Anyone walk down the aisle to the bridal chorus?

tmeyer621

I've been dreaming of walking down the aisle to this song since I was a little girl! I heard most Catholic churches won't allow it. Ours is pretty flexible with rules so if other churches have allowed it, there's a good chance ours will! If you didn't walk down the aisle to this, what did you use or will you use?

agapecarrie

The bridal march from wagner in the opera accompanies the couple to the marriage bed (not down the aisle)--- all the while grotesque spirits displaying her sexual past mocking her for wearing white. They never consumate the marriage, but instead, she curses him to death by using his name. 

The church doesn't allow secular music, either. A good thing to evaluate is why you've wanted this song...because you saw it in a movie? I'm not trying to make light of things, but often times brides have "dreams" of things but not realizing where they actually came from.

There is an unlimited amount of music you can use. A hymn that people sing, instrumental, or classical music (canon is popular). 

How Beautiful by Twila Paris is nice, because it can be used for wedding party, then a key change for the bride. 

Calypso1977

my SIL's church is extremely liberal.  she walked in to that song.    im personally not a fan of it, for reasons unrelated to the story behind it.  i just think its corny.  LOL

Resa77

My sister always dreamed of walking down the aisle to this song, and was initially told "no."  They ended up allowing it. 

professorscience

In Response to <a href="http://forums.theknot.com/Sites/theknot/Pages/Main.aspx/cultural-wedding-boards_catholic-weddings_anyone-walk-down-aisle-bridal-chorus?plckFindPostKey=Cat:Cultural%20Wedding%20BoardsForum:615Discussion:422ff0f4-1ace-405f-8d0c-e333ad317a1fPost:ecbd6b42-0ed9-44ce-b71c-855f782594bf">Re: Anyone walk down the aisle to the bridal chorus?</a>:
[QUOTE]my SIL's church is extremely liberal.  she walked in to that song.    im personally not a fan of it, for reasons unrelated to the story behind it. <strong> i just think its corny. </strong> LOL
Posted by Calypso1977[/QUOTE]

<div>I agree.</div><div>
</div><div>However, you'll really just have to ask your church about it.  Agape's explanation of why it's not allowed is correct.  My church allowed it, even suggesting that if we used it, we really needed to throw in a trumpet to get the whole "regal feel."  If they say no, I'm sure you can find several suggestions for songs that make a similar statement.</div>

newlyseliski

There are a lot of beautiful alternatives to the bridal march!  Check out the link on Riss' post at the top of the forum with more catholic wedding info:

https://sites.google.com/site/theknotcatholicweddings/music

She links to my parish's wedding music site that lets you listen to several selections.  My church also did not permit the bridal march for the reasons that agape mentioned above.  My husband and I used Johnson's "Trumpet Tune in D" for the processional.  A close second for us was "Jupiter's Theme" by Holst (aka hymn "Oh God Beyond all Praising"). 

lalaith50

My old diocese (the one before I got married and moved,) actually forbid that song, mainly for the reasons that Agape mentioned. But also, ask yourself, do you really want to begin your marriage with a song that has such a negative marriage story attached to it?

catarntina

I used it.

chelseamb11

I'm doing Canon in D.  I absolutely adore that song and it sounds fantastic on the organ at the church.

Jay&Marissa

Check out the Trumpet Voluntary

ootmother2

My daughter used it and it was lovely.  The church where they married did allow some secular music and this was one of them.

Wagner was an accomplished composer and that particular opera was just another one of his works of art.   Quite often, over analyzing such a thing can greatly diminish it as the work of art that it is.

Riss91

I have heard of people using it, though it would not be my personal choice, for reasons mentioned above. You will have to see what your priest will allow. Some are more lenient about the processionals/recessionals because they occur outside the actual ceremony. However, they typical would advise against music with inappropriate connotations, which I believe exist in this specific song.

There are a ton of beautiful songs out there, I often enjoy when a bride goes "outside the box" with her processional music. We have set up a website (HERE) that includes a list of songs that other brides have used. You might find that one of these songs really speaks to you!

jfellows82

My church had it as an option, but I'm using Trumpet Voluntary.

professorscience

In Response to <a href="http://forums.theknot.com/Sites/theknot/Pages/Main.aspx/cultural-wedding-boards_catholic-weddings_anyone-walk-down-aisle-bridal-chorus?plckFindPostKey=Cat:Cultural%20Wedding%20BoardsForum:615Discussion:422ff0f4-1ace-405f-8d0c-e333ad317a1fPost:dc535f8a-0c8a-432a-b1c4-719f17a4fc4e">Re: Anyone walk down the aisle to the bridal chorus?</a>:
[QUOTE]I have heard of people using it, though it would not be my personal choice, for reasons mentioned above. You will have to see what your priest will allow. Some are more lenient about the processionals/recessionals because they occur outside the actual ceremony. However, they typical would advise against music with inappropriate connotations, which I believe exist in this specific song. There are a ton of beautiful songs out there,<strong> I often enjoy when a bride goes "outside the box" with her processional music. </strong>We have set up a website ( HERE ) that includes a list of songs that other brides have used. You might find that one of these songs really speaks to you!
Posted by Riss91[/QUOTE]

<div>Agree!  Our music director actually had to special order our recessional song because he'd never played it before (we'd heard it at a mass at another parish).</div>

lmeade62

I used Canon in D with a string quartet. It had tremendous meaning for me and i was determined to have it, but honestly...the first time I really heard it was when I watched my wedding video! My priest wouldn't allow the Wagner march, and I prefer the Canon anyway...

Linda

divinemsbee

Yeah, I wouldn't ever. Firstly because I'm an opera nut, and I don't like Wagner much and I find the story behind that peice to be disturbing. Second because Wagner was a pretty horrible person and a raging anti-Semite. But that's me.

ElisabethJoanne

My parish doesn't allow it, but it wasn't what I wanted, anyway. I like congregational singing, so I'm walking in to a congregational hymn, same as we do for the procession for Sunday Mass.

I do find all the arguments here just plain interesting. Canon in D has no opera story attached to it, but isn't a hymn. Holst wasn't exactly a great Christian, and Jupiter is a movement from a symphony that's pagan on its face. My recessional is by an atheist who wrote tons of church music, including the favorite of my parish and parents, which is my recessional. Even Bach's Mass in b minor wasn't meant for an actual Mass, though we wouldn't call it a secular piece. I've heard that the SSPX doesn't allow Bach to be played in its churches, because he was a Protestant.

So, while I respect the right of a church or parish or diocese to draw any lines it feels like regarding music played in connection with the administration of the sacraments - I even grew up around a lot of strict Presbyterians and Congregationalists who had only acapella metrical Psalms in church - the lines always seem arbitrary to me.