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music help/program/readings

Meaghann17Meaghann17 member
100 Comments
in Catholic Weddings
Hi ladies- 3 questions

I am getting married in a Catholic church, I am not Catholic but my fiance is. he is working a block of nights right now so I thought instead of waking/waiting for him I'd get some help before calling the church

1. I picked up the music selection options from the church organist who we have hired for our ceremony music. She laid it out really simply for us with a sample cd and a chart to help us pick which selection for which part. My question comes from the processional- she has it listed as the song that the parents, bridal party and the bride come down the aisle to. I like canon in d, and that was on the list but I had kind of expected to have that for parents and bridal party and then have here comes the bride for myself. My MOH (also Catholic)  just told me she thinks that here comes the bride is a secular song and thats why its not offered. Is it usual to have the parents, bridal party and bride come in to the same song? any guidance with this would be appreciated. I don't want to call the organist and seem rude/offend anyone.

2. I see lots of program advice on here, but we are not having a full mass. this was recommended by our Priest because a large majority of our wedding guests are not Catholic My etiquette book includes a program for a Catholic ceremony with communion, does anyone have a sample for one without?

3. The Priest mentioned that we would need 2 readers, 3 if we wanted someone to read the responsorial psalm (sorry if I spelt that wrong). Will we have that portion of the ceremony if we are not doing the full mass?

thank you! I will be confirming these points with the church, I just didn't want to call them up and seem crazy so I thought I'd get some guidance beforehand.
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Re: music help/program/readings

  • doctabroccolidoctabroccoli member
    1000 Comments
    edited December 2011
    Hi Meghann -
    "Here comes the bride" is a secular song.  Every once in a while a Church will allow it, but not always.  You can definitely have a different song for you, though.  Your organist sounds very micro-managey in the sense that she may not be open to other suggestions if she gave you a CD and stuff.  She must have other options for processionals on there.  Are there any of them that you like for yourself?
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  • Meaghann17Meaghann17 member
    100 Comments
    edited December 2011
    Hello! She does seem pretty "micro managy" haha. But she is also wonderful and very sweet. Also she is the organist for regular mass so we cut a corner by using her- anyone else the Priest wanted to have a sit down meeting with so since we knew her music already we went with her. Her daughter is a flutist and will also be accompanying her at the wedding which is wonderful.

    She did have a few choices for processional, I beleive about 4-5. I will take a look when I get home and then speak to her about having a different song for my processional. I am thinking I will keep canon in D for myself and make another selection for our families and bridal party.

    thank you!
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  • professorscienceprofessorscience member
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    edited December 2011
    Hello!  Our organist also gave us a CD of common selections, but we are allowed to make other requests as long as the music is appropriate (and the music director is the judge of that), so it can't hurt to ask.  And our CD actually had the Bridal Chorus (AKA "Here Comes the Bride") on it, even after I heard someone say it wasn't allowed.

    As for your program, here is a template from Catholic Wedding Help.  Click Here.  Hope that helps.
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  • Meaghann17Meaghann17 member
    100 Comments
    edited December 2011
    thank you prof!
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  • ootmother2ootmother2 member
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    edited December 2011
    We were allowed the Wedding March and a few other secular songs
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  • divinemsbeedivinemsbee member
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    edited December 2011
    Hi, new here and on TK in general, and no offense meant to anyone who is using it, but the Bridal Chorus comes from an  opera by Wagner (Lohengrin) in which the marriage the piece is sung after is a complete failure. The opera also contains a lot of pagan elements and Richard Wagner was a pretty well-documented anti-Semite. That's my personal reason for not using it, and I just like to make sure people know a little about the piece before they use it.

    I've worked in a lot of operas and did a lot of history of theater/opera courses for my degree.
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  • lalaith50lalaith50 member
    1000 Comments Third Anniversary 5 Love Its Name Dropper
    edited December 2011
    In Response to <a href="http://forums.theknot.com/Sites/theknot/Pages/Main.aspx/cultural-wedding-boards_catholic-weddings_music-helpprogramreadings?plckFindPostKey=Cat:Cultural%20Wedding%20BoardsForum:615Discussion:52704e61-88ab-47de-a436-ba3b9b886040Post:2e7047ae-9531-4cb6-86dd-6fbdf0e6298f">Re: music help/program/readings</a>:
    [QUOTE]Hi, new here and on TK in general, and no offense meant to anyone who is using it, but the Bridal Chorus comes from an  opera by Wagner (Lohengrin) in which the marriage the piece is sung after is a complete failure. The opera also contains a lot of pagan elements and Richard Wagner was a pretty well-documented anti-Semite. That's my personal reason for not using it, and I just like to make sure people know a little about the piece before they use it. I've worked in a lot of operas and did a lot of history of theater/opera courses for my degree.
    Posted by divinemsbee[/QUOTE]

    <div>I like your posts already! ;-) Glad you've started hanging around here! :-)</div>
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  • professorscienceprofessorscience member
    5000 Comments Third Anniversary 25 Love Its Name Dropper
    edited December 2011
    In Response to <a href="http://forums.theknot.com/Sites/theknot/Pages/Main.aspx/cultural-wedding-boards_catholic-weddings_music-helpprogramreadings?plckFindPostKey=Cat:Cultural%20Wedding%20BoardsForum:615Discussion:52704e61-88ab-47de-a436-ba3b9b886040Post:2e7047ae-9531-4cb6-86dd-6fbdf0e6298f">Re: music help/program/readings</a>:
    [QUOTE]Hi, new here and on TK in general, and no offense meant to anyone who is using it, but the Bridal Chorus comes from an  opera by Wagner (Lohengrin) in which the marriage the piece is sung after is a complete failure. The opera also contains a lot of pagan elements and Richard Wagner was a pretty well-documented anti-Semite. That's my personal reason for not using it, and I just like to make sure people know a little about the piece before they use it. I've worked in a lot of operas and did a lot of history of theater/opera courses for my degree.
    Posted by divinemsbee[/QUOTE]

    <div>I'm fairly certain the pagan references are why many churches don't allow it.  I didn't know the complete history behind it, I'm just not a fan of the song, so we won't be using it.  =)</div>
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  • Meaghann17Meaghann17 member
    100 Comments
    edited December 2011
    In Response to <a href="http://forums.theknot.com/Sites/theknot/Pages/Main.aspx/cultural-wedding-boards_catholic-weddings_music-helpprogramreadings?plckFindPostKey=Cat:Cultural%20Wedding%20BoardsForum:615Discussion:52704e61-88ab-47de-a436-ba3b9b886040Post:2e7047ae-9531-4cb6-86dd-6fbdf0e6298f">Re: music help/program/readings</a>:
    [QUOTE]Hi, new here and on TK in general, and no offense meant to anyone who is using it, but the Bridal Chorus comes from an  opera by Wagner (Lohengrin) in which the marriage the piece is sung after is a complete failure. The opera also contains a lot of pagan elements and Richard Wagner was a pretty well-documented anti-Semite. That's my personal reason for not using it, and I just like to make sure people know a little about the piece before they use it. I've worked in a lot of operas and did a lot of history of theater/opera courses for my degree.
    Posted by divinemsbee[/QUOTE]

    thank you!
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  • newlyseliskinewlyseliski member
    1000 Comments Fourth Anniversary Combo Breaker
    edited December 2011

    Ditto all the other ladies :)  My parish had everything pretty set and laid out for us as well.  We weren't permitted to have separate processionals for the wedding party and the bride, which I was a bit confused about because the transition wasn't too obvious other than the organist pausing and playing the same song in a slightly louder and more grand fashion!  In case this provides some additional options for you to choose from, here's our parish's music suggestions for prelude, processional, recessional:

    http://www.cathedralsaintpaul.org/wedding-music

    My personal preference for a processional is "Jupiter's Theme/Oh God Beyond All Praising"... but my younger sister stole it first for her wedding :)

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  • Meaghann17Meaghann17 member
    100 Comments
    edited December 2011
    thank you everyone!
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