Catholic Weddings

Need help picking a hymn!

Hi everyone!

We just met with the church's wedding coordinator, and she gave us a list of typically used songs to get us started looking at ceremony music for the wedding. Most of their suggestions are ok, but their hymn choices are awful! Does anyone have any good hymns that fit well with a wedding theme? The requirements are that it needs to be sung (set to music) and it must be from the Psalms.
Please let me know your ideas! Thanks!

Re: Need help picking a hymn!

  • lalaith50lalaith50 member
    First Anniversary 5 Love Its First Comment Name Dropper
    edited December 2011
    now, do you prefer more "traditional" hymns, or more contemporary sounding music? 
    (I'm curious what you consider "awful," so as to give suggestions that are the opposite!)
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  • edited December 2011
    Well, as is typical in most Catholic churches, they don't allow contemporary. Traditional is definitely what I'm looking for. Their psalms were #34 "Taste and See the Goodness of the Lord" and #103 "The Lord is Kind and Merciful."  It's not that I dislike their suggestions in and of themselves, it's that they didn't have anything to do with weddings. I'm just looking for Psalms that are more wedding themed and would flow better with the rest of the ceremony.
  • lalaith50lalaith50 member
    First Anniversary 5 Love Its First Comment Name Dropper
    edited December 2011
    so you're looking for an actual Psalm for the "readings" part of the ceremony? That is rather different from a hymn.
    There aren't really any psalms which are explicityly wedding oriented...but maybe try Psalms 33, 34, 112, 128,145, 148?
    Anniversary
  • edited December 2011
    I feel like the hymns in the Together for Life book, while not explicitly "wedding themed," are quite appropriate for a wedding -- they speak to qualities my future husband and I hope to strengthen in each other throughout our marriage.
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  • edited December 2011
    Thanks, I'll check those out. I already looked through the pslams in the Together for Life book, but our  music coordinator told me that many of those are not set to music and therefore can't be used, so it's not the best place to start.
  • doctabroccolidoctabroccoli member
    First Comment
    edited December 2011
    Hi Ash -
    Despite that your wedding is in January, what about one of the easter psalms ("This is the Day the Lord Has Made", etc.)?  There really aren't many wedding psalms - the only one I could think of, which is very non-standard, is "Arise My Love", which is based off of a passage from Song of Songs and some from I don't remember where else.  However, the Easter psalms are a little more positive/ upbeat/optimistic sounding, and maybe that's what you're desiring?
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  • HandBananaHandBanana member
    First Anniversary First Comment
    edited December 2011
    We did "I Have Loved You" which is very uplifting optimistic psalm.
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  • lalaith50lalaith50 member
    First Anniversary 5 Love Its First Comment Name Dropper
    edited December 2011
    In Response to <a href="http://forums.theknot.com/Sites/theknot/Pages/Main.aspx/cultural-wedding-boards_catholic-weddings_need-picking-hymn?plckFindPostKey=Cat:Cultural%20Wedding%20BoardsForum:615Discussion:a097e9e1-d86d-4a02-aa0b-daa9927cf76bPost:1016d22a-07d9-4965-bebe-f9eeca7c327e">Re: Need help picking a hymn!</a>:
    [QUOTE]We did "I Have Loved You" which is very uplifting optimistic psalm.
    Posted by HandBanana[/QUOTE]
    I'm pretty sure that the text of that is from Jeremiah, so it's definitely not a "psalm." (But, I still can't figure out whether the OP is looking for <strong>hymns</strong> or <strong>psalms</strong>, so I guess I'm not going to be much help to this conversation...)
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  • allegratreeallegratree member
    First Comment
    edited December 2011

    Here's what we are doing for hymns:

    Gathering Hymn (after the procession): All Creatures of Our God & King

    Responsorial Psalm: An original setting of Ps. 104 that I am writing specifically for our wedding.

    Offertory Hymn: Lord of All Hopefulness (awsome for a wedding, but be sure to use all 4 verses because they do tell a story).

    Communion Hymn: Eat This Bread (Taize)

    We are not having a unity candle (thank God!), but are doing a devotion to Mary.  We will be using the Gounod Ave Maria for that.

  • allegratreeallegratree member
    First Comment
    edited December 2011

    My suggestion is to ask to borrow a copy of your parish hymnal.  Most good hymnals have a comprehensive set of indicies in the back.  Just look for the Liturgical Index, and find the Wedding section (will probably be listed as Marriage or Matrimony, to coincide with the sacrament).  You're sure to find good, quality hymns that you know.  If your parish uses one of the disposable, throw-away type booklets like Breaking Bread/Music Issue (OCP), Seasonal Missalette (WLP), or Celebrating the Eucharist Missalette (LP), they will not have these indexes.  But most hardbound hymnals like Worship, Gather, and RitualSong (GIA) and Glory & Praise or JourneySongs (OCP) will have them.  PM me if you have any questions, as I am a church music director and am happy to help in any way I can. :-)

  • allegratreeallegratree member
    First Comment
    edited December 2011
    I Have Loved You is based on both Jeremiah AND Psalm 24.  I, of course, would suggest sticking with an actual Responsorial Psalm (rather than a hymn-like adaptation of one), but it certainly could be done.
  • edited December 2011
    Thanks everyone! I'm not actually getting married at my parish, and the church uses a different hymn book than most so it's harder for me to get a copy (the coordinator won't let me borrow one of theirs for a few days, which is frustrating). I'll talk to our music director about your suggestions; they sound great!
  • MuddyInsigniaMuddyInsignia member
    First Comment
    edited December 2011

    We did not sing the psalm, but had it spoke and used hymns elsewhere... I think it was easier that way for us, since we did not immediately have any psalm choices to sing

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  • edited December 2011
    In Response to <a href="http://forums.theknot.com/Sites/theknot/Pages/Main.aspx/cultural-wedding-boards_catholic-weddings_need-picking-hymn?plckFindPostKey=Cat:Cultural Wedding BoardsForum:615Discussion:a097e9e1-d86d-4a02-aa0b-daa9927cf76bPost:69c5bc67-f2df-4556-82f6-a439fd70df40">Re: Need help picking a hymn!</a>:
    [QUOTE]Thanks everyone! I'm not actually getting married at my parish, and the church uses a different hymn book than most so it's harder for me to get a copy<strong> (the coordinator won't let me borrow one of theirs for a few days, which is frustrating).</strong> I'll talk to our music director about your suggestions; they sound great!
    Posted by AshP12[/QUOTE]

    I guess it's different if you're unfamiliar with a) the parish and b) the songbook, but FI and I just sat for about ten minutes after mass and flipped through the hymnal, making a list of songs we liked, then we took that list home and discussed it further.
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