This wedding was unique in that I never actually was able to speak with the bride. She emailed me a couple of song choices, and put me in touch with the music director at her church. Between the two of us, we came up with a wonderful variety of music that was performed by a combination of harp, guitar, and vocals.
I played prelude music on the harp as guests arrived at South Bend's Little Flower Catholic Church, and the music director was able to communicate with the priest and bridal party to let me know when everyone was ready to go. If you have more than one musician for your wedding, I highly recommend having a soloist for the prelude! This allows the other musician to be a point person for your officiant or coordinator, and when he or she joins the soloist for the processional music, you get a new and bigger sound.
We played "Canon in D" by Pachelbel for the entrance of the bridal party and "Jesu, Joy of Man's Desiring" by Bach for the bride's processional. The music director sang the psalm and accompanied herself on the guitar for the verses. For the congregational response, I played along on the harp. We used the Mass of Creation setting along with the "Celtic Alleluia" - everyone knows that one! I played solos ("Meditation" from "Thais" and "Winter" from "The Four Seasons") during the offertory and the sign of the peace, and we played "Take and Eat" as a duet during communion. Near the end of the service, I accompanied her singing the Schubert "Ave Maria" in Latin. The Mendelssohn "Wedding March" sent the newly married couple down the aisle.
If you have hired professional musicians for your wedding, or they are provided by your church, they can be an excellent source of suggestions for your music. This bride only had a few pieces that she wanted included, and left the rest up to me and the church's music director. We had a wonderful time putting together the rest of the music, and dividing it up so the sound would be varied throughout the service!
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