Today’s bride is choosing ceremony music to fit her personality.
More and more brides want pop tunes for all entrances and recessionals. Canon in D maybe losing ground to Vitamin String Quartet, country & western or even Michael Jackson! Why? I think today’s young couples have less of a connection to the distant past than ever before. We haven’t played the traditional “Bride’s Processional” in several months. This year has seen a major increase in using songs from Lifehouse, Clint Black, & Coldplay or classic oldies like “At Last”, “All You Need Is Love” & “I’ll Be There.” Does the bride risk losing credibility by using pop songs for a serious and solemn wedding ceremony? Lighten up, Francis! If she has dreamed her entire life of walking up the aisle to Etta James why should anyone deny her?
Why should a classical title be any different than a popular title?
There is no solid rule of thumb so use whatever you like. My only parting thought is to be tasteful and thoughtful of family & guests attending your ceremony.
Below you’ll find a list of recessional songs many bride’s have used, some classical and some different;
All You Need Is Love (String Quartet Tribute to the Beatles)
Allegro (Violin Concerto)
Allegro From Spring – Orchestral Faster
Arrival Of The Queen of Sheba
Bach Cantata No 1
Back In Black
Concerto Alla Rusica
Concerto For Two Trumpets In Bb
Concerto grosso Op. 6/1 ‘A tempo giusto’ ( George Frideric Handel )
Don’t Stop Believing (The String Quartet Tribute to Journey)
Eine Kleine Nactmusik
The Four Seasons: Winter IV. Allegro for Brass
God Only Knows
Hornpipe – Guitar
Mama Mia Overture / Prologue (edit end out)
Music For Royal Fireworks
Sweet Child O’ Mine
Tambourin – Tambourin en Rondeau ( Jean-Philippe Rameau )
Trumpet Tune (Trumpet & Organ)
Variation In Sonata In A
Viva la Vida
Wedding March – Wedding Recessional
Wedding March Recessional (A Midsummer Night’s Dream)
Wedding Recessional – Guitar
Wedding Recessional – Piano
Wedding Recessional – Pipe Organ
Wind Dancer
You Shook Me All Night Long (String Quartet Tribute to AC/DC)
There are so many different ways to musically approach every ceremony, it’s best to work with your DJ or live musicians to make sure they understand and offer what you want. Music edits maybe needed so the flow of an entrance or unity candle presentation looks and sounds it’s best.
A great place in the ceremony for some personal music choices is either prelude or postlude, most brides will probably not hear much of the prelude but once the ceremony is over and you are greeting guests or releasing rows you’ll be able to pay attention to some postlude selections. Beach themes, light pop, light rock or light jazz work great for postlude music as guests are ready to now enjoy your reception and have a little fun!
Archive for December, 2009
Ceremony music trends defy classics
Tuesday, December 22nd, 2009Timelines
Monday, December 21st, 2009Getting the most out of your wedding day can be exhausting. There are so many things to plan for before the day arrives it makes you wonder just how everything will fit in it’s place. One of the questions entertainers often get asked is about the specifics of time. When will we get introduced, cut cake or do our opening dances? If you’re not experienced all these plans can make your head spin! Here are some simple suggestions to ease many transitions during the biggest day of your life.
Get organized! Use this planner to organize all of your entertainment because your DJ will need to know what you want to do. At what time of the day you do those things is usually left up to the DJ who is working in conjunction with the banquet center and photographer.
If you use the “share my planner” feature and send a copy to the banquet manager, photographer and videographer they will print it and bring it with to make sure everyone is on the same page.
A note about working together; make sure when you hire vendors they are pros who are going to work together to make the wedding day come off effortlessly. It’s my experience that all vendors are like a wedding support team who should help each other out all day long. It’s not about us as much as it’s about us serving you.
One area of concern is the transition between ceremony and reception. If you have more than 100 people then release rows after the ceremony recessional to avoid a long receiving line into the banquet center which can eat up an hour or more.
If you do not want to take pictures before the ceremony and you only have about an hour for post ceremony pictures it’s wise to set a timeline with your photographer. He’s in charge and should watch the clock. If the ceremony is at the same location as the banquet center then you may not be as rushed but still want to enjoy the start of your reception. Have your photographer set a time limit and discuss the pictures that get taken in order. It’s also in your guests best interest because dinner will be served on time. A simple timeline should look like this:
5pm Ceremony Start
530 to 630pm Post Ceremony Photos
6p Start of cocktail hour
645 to 7pm Introductions, toasts, dinner blessing
This doesn’t mean that the start of introductions couldn’t be 5 minutes later. If you consult with the photographer and DJ you will get a good idea of how they will help each other and you through all the important events of the night.
A loosely planned timeline is a little more realistic as unplanned things may happen. I worked for a bride recently who misplaced her bouquet before introductions and her bridesmaids spent about 10 minutes looking for it. Needless to say, everything got started a little late but when it was found everything fell into place right away.
Most bride’s are nervous about the flow of the reception but if you’ve hired excellent vendors by excellent recommendations there is no reason to doubt them. It’s always a good idea to ask prospective vendors how they will approach working with banquet centers, DJ’s, photographers and video. The best of the best will probably know all the players in the local wedding market which is a plus because they look forward to working with them during the wedding season.
As always, experience is the major factor to make sure all wedding plans go off without a hitch.
Choosing the Best Dance Music
Friday, December 4th, 2009Let’s think about dance music for a minute. Think what styles best describe what songs are successful at a wedding. Now think about your wedding. What do you want the DJ to play?
In Step 7 of the Wedding Reception Perfection planner you can choose your favorites. You may even make your very own do not play list.
Couples ask my advice on this topic all the time and there are 2 camps; the couples who get everyone involved to choose music or couples who choose nothing and leave it up to the DJ.
Either way is fine, nothing wrong with any of it.
But I got to thinking more and more about what styles of music make up a fun dance floor and how the music motivates guests. Here are some thoughts…
The wedding guests must be enthusiastic and be motivated about what the DJ plays.
The DJ must play a wide variety of styles from contemporary decades. (40’s thru now)
The music must be danceable whether it’s fast or slow.
The songs must be appealing to you and your guests.
The question I always ask is can you dance to it?
Taste and likeability also account for whether certain songs can be played at some weddings. Most wedding DJ’s play only “radio edits” or “clean mixes” so offensive words should not be an issue. If you don’t like a pop song because it’s annoying to you but it’s popular at weddings, like the “Cupid Shuffle” you may choose to have the DJ play the song because it will make your guests happy and fill the floor. Offensive lyrics are probably another matter. Techno or House styles have limited interest.
The DJ wants the same happy result as you.
Here are some ideas to help your DJ become more effective,
Don’t be controlling with your musical choices.
Don’t give your DJ more than 10 “Do not plays”
Don’t write a timeline of songs to be played every 4 minutes.
Give your DJ freedom to play “what works” & take requests.
Listen to advice from your DJ about your personal choices and where to place them like at cocktail hour or the dinner hour.
Here’s a word about requests…successful DJ’s filter out the requests which may not make sense to play. Most guests will ask for what they know and like but it may not keep a dance floor full. Timing plays a huge part in what the DJ plays and when he plays it.
Factor in some element of surprise and the song gets a positive reaction from the crowd.
Here’s one more thing to think about…a good sized smattering of oldies always works well. You might be too young to remember the 50’s, 60’s or 70’s. But many of your guests probably grew up in one of those decades and are fond of several songs or artists. By rule of thumb, the music you listened to as a kid is what you’ll end up listening to as an adult but if the DJ plays a few oldies it will keep guests interested all night long.
They don’t call ‘em “golden oldies” for nothing.
Many of your guests will want to hear the current favorites as well so now you have a huge mix which will keep the floor crowded all night.
There are better questions than cost
Thursday, December 3rd, 2009I’m gonna give you readers a well kept secret among wedding DJ’s…very few know how to start a dance floor. If you thought you misread the sentence I’ll explain. Most know how to technically play the music but many have no idea how they are going to accomplish the task of getting people on the dance floor. Reader, it takes a long time to develop comfortably as a wedding DJ. Many things are involved including showmanship, public speaking, imagination and guts. Years of “flight time” are required. If you’ve ever been to a wedding and everything seemed to flow from one event to the next without hesitation it’s because you saw a wedding DJ with many years of experience. It takes extreme focus to do this job for the benefit of others to have a fun time. Contained in this program are hundreds of ideas for everything from a simple chicken dance to a more complicated anniversary dance or adding special touches to a Bride/Father dance, for example. Most people who book a wedding DJ are so focused on the cost without ever realizing what it is you’re actually paying for. A really excellent DJ will be able to add to the party with fun ideas to entertain your guests. Music is one small part of the equation. All DJ’s have music but do they have ability to entertain? That’s what you should be asking every DJ you interview for the job. If you’re paying a very low fee then you must ask the prospective DJ why. Have him explain what he’s going to do at your wedding. Have him explain the actual plan and the presentation to you. These questions should be asked before the price quote. If the prospective DJ offers nothing but music it maybe time to expand your search. Buying this program will teach you some excellent ideas for the purposes of entertaining hundreds of your guests. It also gives you an insight into what it takes to map out and the plan for a fun and successful reception. I’m not saying DJ your own wedding (leave it to a real pro) but it never hurts to get an understanding of the process.