Do what you do best, and you’ll love what you do. The music you play that resonates within you carries your own fingerprints. Even if other musicians can play the same songs as you do, what you bring to these songs is uniquely your own.
To get you started, this is a list of some wedding music standards that you might want to consider including in your repertoire:
Wedding Ceremony Music– The Common Requests
The Top Ten Classical Music Requests (in order by composer):
1. “Air in G” from Orchestral Suite No. 3 in D (J.S. Bach)
2. “Ode to Joy” from Symphony No. 9(Beethoven)
3. “Trumpet Voluntary” or “Prince of Denmark’s March” (J. Clarke)
4. “Clair de Lune” (C. Debussy)
5. “Hornpipe” from Water Music Suite (G.F. Handel)
6. “Wedding March” from A Midsummer Night’s Dream (F. Mendelssohn)
7. “Canon in D” (J. Pachelbel)
9. “Allegro From Spring”, first movement theme from The Four Seasons (A. Vivaldi)
10. “Bridal March” from the opera Lohengrin or “Here Comes the Bride” (R. Wagner)
Wedding Ceremony Music Alternatives (Because Not Every Bride Wants to Enter to “Here Comes the Bride”):
Favorite choices for Christian weddings:
1. “Amazing Grace” (American Folk Melody)
2. “Ave Maria” (F. Schubert)
3. “Jesu, Joy of Man’s Desiring” (J. S. Bach)
4. “The Lord’s Prayer” (A.H. Malotte)
5. “Simple Gifts” (Elder Joseph)
Favorite choices for Jewish weddings:
1. “Dodi Li” (N. Chen)
2. “Erev Ba” (O. Avissar & A. Levanon)
3. “Siman Tov” (traditional Israeli song)
4. “Sunrise Sunset” from the musical “Fiddler on the Roof”
Favorite choices for Celtic weddings:
1. “Mairia’s Wedding”
2. “Star of the County Down”
3. “When Irish Eyes are Smiling”
4. “Skye Boat Song”
5. “My Wild Irish Rose”
This is a short excerpt from my new book, The Musician’s Guide to Brides: How to Make Money Playing Weddings published by Hal Leonard Books. I’m sure you can think of more tunes to add to these lists. Add them in your comments and help other musicians to get a good start playing at weddings. Next time in this blog, we’ll tackle timeless reception favorites.
The book is available wherever Hal Leonard Books are sold: music and bookstores, and through online retailers (including barnesandnoble.com, sheetmusicplus.com, and amazon.com). I may sound like I’m shamelessly promoting it here, but I really would like to have some constructive feedback about it. I fully intend to write future editions, so your feedback would be of great help to me. Please feel free to respond with your kind constructive comments, and certainly, respond with wedding favorites that you would like to add to the above lists.
My best to you,
Anne Roos
Celtic Harp Music by Anne Roos
Considered at the top of her field as a Celtic harpist, Anne is a many-faceted performer who excels as a concert soloist and with her ensemble. She is in great demand for corporate and private events and continues to be a favorite for weddings and receptions. Anne is the author of “The Musician’s Guide to Brides: How to Make Money Playing Weddings”, and “The Bride’s Guide to Musicians: Live Wedding Music Made Easy and Affordable”, published by Hal Leonard Books. See Anne’s Gig Salad PromoKit.