Music plays a substantial role in our lives, so Greg and I put a lot of thought into the music we selected for our wedding. I created this blog post to document explanations of our choices because it was special for us to be able to have music that was beautiful as well as personal.
Ceremony
The music for our ceremony was performed by two women from my church who I’ve known for many years. While I was still living in the area, I sang alongside them in the church choir and played in the handbell choir with them. They kindly agreed to play the piano and cello for our wedding and it sounded magnificent!
Musical Prelude
“Harry in Winter” by Patrick Doyle
This song is from the soundtrack from Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire. (I’m a major Potterhead) It’s a song that, for me, exemplifies love in musical form. I knew I had to incorporate it into our ceremony somehow, so we had it play during the seating of our immediate family and while the bridesmaids and groomsmen entered the sanctuary. The soundtrack version is performed by an orchestra, but it sounded beautiful with the piano and cello. Since I purchased the sheet music, I have a copy that I can play on my violin!
“Jurassic Park Theme” by John Williams (sheet music arrangement by Brooklyn Duo)
The movie Jurassic Park is one of my favorites. I love the first one the best, but I also thought Jurassic World was really great! I’d like to read the book eventually and I enjoy searching at second-hand book sales for it. It makes for a fun scavenger hunt – I haven’t found a copy yet! John Williams’ music for this film (and countless others) is spectacular and memorable. Whenever I hear it (or hum it), it gives me a feeling of epic adventure. However, this version by The Piano Guys stretches out the phrases, making for a sweet rendition fit for a processional. When I first heard the song in this way, I could picture myself walking down the aisle while it played. And when I did, it was just as magical as I imagined.
Unity Candle
“The Mission/How Great Thou Art” arrangement by The Piano Guys
If you have never heard music by The Piano Guys (and you didn’t listen to their version of Jurassic Park Theme above), you should definitely listen to this. Being that we held our ceremony in my hometown church, I wanted to include a religious song and this arrangement is so beautiful and peaceful – truly spiritual music that brings me closer to God. I wasn’t sure where to place it in the order of events because Greg and I weren’t fond of the prospect of having a song play while we stared at each other and everyone stared at us. So I thought it would be nice to have it play while we and our parents lit the unity candle. I think it worked out nicely.
Recessional
“The Ring Goes South” by Howard Shore
Howard Shore composed The Lord of the Rings movie soundtracks to include several recurring musical themes based on locations and characters (these are called leitmotifs). For example, when the events in the film take place in Rohan, the Rohan theme plays (the most iconic part is at 1:16 – love it!). When Eowyn is being a boss, her theme is incorporated into the music. (You can read more about them in this Wikipedia article. I find this style so interesting and effective!) To me, the leitmotif that Howard Shore created for The Fellowship, like the Jurassic Park theme, is another example of an epic movie soundtrack for life’s adventures. Greg and I sing it all the time when we are off adventuring, whether it’s hiking through the Grand Canyon or traveling across the parking lot to the mall on a quest to find a new bathing suit. I had originally dreamed of walking down the aisle as a newly married couple to The Throne Room/End Title song from Star Wars (another song Greg and I sing all the time), but then I had the idea to be announced at the reception to Star Wars and exit the church to one of our favorite epic songs from The Lord of the Rings. I tried to find sheet music to “The Bridge of Khazad”, where the musical theme is very apparent and loud at the beginning of the song, but couldn’t find it anywhere. I knew the theme also existed in several other songs in the score, and I found it in “The Ring Goes South” at 1:15. The title was actually perfect because of the symbolism of the wedding rings we had just exchanged. We wondered afterward if we actually had walked south while the song played, but I think the aisle is oriented more southeast. Either way, it was a spectacular and joyous moment made even more so by having this song as the start of our most epic adventure together.
Reception
Entrance
“The Throne Room/End Title” by John Williams
Like I said before, I had always imagined this as an awesome song to play during the recessional. But then I got the idea to use this as we and our bridal party were introduced at the reception. In the actual execution, there was so much cheering while everyone was being announced and entering the barn, that I couldn’t hear the song! Not a big deal – I’d rather have an engaged and excited group of guests than a bunch of people sitting quietly so they could hear the song I picked.
First Dance
“Bright” by Echosmith (Lindsey Stirling and Sydney Sierota cover)
It’s no secret that my favorite musician is Lindsey Stirling, a violinist. She inspires me in so many ways and plays a major role in my life. For that reason, I wanted to include her music in our wedding day. Despite being a classically trained violinist, the music she writes is mainly dubstep and hip-hop – more conducive to my workout playlist than my wedding day. However, she does play a few slower/sweet songs – she and Sydney Sierota from Echosmith covered Echosmith’s song “Bright”. The original version is more country/folk-style, but the version with Lindsey gives the lyrics such a sweet and intimate sound that I feel fits the words better. When I listen to it, I think of Greg, and when it came time to select a song for our first dance I had a difficult time deciding between “Bright” and “Beauty and the Beast”. “Beauty and the Beast” is my favorite Disney movie and I also love the version performed by Celine Dion and Peabo Bryson. Just thinking about dancing with Greg to that version made me start to tear up. Greg and I talked about it, and decided on “Bright”. I cried while we danced because the moment was so perfect – dancing with my husband to the song I’d imagined us dancing to while surrounded by our family and friends. We definitely felt #blessed.
Father/Daughter Dance
“Wildflowers” by Tom Petty
I knew for sure I did not want to dance to a sappy sad song with lyrics about a daughter being all grown up and given away, never to be seen by her parents again. A wedding is a celebration! I suggested a few upbeat yet sweet songs to my dad and when he suggested “Wildflowers” I said – let’s go with that! The difficult part about the peppy beat of the song was that it was a little tricky for us to figure out how to dance to it (and we are far from professionals). During the week that I was home before the wedding, my dad and I practiced a couple of dance moves that we combined into a short routine. Having a plan made us feel more prepared to have all eyes on us, even though it was simple. We actually almost forgot to do the second half of our choreography while we were at the “slow dance” portion of the dance – we were busy simply soaking up the moment.
Mother/Son Dance
“Ain’t No Mountain High Enough” by Marvin Gaye and Tammi Terrell
Greg and his mom had the same idea about going for happy rather than sappy. While I was away one weekend, Greg’s mom came to visit us in Massachusetts and they put together a choreographed dance. When I got home, they performed it for me and I filmed it so we could play it back and they could see how great they were! I made sure my dad and I danced before them because I did not want to follow that performance! They did a fantastic job!
Dancing Music
One of Greg’s priorities for our wedding was to have a live band as the musical entertainment during the reception. He did some research using Gigmaster.com and found The Swooners. They stuck out to us as the right choice. They are local to Rochester and they were incredible! Our guests danced from the time the music started up until the venue coordinator officially said we had to end (after allowing one final song of course)! Hardly anyone was sitting down! One of my friends is getting married next year and she enjoyed our band so much that she booked them for her wedding as well! Dancing in the crowd of guests at our wedding is an experience I will never forget and hiring a band was a decision we definitely do not regret.
Thanks for reading!
-Rebecca
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