Cool!
When I was playing organ in the musician’s union, Here Comes the Bride was played as the processional about 25% of the time. Caonon in D and Ave Maria were both more popular. The RC diocese that I was in though, didn’t allow secular music.
Ode to Joy was a popular recessional.
My sister-in-law did Pachelbel’s Canon in D, rather than Here Comes the Bride, at her wedding last May.
Oh man! I just realized…I think it’s been almost 10 yrs since I’ve been to a wedding. I don’t remember what they played when the bride walked in.
Yeah, Pachelbel’s Canon is the one I most often hear these days for the processional at Catholic masses. Jesu, Joy of Man’s Desiring is also a common one. At our wedding, we did Bach’s Prelude in C Major to process and Ode to Joy to recess.
At my nephew’s wedding, nope. Don’t think they had anything I recognized.
One time, about two years ago. It isn’t really done much in my corner of the South.
My friend’s wife, who was sitting next to me, had to stifle a rather loud chuckle when she heard the first few notes.
I got married in 2006 at my Lutheran church, and I was pretty much allowed to have whatever music I wanted. I used the church organist, rather than hiring someone outside, and he was the only one from the church that I ever conferred with about the music. I wanted “Here Comes the Bride,” even though it’s trite, because I just liked the idea of having the traditional wedding music. I also used the Wedding March by Mendelssohn for the recessional, for the same reason.
It wasn’t played at the last three weddings I’ve been to. Two chose some other classical piece, and one was an instrumental version of a Beatles song (Let It Be, I think) that had a special meaning to the couple.
It wasn’t played at mine three years ago, either. I walked up the aisle to an instrumental version of “Fields of Gold” played and recorded by my wonderful husband.
Our recessional was the Throne Room March from Star Wars. I couldn’t talk my brother into doing a Wookiee yell, though. 
I hear it often, but not at every wedding. I think we played it at our wedding, but that was 12 years ago and I can’t remember. Have to ask Mrs. Tango, but she might not remember either.
(7) Some religions refuse to use it because of an association between Wagner and Nazi Germany.
In the movie Monsters vs. Aliens, Wagner isn’t even credited as the composer - the song is credited as, “Here Comes the Bride - Traditional.”
youtubes
Oh god I no idea that’s the name of that song. Yes, it screams wedding at me and ewwww.
My (first) wedding was in an Episcopal church and the priest said we could use any music we wanted except Here Comes The Bride.
I haven’t been to as many weddings as some of you (perhaps 15 or so?) and the first time I have heard the Wagner used was just yesterday. They also had the Mendelssohn for their recessional, which again seems to be rarely used nowadays - Handel’s “Arrival of the Queen of Sheba” is much more popular (and always strikes me as amusing for the recessional, when everyone is leaving rather than arriving). Widor’s Toccata is very overdone as well (and sadly, often by organists for whom it is beyond their capabilities (the Handel likewise) - as such it is a pleasure to hear it done well).
The trouble with Pachelbel’s Canon (apart from it’s obvious hackneyed commonness) is that it doesn’t really get going until 2 or 3 minutes in, so unless you are getting married at Westminster Abbey (or walk extremely slowly), the organist has to stop before they get to the best bits. Or you can modify it to skip some of the intervening phrases, but then the piece rather loses its sense of a slow build-up to a grand finale.
For my wedding I wished to avoid all the traditional pieces so my bride walked down the aisle to a wedding march composed for some ancient BBC radio programme that my parents had somehow got hold of and used for their wedding. For our recessional I chose a Schumann organ impromptu which the organist described as “like a march in 3”, and he’s right.
I am 100% sure that when we were married 14 years ago, the music director of the Catholic Church that we planned to be married at specifically said that not only was “Here Comes the Bride” verboten, there was a list of pieces you could choose from. All from a hymnal. We had to use their organist, and I guess those were the pieces she could play. We could have a soloist of our choice (my sister-in-law is a semi-pro singer) but given the choices, it was rather pointless.
Not to hijack, but when I first read the subject I misread it slightly and thought the OP was asking if anyone had heard the theme song from that late 1960s TV show, Here Come the Brides. It had a catchy jingle that I still remember.
And… here are the lyrics:
*The bluest sky you’ve ever seen, in Seattle.
And the hills the greenest green, in Seattle.
Like a beautiful child
Growing up, free and wild.
Full of hopes and full of fears,
Full of laughter, full of tears,
Full of dreams to last a year
In Seattle.
When you find your own true love you will know it
By his smile, by the look in his eyes.
Some set pine trees in the air
Or some stand around and stare
Look out everyone, Here Come the Brides.*
“Here comes the bride, fair fat and wide”, as we used to chant in my youth.
I absolutely loathe that music, and if I were getting married to someone that insisted on it, they wouldn’t be seeing me at the alter.
I’ve mostly been to Jewish weddings lately. They never play Wagner at Jewish weddings, I’m sure you can figure out why.
I’ve been married three times. That song never played at one of mine.
For my last wedding, we did the “Prince of Denmark” trumpet voluntary for the bride’s procession, and the “Promenade” from Mussorgsky’s Pictures at an Exhibition for the procession of the bridesmaids and groomsmen.
My first wedding was at a Church of Christ, where no musical instruments were allowed.