[QUOTE=SaharaTea]
Two classical pieces I really like are Bach’s “Sheep May Safely Graze” and “Jesu, Joy of Man’s Desiring.” I would call them traditional, but not overplayed (yet).
Just please don’t use Pachelbel’s Canon. Every wedding I’ve attended for the last ten years has that one. What was once a beautiful piece now just makes me roll my eyes. I feel sorry for the poor musicians who have to play it over and over.
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Ditto on avoiding Pachelbel’s Canon. It is overused, and true, the musicians are bored.
For a great piece of comedy on the canon and its influence:
[QUOTE=Zebra]
Contenders included, but not limited to;
The processional section from Saturn from The Planets by Holst
…
The ‘presentation of the medals’ music from Star Wars.
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The experience I normally quote used Holst’s “Jupiter” as the processional, and “Medal Ceremony / End Titles” as the recessional. “Jupiter” needs some good practice on the timing; about 4 minutes in there’s a sort of trumpet fanfare about 20 seconds long. Once the music changes, the next thematic break is a couple of minutes later.
I had Handel’s “Arrival of the Queen of Sheba” as I walked up the aisle, real organist, not a CD. My mother had it too, so it was part of my “something old”.
Our first dance to our band was “What a Wonderful World”, and when the DJ arrived we danced to “Into My Arms” by Nick Cave. Spent the rest of the reception too busy chatting to our guests to dance.
Just pick a song that you both like and that means something to you…preferably with appropriate lyrics.
[QUOTE=NailBunny]
We walked down the aisle to Tom Waits’ Little Trip to Heaven on the Wings of Your Love, and it was fantastic.
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Very good choice! I’m sure Tom Waits will play some part in my wedding.
I recently attended a wedding where the groom walked down the aisle to a strings arrangement of Metallica’s “Nothing Else Matters” and the bride came out to a strings arrangement of a U2 song… damn, I don’t remember which one. Those are their favorite bands, of course. They walked back down the aisle to Ennio Morricone’s “The Ecstasy of Gold,” the climactic music from *The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly * (although better known to the groom as Metallica’s entrance music at their live shows).