Catholic Weddings

XP: Catholic Ceremony - music

So for our Catholic ceremony, I was planning on bringing in a CD to play for the processional/recessional. (I found an instrumental version of "Marry Me" by Train that I loved and wanted to use instead of "traditional" / classic wedding music.) My church was going to allow this w/o issue, but their sound system just recently broke and they will not be replacing it any time soon.

As a result, I would have to bring in my own sound system (which I don't have) or find someone else who has one that I can borrow/rent. As I have enough on my plate for the next 18 days before the wedding (and renting/buying a sound system is not in my budget), I've decided to just have the organist play traditional music instead. I'm meeting with her tomorrow night to pick out music, and of course, am completely unprepared as this was not part of the plan up until this weekend.

I've been searching online and have found lists of music, and while I've had the chance to listen to a handful of songs, I'm already getting overwhlemed with the choices.

Any suggestions on the most popular songs used or personal favorites for music to use for processional and recessional for a Catholic ceremony? (music that she will likely be familiar with and has probably played before) She is experienced and will have her own suggestions, but I wanted to go in there without feeling/sounding like a completely clueless idiot... haha. Any suggestions would be appreciated.

Thanks in advance!
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Re: XP: Catholic Ceremony - music

  • At the top of the page there is a sticky with some of the music that has been used by some of the posters here.

    Also, a few threads down from yours is a thread about this same topic, with some new ideas from posters.  =)

    Also, I'm glad you've decided to go with live, traditional music.  It will sound a million times better than recorded!
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  • Here are some popular ones:

    Mother’s procession (pick 1-14)  Gentle woman (Landry)

    Bridal party procession (pick 3-14)  Canon in D (Pachelbel)

    Bride’s march (pick 3-14)  Bridal Chorus (Wagner) ("Here comes the bride")

     

    Responsorial Psalm (pick 15-19 only if you have a vocalist)___________________

     

    Church music for full mass (Communion) (pick 20-41)

     

    1. Offertory Irish Wedding Song (traditional)

    2. Peace Bridal Prayer (Copeland)

    3. Communion One Bread One Body (Foley)

    4. Meditation Be Thou My Vision (traditional Irish)

     

    Recessional (pick from 42-46)

    Wedding March (Mendelssohn)

     

  • Wagner and mendelsohn wedding marches are not allowed in the Catholic church. 
  • [QUOTE]Wagner and mendelsohn wedding marches are not allowed in the Catholic church. 
    Posted by agapecarrie[/QUOTE]
    Well, obviously at the previous poster's church they ARE...
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  • We've beaten that horse a thousand times.  Some churches allow Wagner/Mendelsohn, others don't.  Some people have a problem with this, others don't.
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  • Actually, it is against the official rubrics of the mass.

    Just because priests don't enforce it doesn't make the rule any less there. 
  • [QUOTE]Actually, it is against the official rubrics of the mass. Just because priests don't enforce it doesn't make the rule any less there. 
    Posted by agapecarrie[/QUOTE]
    Oh, really? It is? I'd love to see that exact quote...

    The main reason that those pieces are forbidden is because they are "secular," or in the case of the Wagner, they are from something that makes a farce out of marriage. The specific pieces themselves aren't forbidden anywhere (except from perhaps a specific diocese or parish). The rubrics forbidding secular music (and secular-sounding) within the liturgy are in documents like De Musica Sacra, Tra Le Sollecitudini, and Musicam Sacram... 
    I find it amusing that you are so quick to point out the inappropriateness of these two wedding marches, and yet have seemingly no problem with secular-sounding "Life Teen" style music, which *ought* to be forbidden for the exact same reasons...
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  • BTW I'm beating this dead horse, b/c, Carrie, you have more than once been asked to "tone things down" or that told that your tone is "know-it-all," and you have always denied that ... and here is a perfect example... you are WRONG. A much more helpful and accurate and not "know-it-all-ish" thing to have said would have been, "many churches do not allow those pieces for these reasons ___. I personally think that they would even fall under the category of not being appropriate at all for any church use for these reasons ___" etc...
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  • Actually, the reason I was saying they are not allowed is because they are secular. Because of what you mentioned.

    Praise and worship isn't secular music. 

    Please don't be snarky with me. I haven't been with you. 
  • In Response to Re: XP: Catholic Ceremony - music:
    [QUOTE]BTW I'm beating this dead horse, b/c, Carrie, you have more than once been asked to "tone things down" or that told that your tone is "know-it-all," and you have always denied that ... and here is a perfect example... you are WRONG. A much more helpful and accurate and not "know-it-all-ish" thing to have said would have been, "many churches do not allow those pieces for these reasons ___. I personally think that they would even fall under the category of not being appropriate at all for any church use for these reasons ___" etc...
    Posted by lalaith50[/QUOTE]

    I disagree with you that I'm wrong. Its plain. It's secular music. Secular music isn't allowed in the mass. 
  • Riss91Riss91 member
    First Anniversary 5 Love Its Name Dropper Combo Breaker
    Can't secular muisic be used before/after the mass begins? Such as preludes, postludes?
  • If it's not a Mass, is Wagner allowed?  Carrie said it's against the rubrics of the Mass, which I can understand, but am just curious about non-Mass weddings.  I've been to quite a number of non-Mass Catholic weddings where Wagner's Wedding March was played.  It's not impossible that the churches were in error, but I'm just wondering if Mass versus not Mass might make a difference here?

     

  •  

    [QUOTE]In Response to Re: XP: Catholic Ceremony - music : I disagree with you that I'm wrong. Its plain. It's secular music. Secular music isn't allowed in the mass.

    Posted by agapecarrie[/QUOTE]

    Like I said.. .please show me where the church rubrics say, "Wagner and mendelsohn wedding marches are not allowed in the Catholic church. " Rather, the statement "Secular music is not allowed in Catholic churches, and most churches consider these two pieces to be sufficiently 'secular' as to not be appropriate in church," would be more accurate, and... actually true!

    Tra Le Sollecitudini 5:  "Still, since modern music has risen mainly to serve profane uses, greater care must be taken with regard to it, in order that the musical compositions of modern style which are admitted in the Church may contain NOTHING profane, be free from reminiscences of motifs adopted in the theaters, and be not fashioned even in their external forms after the manner of profane pieces."

    De Musica Sacra 68: “Other instruments … are to be played with such seriousness, and religious devotion that every suggestion of raucous secular music is avoided."

    Musicae Sacrae 42: “It (music) must be holy. It must not allow within itself ANYTHING that savors of the profane nor allow any such thing to slip into the melodies in which it is expressed.”

    (^emphases added)

    With regards to our current modern music, it sounds to my ear like contemporary “praise band” music FAAAAAR more defies these rubrics of the church than either of the two wedding marches, by deliberately attempting to sound like modern popular/secular music! 

    So, my point is… I’m not sure why exactly you’re getting on your high horse about this… Contemporary "praise band" music has, to the modern 21st century ear, a far closer association to "secular sounding music" than the two wedding marches! Yes, it's true that they are *originally* from secular sources, but guess what? Over the history of the Catholic Church, a HUGE percentage of music (even Gregorian chant, polyphonic Mass settings, etc,) developed directly from secular melodies! The vast majority of brides getting married today don't even have a clue that these are secular melodies... the only place THEY have ever heard them is in church! So, really, you're going to tell me that it is MORE inappropriate to do these loosely, from long ago, originally secular marches, and yet it's fine to do contemporary praise music that is written in a style that deliberately emotes the sound of current popular music?

    I'm not saying that contemporary praise band music actually isn't appropriate for Mass.. I'm just saying that someone who thinks it's fine shouldn't be arguing that other forms of secular-related music AREN'T.

     

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  • [QUOTE]Can't secular muisic be used before/after the mass begins? Such as preludes, postludes?
    Posted by Riss91[/QUOTE]
    I don't se why not, other than common sense that you're still in a church, and ought to only use appropriate music. But I don't think there's a document that forbids that.
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  • lalaith50lalaith50 member
    First Anniversary 5 Love Its First Comment Name Dropper
    edited May 2013
    [QUOTE]If it's not a Mass, is Wagner allowed?  Carrie said it's against the rubrics of the Mass, which I can understand, but am just curious about non-Mass weddings.  I've been to quite a number of non-Mass Catholic weddings where Wagner's Wedding March was played.  It's not impossible that the churches were in error, but I'm just wondering if Mass versus not Mass might make a difference here?
    Posted by Resa77[/QUOTE]
    Don't worry, Carrie's wrong. (She doesn't know nearly as much about liturgical music as she likes to think she does.) As my previous post hopefully demonstrated - the Wedding March is only forbidden to the degree that it is "secular music." And like other forms of actual form of secular or secular-sounding music which are regularly used in the litrugy at many churches, I'm not holding my breath for them to be more explicitly forbidden.
    Regarding the appropriateness of secular music outside of Mass, the documents/rubrics speak of it in terms of "at the liturgy" or "for the Sacraments," or even as vague as "in the Church," so I think it's safe to say that the non-Mass ceremony would still qualify. (Actually, I guess that would modif my response to Riss... the quote from Tra Le does simply reference "in the church," so I suppose that would include preludes and postludes.)
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  • [QUOTE]  Please don't be snarky with me. I haven't been with you. 
    Posted by agapecarrie[/QUOTE]
    P.S. Which statement exactly was snarky? (preferably prior to that quote.)

    I wasn't snarky. I meant everything I said 110%. Sorry if you can't take seriously a discussion that criticizes and points out the inconsistencies with your position.
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  • [QUOTE]Lalaith, from what Carrie has said about herself, I know that she is involved extensively with music ministry at her parish and has been involved with numerous weddings.  In what capacity are you involved to teh point where you know more than she does? 
    Posted by TXKristan[/QUOTE]
    Well, since you asked...

    I have two degrees (undergraduate and masters) in music from a very prestigious public university, and I have been an organist, cantor, choir director, AND pianist at 6 different parishes over the past 15 years.

    So, since we're now talking about "qualifications"... what does Carrie have, other than being "involved" in music?

    I'm sure I have done just as many weddings as she has. Unlike her, I just choose to not mention things like the exact number of weddings I've played for... as if that actually makes someone more "qualified." I've read and even studied nearly every single document from the Church regarding music from the past century. I don't think I'm "unqualified" to discuss which songs are inappropriate. I've still yet to see someone show me how the Wedding Marches are explicitly forbidden, anymore than other music I've discussed here previously. According to the quote from the USCCB, 90% of wedding recessionals and processionals that are commonly used wouldn't be allowed... For example, can anyone tell me how Canon in D is "liturgical?" ;-) 
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  • "Oh, really? It is? I'd love to see that exact quote..."
    Lala, you CANNOT tell me the above quote from you wasn't snarky.  


    SaveSave
  • There is 100% no reason to be nasty to one another on this topic.
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  • I have no idea why I'm the target of this discussion. 

    I'm not on a high horse.  I just simply stated some basics that are understood. As I said, for the 2nd time now, simply because its secular, that is why it isn't allowed. And to have my credentials challenged now is bringing back memories of another poster who has no idea of my background either. 

    Praise and worship isn't secular. It's Christian. As you said, if we're going to call p/w secular due to its instrumentation, then so is organ, (used at ball games, horror movies, musicals). 

    But I'm going to excuse myself from this discussion now.


  • [QUOTE]" Oh, really? It is? I'd love to see that exact quote..." Lala, you CANNOT tell me the above quote from you wasn't snarky.  
    Posted by monkeysip[/QUOTE]
    Actually, it wasn't. I'm still waiting on the actual quote that forbids the Wedding Marches. I'm thinking... It really MUST exist, otherwise why would Carrie have been so *insistent* that these two pieces are forbidden, and no other pieces or styles of music that are actually also related to secular music are forbidden (eg, like I've already mentioned, they style of music of "contemporary Christian" music sounding exactly like secular popular music, or even a piece like Canon in D which is not explicitly sacred.)

    By this logic, we should NOT be using "Ode to Joy" as an instrumental recessional, since it is originally (and relatively recently) composed for Beethoven's 9th Symphony, which is definitely not sacred, and is very humanistic. Why don't I see Carrie making a statement that this piece is FORBIDDEN in Catholic churches? Well? Because obviously it's not as simple as that.

    Which is why know-it-all, innacurate, blanket-statements like "Wagner and Mendelssohn Wedding Marches are not allowed in the Catholic Church" are SIMPLY FALSE.

    I apologize if I am coming across as nasty. That is certainly not my intent. I just hate it when misinformation is perpetuated. If anyone has actually been reading everything I have written, I hope by now I have made clear that this question of the wedding marches is AMBIGUOUS. It is not helpful to state it in black and white terms.

    Carrie, I love how you're like pretending to be all clueless, "why am I the target of this discussion?" BECAUSE YOU ARE THE ONE WHO MADE A FALSE STATEMENT AND WILL NOT RETRACT IT, AND KEEP ON INSISTING ON IT. GOOD FREAKING GRIEF.
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  • [QUOTE]I have no idea why I'm the target of this discussion.  I'm not on a high horse.  I just simply stated some basics that are understood. As I said, for the 2nd time now, simply because its secular, that is why it isn't allowed. And to have my credentials challenged now is bringing back memories of another poster who has no idea of my background either.  Praise and worship isn't secular. It's Christian. As you said, if we're going to call p/w secular due to its instrumentation, then so is organ, (used at ball games, horror movies, musicals).  But I'm going to excuse myself from this discussion now.
    Posted by agapecarrie[/QUOTE]
    #1 I did not challenge your credentials. Another poster questioned MINE (as if "credentials" are something that is needed to engage in an internet debate!) and so I figured that since mine had been questioned, it was only fair to ask about yours. So please don't compare me to another poster who is nothing like me, and has completely different motives than me.

    #2 I'm not the one who has to be defending right now any music or instrument  and whether it's appropriate for church. Umm... you're the one who made the statement about pieces being forbidden b/c they are secular, and I have spent this entire (apparently lost on you) discussion trying to show how there are MANY things that are equally related to secular music that, if you're using that argument, ought ALSO to be excluded from church. 
    Fine with me if we throw out the organs! But long before that, we'd better throw out anything that has even a semblance of similarity to secular music - notably, just about anything performed by a "praise band." And guess what? All we have left is Gregorian Chant! Works for me! ;-)

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  • [QUOTE]In Response to Re: XP: Catholic Ceremony - music : Lala, there was no reason to think that I challenged / doubted / I questioned your credentials .... I was just simply curious what your background is.
    Posted by TXKristan[/QUOTE]
    ?
    I didn't use any of the words "challenge" or "doubt" regarding you. I only said you "questioned," which I think is exactly what you did. Nothing wrong with that.
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  • Can I just say, thank you LaLa.  

    I've been to a few catholic weddings that have had the marches and it wasn't an issue, and I really appreciate your statements.  There were very on point to the research I've found.

    Oh and my credentials are wedding guests to numerous weddings, currently planning one, have grown up in the Catholic church, and I come from a very devote Catholic family.  
  • In Response to Re: XP: Catholic Ceremony - music:
    [QUOTE]
    Posted by MedStudent13[/QUOTE]

    Like.
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  • In Response to Re: XP: Catholic Ceremony - music:
    [QUOTE]
    Posted by MedStudent13[/QUOTE]

    Heheheh... yes it did :-)  We Catholics can argue amongst ourselves about as effectively as with non-catholics!
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