At our wedding, a professional musician friend offered his services. Among other instruments and styles, he is a folk fiddler, and that kind of music was what we used for the processional and recessional. The processional was “Pride of Erin,” a nice little waltz; and the recessional was “Mairi’s Wedding,” which is quite lively–my wife and I practically danced out of the chapel to it, as did our guests.
And for a bit of music during the ceremony, our friend played some favourite hymns on his classical guitar.
Neither traditional wedding music, nor classical music–but certainly unique and memorable.
Is this the “Darth Vader” theme, because if so, this is what I wanted!!! But I was vetoed by the groom, who wanted some lame college fight song. We’re still “negotiating” this portion of our wedding.
But on a more serious vein, I’ve heard people use the Trumpet Processional (I think that’s what it’s called) and it’s quite nice because it’s not the same Wagner piece, and the trumpets make for a nice “Hello, here I come” entrance call for the bride. If that’s what she wants. Personally, I’m opting for something a bit more subtle but haven’t found the right piece yet. (I’m also banning Taco Bell’s Canon & Ave Maria. Lovely music, but a bit too standard for us.)
My suggestion is to listen to opera scores, especially the dramaticky bits.
For a majestic entrance march & fanfare that builds nicely, and that no one has ever heard before, try Nicholas Rimsky-Korsakov’s “Procession of the Nobles” from Mlada. Mrs. trupa thought it was a little too showy and ostentatious, being the humble person she is, but she agreed to use it in a compromise instead of being piped in by bagpipes We used it as our entrance music; since we had the groom processing in, as well as the parents, wedding party and bride, we had to loop it a few times in the tape to make it last, but it lent itself well to doing so.
For a very joyous and enthusiastic exit music, I believe we used Handel’s royal fireworks music.
Allow me the liberty of passing on the best piece of wedding advice I got, and the only one I give out: * If all goes well, you’re not going to do this again, so make sure you drink it in and enjoy it, instead of just worrying about details…*
A friend of mine walked down the aisle to the theme from Black Adder. It was sufficiently pompous and classical, and had about six people falling off their chairs laughing when they realized what it was.
I remember hearing the slow movement of Prokovjev’s 2nd Violin Concerto being used once in a movie wedding. You might check the slow movement of Ravel’s Piano Concerto in G as well.
I’ll be damned if I can even remember what the harpist played (I would highly recommend a harpist, as well), but I know we thought about “All I Ask of You” from Phantom of the Opera. We were more seriously considering SINGING it as part of the ceremony, but that wasn’t going to work.
A friend of mine wanted to walk down the aisle to the strains of “You’re the one for me, fatty” by Morrisey, but her husband vetoed it and they went for something more classical!
When the ceremony was over they both walked back up the aisle with “Signed, Sealed, Delivered” by Stevie Wonder, which I thought was lovely.
Yes it is. When the music started and the bride started walking down the aisle, I could hear the groom mutter under his breath “That’s f*cking cool!” And it was.
All you Star Wars fans should realize that Vader’s theme is just a reworking of Mars: Bringer of War from Gustav Holst’s The Planets. This fits the OP’s classical music criteria. Speaking of which, I quite enjoy Jupiter: Bringer of Joy from the same piece, and it may also work as wedding music.
I played that in high school! Never performed it in public, though – the director chose Schwanda the Bagpiper instead. Blech.
Reall? Cool! Now I have to go dig out the CD and listen to it again…
It would make sense that John Williams would have listened to * The Planets * as inspiration for a score for a movie called * Star Wars * I’ll be disappointed if it turns out there’s more plagiarism than variation though…
I have to take issue with this claim. I’ve listened to both of these fines pieces dozens, if not hundreds, of times, and aside from a dramatic, martial feel, they have little in common. The melody is not borrowed, and, most importantly, Mars is in 5, and the march is in 4.
Also, I don’t recommend using either the Firebird finale or Maris as music to walk down the isle to, because both have odd key signatures, which will make anyone walking to them appear to have no rhythm. (The Firebird is in 7).
We used it as our entrance music; since we had the groom processing in, as well as the parents, wedding party and bride, we had to loop it a few times in the tape to make it last, but it lent itself well to doing so.