About wedding ceremony music
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Wedding ceremony music has long been an important, treasured part of the tradition. It can set the mood for the day, and it can send an important message to your loved ones. It can even be a way of secretly communicating between the bride and the groom regarding a memory that a song represents to only them. Traditional music has long been used, but people have been more free in recent decades to use pop love songs or any songs that they feel reflect their love and future marriage. In fact, there can be dozens of songs that end up being a part of a wedding ceremony.
Types of Wedding Songs
Some people want to coordinate a soundtrack to their entire wedding. However, others stick to only the basics. Prelude music will play while the guests arrive and are seated. It continues as the maid of honor, best man and bridesmaids find their places. The groom should also get into place as the prelude music plays. If there are any delays, the prelude music can keep guests entertained as they await the bride's interest. When the bride is ready to walk down the aisle--traditionally alongside her father--processional music is played. "Bridal Chorus from Lohengrin" by Richard Wagner was the old standard, but anything goes now.
A special song is usually chosen for the lighting of the unity candle, a tradition of bonding symbolically and physically that makes for beautiful photographs and memories. A love song that truly reflects the unique love between the bride and groom should be chosen. Recessional music is played as the bride and groom walk out the door. It continues as everybody empties the room. As the ceremony continues to the reception, important song choices are the couple's first dance together, as well as father/daughter and mother/son dances.
Popular Wedding Songs
If you want to stick to pure traditional music for walking down the aisle, you should pick "Bridal Chorus from Lohengrin" (otherwise known as "Here Comes the Bride" by Richard Wagner. Pachelbel's "Canon in D" also sticks with tradition. "All I Ask of You" from "The Phantom of the Opera" is a very popular wedding song. "Blessed" by Marina McBride celebrates a couple's happy life with children. "Remember When" by Alan Jackson gives the view of a couple that have been married for many years. "The Good Stuff" by Kenny Chesney is a reflection from a newlywed man after a first fight with his wife.
"The Way You Look Tonight" was used as a dance song in "Father of the Bride," and there is a great version of that song by Olivia Newton-John on her album "Warm and Tender." Although the album was designed as a child's lullaby album, there are many songs on it for grown-ups. Olivia's lush voice and live orchestra recording alongside her make for wonderfully romantic music, and she deliberately put several love songs on there for everybody to enjoy. It's a great album to look at when making wedding music selection. "The Twelfth of Never" on it is also a beautiful song for couples.
Since the bride is likely to feel like a princess within a dream come true, many brides go back to their little girl dreams. Some choose a fairy tale theme for the wedding, at least in part, and a Disney love song fits the mood just right. "So This Is Love," "Kiss the Girl" and "Beauty and the Beast" make for undeniably beautiful wedding music.
Thinking Outside the Box
Sometimes a couple choose wedding songs that would seem out of place during such a beautiful day of union. "I Honestly Love You" by Olivia Newton-John has been a wedding song since the year it was released, but the actual song is about a love affair that did not work out. Some have even chose "Independence Day" as their wedding song, since a marriage can truly mean independence for the love a couple feels, but that song is actually about spousal abuse.
Modern Means
Although it was long tradition for a bride to consult a DJ and wedding planner regarding gathering dozens of CDs and cuing up just the right song at the right moment, now choosing and coordinating the music has gone digital. A couple may even set aside a mini iPod for just putting their wedding music on. On the day of the ceremony, the couple use an enhanced sound system to get the play list heard by everyone. If using an actual iPod on the day of the wedding scares you because of technical failures or you simply want to be assured that you have the best quality sound in a traditional venue's speakers, you can use the iPod or mp3 player as a guide and list for a coordinator to gather his music from.
Pop Culture
The wedding ceremony music has also been an important part of pop culture. "The Wedding Singer" is a film that spoofed the idea of a wedding singer and wedding music. In the much-beloved 1991 remake of "Father of the Bride," Steve Martin walks Kimberly Williams down the isle to Canon. A couple that has been on-and-off for much of the duration of the long run of "The Young and The Restless" has always had "Through the Eyes of Love" as their wedding ceremony song. (Yes, they have been married more than once.)
Source: www.ehow.com
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