Wedding Ceremony Music

Traditional, Classical, and Contemporary Songs for Your Wedding Ceremony
By Nina Callaway, About.com Guide

It's the moment you've been waiting for - you and your bridal party making a grand entrance and walking down the aisle. But what will you choose for your wedding ceremony music? Music has the power to set a mood, evoke emotion, and give a moment cohesiveness. Are you a traditional Wagner's "Here Comes the Bride" and Pachelbel's "Canon in D" type of couple? Or are you more contemporary, looking for a song that captures your spirit like Norah Jones's "Come Away with Me"? Here is a list of both classic and contemporary wedding ceremony music. Many of the songs can be used for processionals and recessionals, and/or serve as prelude music (when your guests are finding seats and waiting for the ceremony to begin) or postlude music (when your guests are exiting, and/or waiting in the receiving line).


Traditional Wedding Ceremony Music

•"Bridal Chorus from Lohengrin" (Richard Wagner) (also known as "Here Comes the Bride")

•"Canon in D" (Johann Pachelbel)

•"Guitar Concerto in D Major", Largo, (Antonio Vivaldi)

•"Air" (from Water Music Suite), (George Frederic Handel)

•"The Prince of Denmark's March" (Trumpet Voluntary in D major) (Jeremiah Clarke)

•"Procession of Joy" (Hal Hopson)

•"Rigaudon" (Andre Campra)

•"Wedding March" (from The Marriage of Figaro), (Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart)

•Prelude from "Te Deum" (Marc-Antoine Charpentier)

•"Trumpet Tune and Air" (Henry Purcell)

•"Trumpet Voluntary" (John Stanley)


Other Classical Wedding Ceremony Music

•"Coronation March for Czar Alexander III" (Peter I. Tchaikovsky)

•"Overture" (from Royal Fireworks Music), (George Frederic Handel)

•"Promenade" (from Pictures at an Exhibition), (Modest Mussorgsky)

•"Sinfonia" (from Cantata No. 156), (Johann Sebastian. Bach)

•"Cantata No.29" (Johann Sebastian Bach)

•"Prelude and Fugue in C" (Johann Sebastian Bach)

•"Toccata" (from L'Orfeo), (Claudio Monteverdi)

•"Romance from String Quartet" (Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart)

•"Piano Concerto No. 21 in C major" ("Elvira Madigan") (Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart)

•"Trumpet Tune in A-Major" (David N. Johnson)

•"A Midsummer Night's Dream, incidental music, Op. 61 Wedding March" (Felix Mendelssohn)

•"Winter," Largo or "Spring" Allegro (from The Four Seasons), (Antonio Vivaldi)


Contemporary Songs Appropriate for Wedding Ceremonies

•"At Last" (Etta James)

•"Only Time" (Enya)

•"Come Away With Me" (Norah Jones)

•"Appalachia Waltz" (Yo-Yo Ma, Edgar Meyer, Mark O'Connor)

•"Unforgettable" (Nat King Cole and Natalie Cole)

•"It's Only Time" (Magnetic Fields)

•"The Look of Love" (Dionne Warwick/Burt Bacharach)

•"The Vow" (Jeremy Lubbock)

•"Come What May" (Nicole Kidman and Ewan McGregor)

•"Storybook Love" from the movie "The Princess Bride" (Willy DeVille)

•"Wedding Processional" (from The Sound of Music) (Richard Rodgers & Oscar Hammerstein)

•"Can't help falling in love" (Elvis Presley)

•"What A Wonderful World" (Louis Armstrong)

•"When I'm Sixty-Four" (The Beatles)



XOXO
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