Weddingbee Blog

Yep, totally made that word up.

But now that we’re 15 days out from our wedding, I realize I’ve neglected to really mention anything about the plans we have for our ceremony! And since the ceremony is kind of an important element of the wedding day (duh!), I figure I better fill you guys in on the ceremony elements we’re planning on implementing.

First of all, you should know that music is a VERY important part of who I am and where I come from. My dad and two of his three siblings were all vocal performance majors in college, and I grew up in a musical household. I, myself, was a vocal music minor in college, and my biggest passion lies in musical theater. I’ve been in something like 30 musical theater productions, starting at the age of seven. Our local community theater was my haven growing up, and my entire life I’ve been a member of a choir of some kind. When I say I love music, it’s kind of an understatement.

Naturally, then, when it came to selecting music for our ceremony, I took the job seriously. I didn’t want to use anything overly done in weddings, but I didn’t want to go so out of the box that the pastor wouldn’t approve what we selected. Right off the bat, there were a few pieces I knew I absolutely did NOT want to be included: “Canon in D,” “Trumpet Voluntary,” and “Ode to Joy.” I still wanted to use classical and/or religious pieces, but I wanted something a bit more unique. So, I brainstormed with our pianist and we’ve come up with a pretty smashing lineup of selections that I hope are fairly new to our guests! Here’s what we’ve got:

Prelude/family entrance:

“Sheep May Safely Graze” from Bach’s Birthday Cantata

This piece reminds me of a Victorian couple strolling beside a lake or through a park in some dreamy scene of a movie. I think has the perfect pace/rhythm for our family to be escorted down with and really sets the tone for the rest of the ceremony.

Bridal-party entrance:

“The Swan” from The Carnival of the Animals by Camille Saint-Saens

The minute I heard this song, I envisioned my lovely ladies each taking their turn down the aisle during our ceremony. It’s so pretty and delicate sounding, and I seriously cannot wait to hear this played at our wedding!

Bride’s entrance:

SURPRISE! I’m not sharing what I’m walking down the aisle to. I still haven’t gotten my first pick approved by our pastor, but I’m really hoping he agrees to let me use the song I have in mind. It’s a secular, nontraditional piece but sounds absolutely gorgeous played on the piano, and when I let my family hear it for the first time, they all started crying! I think it’ll make everyone who knows me super emotional, and I’ve really got my fingers crossed that our pastor comes through on this one. If my first pick DOESN’T get approved, my backup is a sweet, delicate arrangement of the traditional “Here Comes the Bride.”

Special music:

A real treat during our ceremony will be Bromadillo and MOH Henna performing an arrangement of “The Prayer” made famous first by Celine Dion. However, my favorite performance of the song is by Josh Groban and Charlotte Church:

Recessional:

Our pianist is just going to play a mash up of Mendelssohn’s “Wedding March” and “Ode to Joy” (even though that’s on my wedding ceremony DO NOT PLAY list!). I figure throwing something traditional and familiar into our ceremony would be comforting to our guests, and I don’t mind having some elements of traditional music utilized. Besides, I’ll be sooooo over the moon about being officially married, odds are I won’t even hear what’s being played as we walk down the aisle as husband and wife.

And there you have it—these are the musical selections for our ceremony. How’d I do, hive? You think this is a good mixture of unfamiliar and traditional that guests will appreciate? What nontraditional options for ceremony music are you considering? What are you walking down the aisle to (even though I’m a meanie and am not sharing mine)?