Choosing music for your wedding does not need to be a daunting experience. My advice is to break the service down and select music for the various parts. There are no right or wrong choices; after all - it's your day and you should feel free to choose the music you feel fits your ceremony in the best way.
You will usually need music for the following sections of the Wedding service, depending on how you choose to arrange your Wedding ceremony:
- Before the Bride Arrives
- Entrance of the Bride
- Wedding Hymns
- Signing of the Register
- Exit of Wedding Party
Before the Bride Arrives
There is usually a period of up to 15 minutes after your guests are seated in church before the Bride arrives. You could use pieces like Jesu Joy of Man's Desiring (JS Bach) or Canon in D (Pachelbel) to set the mood and to build some atmosphere.
Entrance of the Bride
The choice of music for the Bride to enter to will depend largely on the venue you have chosen. If you are having your wedding in a church, and that church has a decent organ, you can be faily free to choose what you want. If you are getting married in a Civil Ceremony, be aware that the distance the Bride will walk "down the aisle" will be faily short. This means you will need to choose a fairly short piece of music.
Some people think you need to have the Wagner Bridal March. This is not the case. Although the Bridal March is very popular and certainly traditional, you should choose a piece of music which you feel fits with the rest of your big day. Popular pieces include The Prince of Denmark's March (Clarke) or Trumpet Voluntary (Stanley).
Wedding Hymns
At least one of your wedding hymns should be chosen to tie into the readings which you want to use in the ceremony. However, a greater consideration is choosing a selection of hymns that people will know and that people will feel at ease singing along with. Popular wedding hymns include Morning Has Broken, Praise My Soul, the King of Heaven, Make me a Channel of your Peace, Lord of all Hopefulness and We Pledge to One Another.
Signing of the Register
Couples will often opt to have some music playing whilst they sign the register. You could ask a choir to sing a piece like Schubert's Ave Maria or Faure's Pie Jesu or you could ask a string quartet to play something similar. The aim is to give your guests something to listen to whilst the formal part of the Marriage ceremony is completed.
Exit of the Wedding Party
The final piece of music you should think about is the music you will leave to. It should be happy and uplifting, in line with the joyous act you have just completed. Popular choices of Exit music include The Arrival of the Queen of Sheba (Handel) or Tuba Tune (Lang).