to choose from. On the other, there is very little out there that is genuinely new and different. Fortunately the explosion in websites that allow you to download samples of some of the most popular options has made finding the right music a whole lot easier. Indeed, there are now one or two people who will actually write something especially for you; but more of that later.

A church wedding service can typically be divided up into four sections from a musical point of view. First there is the music that welcomes everyone into the church. Then there is the entrance of the bride. Third, an anthem may be sung, or another piece of music performed or played - often during the signing of the register and finally there is the music that plays while everybody leaves. Of course, there are often hymns sung too.

For this article we are going to focus on the third of these musical moments; the music that is typically used during the signing of the register.

This is a key moment in the service as the bride and groom commit pen to paper and begin their new life together in earnest, but for the congregation, it really needs something to hold the emotion of what has just gone by; the exchanging of vows and rings, the lifting of the veil, and the kiss.

Solo flute, harp or cello music is often chosen and the performer may often suggest a number of pieces from their own repertoire that they feel are particularly suitable. However, if you are going to play a recording, then the choice can be overwhelming…which combined with the fact that many churches can be quite strict about what they allow to be played, can make things quite tricky. So, here are a number of suggestions that you might like to consider.

The first five pieces are by John Rutter, probably one of the best known living composers for choirs and an Englishman with impeccable credentials. In 1980 he was made an honorary Fellow of Westminster Choir College, Princeton, and in 1988 a Fellow of the Guild of Church Musicians. In 1996 the Archbishop of Canterbury conferred a Lambeth Doctorate of Music upon him in recognition of his contribution to church music. The pieces are ‘The Lord bless you and keep you’, ‘A Gaelic blessing’, ‘God be in my head’, ‘The Lord is my shepherd’ and ‘Open thou mine eyes’.

Next we have ‘Haec dies’ by William Byrd, another English composer, but this time of the Renaissance. He died in 1623 and wrote some simply beautiful choral works.

Third we have Charles Stanford’s ‘Beati quorum via’. Charles Stanford was an Irishman who died early in the 20th century and had, has a fantastic reputation for choral works. Finding one favourite among his repertoire of works was extremely difficult.

Next we have ‘My spirit sang all day’ by Gerald Finzi, and ‘Ave Maria’ by Franz Biebl.

Finally there is ‘Tota pulchra es’ by Michael Leighton Jones.

If none of those classics is quite right for you but you are still interested in the magic of an acappella sound when you are signing the register, then you might like to consider an alternative that was certainly not around in William Byrd’s day, or even Charles Stanford’s…unless of course you happened to be the reigning monarch. This is the option of actually having something composed specifically for you…much as Diana might have done had her friendship with Elton come much earlier in her life. Many composers offer this service, at a price, but generally there is then a further challenge of finding a choir to learn the piece and the costs involved in so doing. However, there is also the option, as provided by Bella Acappella, (And perhaps others, but the author has yet to find them) of having your names and wedding vows recorded for you in a beautiful wedding anthem before your big day. A recording you can then keep, like your photos, forever.

So, even for those of us who perhaps cannot afford to have Elton singing at our wedding, there are some beautiful pieces of music to choose from, and if you like, you may choose to have a piece that’s written specially for you.

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