Day 11 -If music be the food of love……………let’s fine dine.
The most important piece of music on your wedding day is undoubtedly The Processional Song. The average processional song is around one and a half minutes, but your timing depends on the length of the aisle and the number of people in your Bridal Party.
Top tip no #1 – make sure your processional song is long enough. As there is nothing worse than a bride walking those last few yards in silence.
Instead of choosing one song there is a trend now for brides to choose a professionally created cd that is bespoke to their ceremony. It can allow the focus on certain elements of the song so that the most important part of the song features in the Procession. Sometimes a song that is particularly important to the Bride and Groom may not convey the mood of a Processional song, so by focussing on the melody to keep the piece recognisable, a more delicate accompaniment can be added to capture the Processional feel.
One bride chose The Beatles, Here comes the Sun, not an obvious Processional Song. After some careful arranging it became the perfect song to walk down the aisle to – https://youtu.be/9HNTF7DqW0g
A more recent trend that I see is couples requesting bespoke Processional Mash-ups. This is two carefully crafted pieces of music that start with one piece as the bridal party walks up the aisle and then seamlessly flows into a second song for the bride’s walk down the aisle.
If you’re not sure how that would sound listen to this Mash-up, which combines both the modern and the traditional. The piece starts with Pachelbel’s Canon for the Bride to walk in to and then the Bridal Party enter to Ed Sheeran’s Perfect – https://youtu.be/M-WoSoAvzA8
You can take this a step further and have two songs that flow in and out of each other, with different elements for your Bridesmaids, Flower Girls, Page Boy and Bride. This example comprises A Million Dreams from The Greatest Showman with a modern arrangement of Jonathan Cain’s Bridal March – https://youtu.be/usjgDD0W2U8
Top tip No #2 – make sure you choose enough music; more is better in this case.
Most wedding ceremony playlist’s will include: five or six songs which play as your guests are arriving; The Processional; two or three songs for The Signing of the Register; and The Recessional Song. The Recessional is generally a more fun and upbeat song with a celebratory feel. A bespoke Cd by its nature can include any number of songs.
As you’ve seen music is adaptable in the right hands. This mash-up wasn’t designed for a Processional but I want to share it with you as it is a mash-up of the two Processional songs I’m asked for the most. It would work nicely for a longer Procession or for the Signing of the Register perhaps. Christina Perri – A Thousand Years and Ed Sheeran – Perfect – https://youtu.be/fUcJJORMnlA
If you would like to add a touch of elegance to your wedding day contact me at Theweddingpianist@yahoo.com I can create a bespoke piano cd or digital playlist for your ceremony, drinks reception and/or wedding breakfast that will be the soundtrack of your wedding and one you can listen to again and again.
