Image from Real Wedding by DOK Photography
Those first few strings of a song or a note can catapult you back to a certain time or place and leave you feeling elated or teary eyed depending on the tune. So to say your musical choices for your wedding ceremony are important is an understatement.
Your ceremony will be filled to the brim with the most precious, unforgettable moments and the soundtrack to those moments will linger with you long after the confetti has been tossed! Making that grand entrance, (shakily) lighting the unity candle, signing the register, the elation of walking out of your ceremony as a married couple (yay) – these are all such special moments and one way to make them even more personal is with your choice of music.
As any of you who are in the middle of this task will know, trying to whittle down to your chosen songs can be a toughie so we’ve enlisted the help of Irish Wedding Singers Catherine Byrne and Aisling Connolly to talk us through the different areas within the ceremony where you’ll need music and some potential song choices.
Catherine starts us off with a wealth of song choices suitable for a church wedding (some of which can also be applied to civil and humanist ceremonies too). And don’t forget, if you are having a church wedding, talk to your priest/the parish before making a final decision on your song choices as restrictions may apply.
Ceremony Song Suggestions – Church Wedding
* Please note, these songs are only suggestions – please talk to your priest/parish/musicians who will be able to advise you on what is suitable for your church wedding.
Processional:
The processional music starts as soon as the first person in the bridal party enters the church and is played until the priest greets the couple and the Bride and Groom are sitting in their seats and the mass is ready to begin.
- In a Country Church Yard
- She Moved Through the Fair
- You Raise Me Up
- The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face
- To Make You Feel My Love
- All of Me – Blake
- A Thousand Years – Christina Perri
- Marry Me – Train
- Bless the Broken Road – Rascal Flatts
- Beautiful in White – Shane Filan
- Warm – Coronas
- How Long Will I Love You – Ellie Goulding
- God’s Plan – Derek Ryan
- Nella Fantasia
- Gabriels Oboe (Instrumental)
- Bridal Chorus – Wagner (Instrumental)
- Wedding March – Mendelssohn (Instrumental)
- Pachelbel’s Canon in D (Instrumental)
- Air on G String (Instrumental)
Lighting of Individual Candles
The bride(s)/groom(s) each light a candle representing themselves. *This generally takes about 20 – 30 seconds so an instrumental piece of music is ideal.
- Gabriels Oboe (Instrumental)
- Bridal Chorus – Wagner (Instrumental)
- Wedding March – Mendelssohn (Instrumental)
- Pachelbel’s Canon in D (Instrumental)
- Air on the G String (Instrumental)
Responsorial Psalm:
- Hear I am Lord
- Song of Ruth (Wherever You Go)
- Only in God
- Corinthian Song (Love is Patient)
- Eagles Wings
- Mo Grathu
- Ag Criost an Siol
- The Lord is My Shepherd
Gospel Acclamation:
- Alleluia
Lighting of Marriage Candle:
At this stage, the couple then light a third candle together, symbolising their union. The song here is generally an instrumental, again roughly 20-30 seconds so the songs used for lighting the individual candles would also work here.
Offertory:
- Take Lord Receive
- Amazing Grace
- Ag Criost an Siol
- In Bread We Bring You Lord
- Take Our Bread
Holy Holy
Can be said or sung
Mystery of Faith
Can be said or sung , if sung – use He is Lord
Sign of Peace:
- Peace Perfect Peace
- Shalom, My Friend
- Just Give Me Your Hand (Tabhair dom do Lámh)
- I Wish You Peace
- Or any of the instrumentals listed above
Communion:
Ideally at communion you should stick to liturgical music. You will need to pick one possibly two hymns depending on the number of guests receiving holy communion. I always think its best to pick two just to be on the safe side.
- Ave Maria
- Lord You Have My Heart
- One Bread, One Cup
- The Prayer
- Amazing Grace
- Shout to the Lord
- You are Mine
- As I Kneel Before You
- Make Me a Channel of Your Peace
- Bind Us Together Lord
- Christ Be Beside Me
- Morning Has Broken
- Golden Rose
- Be Thou My Vision
- Only a Shadow
- Bright Blue Rose
- Down to the River to Pray
- I Watch the Sunrise
- You Raise Me Up
- Fields of Gold
- Somewhere Over the Rainbow
- Red is the Rose
- Cloud’s Veil
The above songs are only suggestions, you can add any of the liturgical songs here.
Signing of the Civil Register:
This is the stage where the couple sign the legal marriage documents, and as the mass part is over, generally there is more flexibility regarding song choice. Normally for the signing of the civil register you can pick a variety of songs (within reason). You will need to pick two songs, possibly three at this point. However depending on how many pictures the photographer takes inside the church there may only be time to play one song (but generally your singer/musician will talk to the photographer when he/she arrives at the church to check with them).
- The Rose
- The Voyage
- How Long Will I Love You – Ellie Goulding
- Heaven – Brian Adams
- I’ll Always Love You
- Everything I Do (I Do it For You)
- That’s What Friends Are For
- All I Want is You (U2)
- Fallen (from Pretty Woman)
- We’ve Only Just Begun (Carpenters)
- To Make You Feel My Love – Bob Dylan/Adele
- Footprints in the Sand – Leona Lewis
- Songbird – Fleetwood Mac/Eva Cassidy
- I Can’t Help Falling in Love with You
- Chasing Cars
- Look After You – The Fray
- When I see You Smile
- When You Say Nothing at All
- From this Moment
- Your Song – Elton John
- Fields of Gold – Eva Cassidy Version
- Isn’t She Lovely
- God Only Knows
- In My Life
- Where Ever You Will Go (The Calling)
- What a Wonderful World
- You Make it Real For Me
- When I Fall in Love
- Perfect Moment
- Endless Love
- I Say a Little Prayer
- Time After Time
- Blowers Daughter
- The Dance
- Come Away with Me
- Feels Like Home
- More than Words
- Caledonia
- Falling Slowly
- The Water is Wide
- Still the One – Shania Twain
- I’m Yours
- Circle of Life
- Luckiest – Ben Folds
- Love Changes Everything
- You Belong to Me – Jason Wade
- Come What May
- You Make it Real (James Morrison)
- Man & Wife
- Moon River
- You Light Up My Life
- Here We Stand (Wedding Song)
- All of Me – Blake
- This I Promise You – Ronan Keating
- On Top of the World – Carpenters
- I Won’t Let Go – Rascal Flatts
- Higher Love – James Vincent McMorrow
Recessional:
The bridal party exit! I find for the recessional/exit, it is best to stick to an upbeat song:
- Oh Happy Day
- My Girl
- Signed Sealed Delivered
- For Once in My Life
- Higher and Higher
- This Will Be an Everlasting Love
- Shine Silently
- Thank You – Dido
- The Greatest day – Take That
- I’m Yours
- One Day Like This – Elbow
- Perfect Day
- Walking on Sunshine
- Hey Day
- Love is All Around Us
Any of the songs for the register can also be sung for the recessional!
Christmas Hymns:
Christmas is such a lovely time of year to get married, and if you have chosen this time of year to get wed, you might want to add some Christmas hymns and songs to add to the festivity:
- Silent Night
- Angels We Have Heard on High
- Oh Holy Night
- Away in a Manger
- The First Noel
- God Rest ye Merry Gentlemen
- Once in Royal David’s City
- Hark the Herald Angels Sing
- It Came Upon a Midnight Clear
- The Little Drummer Boy
- Mary’s Boychild (Long Time Ago in Bethlehem)
- Oh Come All Ye Faithful
- Joy to the World
- A Wiseman Came Travelling (in the tune of Chris de burg a Spaceman Came Travelling )
About Catherine Byrne:
Catherine Byrne is a singer with years of experience, who particularly excels at weddings. She has a distinctive tone, which lends itself to different styles of music. Catherine’s main focus, however, has been singing at church services throughout the country, which she has been doing for over 12 years. She can draw from an extensive repertoire and can cater for all types and tastes of music from the Ave Maria to the more contemporary hits of today! Catherine feels the right music can really set the perfect atmosphere for the couple getting married and their guests. Catherine would be happy to learn any song that’s not already in her repertoire, so please do not hesitate to ask. For more info on Catherine Byrne, or to find out if she has your wedding date free, check out her weddingsonline profile.
Ceremony Song Suggestions – Civil Ceremony
The beauty about Civil ceremonies and Humanist ceremonies is the flexibility you have regarding your musical choices – however in some cases hymns, songs or religious references aren’t allowed. As with any ceremony, civil, humanist or church be sure to check with your registrar or solemniser if there are any restrictions on musical choices.
There are several places music can be woven in to your ceremony during a civil ceremony – they differ from couple to couple depending on your preferences and of course the ceremony style, but some areas you can include music are: the processional/entrance, the giving of marriage (which is an optional part of the ceremony) – during or after the opening readings/blessings, lighting of the candles, after the exchange of rings and vows, signing the register and the recessional.
Aisling Connolly has played at both church and civil ceremonies and says that more authentic song choices are often popular for civil ceremonies and suggests some of the following pieces:
Processional:
- She Moved Through the Fair – Sinead O’ Connor
- A Thousand Years – Christina Perri
- When I Fall in Love – Nat King Cole
- Wherever You Will Go – Charlene Soraia
- Pachelbel’s Canon in D
Lighting of Marriage Candle:
Romantic instrumentals such as the following would work well:
- Forest Gump – Piano Theme Tune
- Glasgow Love Song – Love Actually
After Readings:
- Into the Mystic – Van Morrison
- Come Away With Me – Norah Jones
- Songbird – Fleetwood Mac/ Eva Cassidy
Unity Candles:
- How Long Will I Love you – Ellie Goulding
Signing the Register:
- One Day Like This – Elbow
Recessional:
- For Once in My Life – Stevie Wonder
- I’m Yours – Jason Mraz
About Aisling Connolly
Aisling Connolly is a professional church & civil ceremony singer with many years experience. As Aisling is a session singer, she is used to all aspects of music to suit every taste, and has built up a vast repertoire to satisfy whichever style you prefer. Aisling is a strong believer in learning songs the bride and groom as well as providing song lists to each individual couple. For more info on Aisling Connolly, or to find out if she has your wedding date free, check out her weddingsonline profile.
Top Tips:
- Music is the perfect way to create ambience and set the mood for the ceremony! When choosing your musicians, don’t forget to take in to consideration things like the size of the venue.
- Think personal and meaningful when it comes to choosing your songs (obviously taking in to consideration restrictions from the ceremony venue – some songs may not be suitable).
- What you choose to walk in to is generally up to you! Whether you’ve always dreamed of floating down the aisle to the Bridal March or you want a song that means something to you and your OH, it’s your grand entrance so go with your heart (again, check with ceremony venue regarding restrictions).
- Something uplifting or moving works really well for signing the register. The exit song should be upbeat and happy as the wedding party is about to get started!
- If there is a song that you have your heart set on, and you don’t see it on the list provided to you by your musicians, talk to them about it. It may be something they know already but hadn’t included it on their repertoire or they may be happy to pick it up in time for your wedding.
Looking to see what other brides and grooms are having for their ceremony music? Pop over to the forums here and here to swap suggestions!
