ceremony music

kmg977

hey everyone!! I need some advice.  I will be becoming fully Catholic at the Easter Vigil this year so I am new to the Church and have not attended very many Catholic weddings.  I know that the song choices have to be more traditional, and contemporary songs are not an option. I do however want music that is not overwhelmingly traditional.  It is not that I hate traditional music it is just that I would really like some songs that arn't played at EVERY Catholic wedding.  Anyone have any suggestions of songs to play that will work at a Catholic wedding but are a bit different?  We are also not having a full mass so we won't need to have to a communion song.  Any suggestions would be great.  Thanks everyone! 

berrytr

In my parish, we were allowed to choose any songs we wanted as long has they had a sacred message.  Most of the songs I selected are contemporary gospel and urban gospel songs.  I would recommend a talk with your priest to determine how much flexibility you may have.

[Deleted User]

It depends on how strict the Priest is that is marrying you. For example, my FI wanted "Here Comes the Bride" aka the Wedding March played at our wedding. After discussing it with our church organist and her checking on it with the Priest, he said no b/c it was not sacred and approved by the church. The song is actually from one of Shakespeare's plays and it is about a couple in the bedroom...lol, but it wasn't allowed. But, don't let this discourage you from choosing a non-traditional song, but just make sure you ask your Priest and/or organist so there are no surprises.  A great website to check out in planning your wedding is: catholicweddinghelp.com. Almost all of your answers to any of your questions will be there. It has been a great help to my FI and I in our planning.

Btw- congrats about coming into the church. It is so exciting, I just went through it this past April (was baptized Catholic, but never got the rest of the sacraments) It is a truly wonderful ceremony when you are confirmed. Congrats again and many blessings!

GulfCoaster

Here is the list we used at our wedding... 

Processional: "O the Deep, Deep Love of Jesus"
Offertory:  "Love Divine, all Loves Excelling"
Communion:  "Christ, Be Our Light"
Presentation of flowers to Mary:  Salve Regina plainchant
Recessional:  An organ piece that I cannot for the life of me remember 

Maybe that will give you some inspiration...  Definitely talk to the priest and the parish music director to figure out what the guidelines are.

kmm2150

Our church was pretty conservative on most things  - no recorded music allowed, only instruments, etc., but they let me walk into the processional played in The Sound of Music at Maria and Captain Von Trap's wedding.  It's by Rogers and Hammerstein, but I guess because it is for a catholic wedding in the play, it was ok?  Or maybe the organist just likes it, I don't know.  Anyway, I thought it was different and I love that movie, so that was one thing we did to mix up the music.  If you're working with the church's wedding coordinator or music director or organist, see if they have a list of songs and then just youtube them to see what you like.

Ckirwin

there are actually two wedding marches, the Wedding March (Here Comes the Bride) is from Richard Wagner's opera Lohengrin, and the Bridal March is by Mendelssohn and was written for Shakespeare's Midsummer's Night's Dream. Here Comes the Bride is usually used for the bride's processional and the Mendelssohn for the recessional. i'm a classical violinist and really love these pieces and thankfully have a priest who's open to people using them (mainly because most people have no idea where these pieces actually come from) so i get to use both! but it's totally up to your priest so i would talk to them first about what their expectations are for music and then go from there. after all, you don't want to find the perfect song and then find out that they won't let you use it! GL!!