SO stumped on music! Help!

Jenlouise21 · May 2010

Ok so here is the deal! My church doesn't allow "secular" music but the church coordinator said that they are very lenient. She said so long as the music mentions and/or glorifies God then it should be fine.

My fiance and I have a lot of songs that are special to us (most of which are country songs), many of them mention God. BUT I also like the elegance of having a piano. (Not an organ because it reminds me of a funeral)

So my question is: How can I incorporate both without breaking up the general flow of things? Or Do I need to just pick one or the other?

melissamc2 · May 2010

We're having a lot of secular music converted into piano pieces. That way everyone is happy.

aerinpegadrak · May 2010

You should be able to find piano versions. Do you have a pianist? If so, you can just get them the sheet music and you're fine. If you're looking at recorded music, you should still be able to dig around and find instrumental versions. We did video game music for the prelude and processional and Foo Fighters songs for the recessional and postlude, but it was piano versions of the former and string quartet versions of the latter, so it was still elegant.

brit_bell90 · May 2010

As long as there are no words to the song would it really matter?

Since all of our close friends are musicians, we're having one of our best friends play classical guitar for our ceremony. He's going to be playing our favorite songs, and no one will know what the lyrics are. For example there's a song with completely awful lyrics, but yet the song means so much to us so we'll probably be using that for our ceremony and no one will ever know since the music is absolutely beautiful without the lyrics.

jeegould · May 2010

My fiance and I are playing some soft worship music before our ceremony begins. If you're insterested in a few artisits you could look into Hillsong, Natalie Grant (she's got a country sound also), or Nicole Nordeman (uses the piano) . For our unity candle we're playing Matthew Wertz's "I Will Not Take My Love Away", which is Christian but very romantic. A lot of Christian artists have love songs so if you're still stumped or if your church insists on less secular songs there are a lot out there. But if you don't find any Christian songs that seem special, having instrumental piano music would be absolutly beautiful!!

[Deleted User] · May 2010

I suggest talking to the music coordinator at the church. (or whoever is in charge of the music). We did that and got some great suggestions, and the music was more beautiful than would have been if we had made all of the decisions! Some songs that we originally had in mind ended up being played over dinner at the reception instead of at the church.

nouveau_hobo · May 2010

Check through the lyrics. There is quite a bit of country music that has a mildly religious theme. Example Rascal Flats - God Bless the Broken Road. And save the really special songs you can't use for the reception.

Singer6 · May 2010

Being a music coordinator at my church and working for J.W. Pepper sheet music, I get a lot of interesting requests. I totally agree about asking the church's coordinator. He/She should have some sort of idea. You can also check out www.jwpepper.com. We have both eprint services and/or ship the same day for in stock orders.
As long as you get the music that means something in some way to you, that's what's important!

RochelleAnn2302 · May 2010

Could you possibly use the non-sacred music before or after the wedding during seating or the receieving line? My music coordinator told us our church requires sacred music during the ceremony but will allow secular during these times. Maybe have piano music during the ceremony and utilized the country music or whatever you want before/ after? The seating of the mothers/grandmothers I would think would not technically be part of the church service? (just my guess) so maybe you could use it up until there?

ebmargit · May 2010

I'm a musician (violinist) _and_ in school to be a pastor, so I can give you feedback on both points.

From the music standpoint: Have your pianist find sheet music online through sheetmusicplus.com or another site. You should pay the fee for the music (it's about $5 per piece). It's easy to find relatively good arrangements. Since you're having a pianist, rather than a different solo instrument, this will work out ok - having a piano (or for others reading, a string quartet) will make it so that you don't have to worry about a piece sounding like it's missing something. But trying to re-create a pop song on another instrument almost always sounds empty.

From the pastor standpoint: Pick a song, from whatever genre, that talks about the real love that you and your husband-to-be have for each other. I know this isn't a country song, but just for instance, "When I Fall in Love" is not a good choice because it's talking about that time, someday in the future, when a person will fall in love - not about the love you're celebrating that day, the love you've already found. Another inappropriate choice is a selection from the Phantom of the Opera (kidnapping, love triangle, etc. etc. makes for a good plot, but is not evocative of the love celebrated in a wedding, no matter how much you love the musical). Another option is to save the songs that are most meaningful to you for your reception and check out your church's hymn book to see if there are any melodies you like. "Be Thou My Vision" is really beautiful, for instance.

And for all you other folks out there, for heaven's sakes, don't use canned music for your ceremony. It's cheap and cheesy. There are plenty of qualified musicians out there who can make your day special, and it's worth shelling out the extra bucks (expect to pay between $150-$200 per musician for a ceremony, or about $500 for a quartet - remember you're paying for rehearsal time, expertise, and travel as well as the ceremony). Unless you're going bargain-basement for your wedding, this is going to be a pretty small percentage of your budget. And you don't have to pay for a service. If you live near a university, go online and email a professor of the instrument you want to see if they've got any college or grad students who would be willing or able to play your wedding. Most of them will have done it before and will know exactly how to make it work, and will also be able to make suggestions about wedding music if you're stumped.

Best of luck to you - hope you find something wonderful to make your day shine!

jerkehanson · May 2010

Have you heard the song by Matthew West called When I say I do? You would absolutely love it.

bridgeterdman · May 2010

Most churches now a days have sound systems. You usually walk down the aisle twice, coming and going, while music is playing, so you could play the piano pieces there because they can alway improvise for time instead of cutting into a song. And then while you are up lighting the unity candle/sand pouring, whatever you're doing you can play a country song because you usually stand up there and just kind of have private time during the ceremony anyways. So incorporate both, you don't need to find piano pieces in country songs, most you have to buy anyways, just play both, unless there is a piece you REALLY want played on the piano that is a country song, just remember, most singers adjust the key to their voice so the piano part may be written differently than what you remember, so choose wisely!!!

FrostedMini · May 2010

it's not piano music but check out Vitamin String Quartet They do many songs in strings and it sounds great!!!

love_my_tnt · May 2010

Any pianist should be able to accomodate you with the sheet music. Most churches tend to be lenient in regards to country music being used during the service.

SO stumped on music! Help!

Re: SO stumped on music! Help!

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