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Tips on Wedding Ceremony Music
One of the most important moments of a wedding, if not the most important, is the wedding ceremony.
The time when your friends and family gather to witness the coming together of two amazing people.
It can also be one of the most nervous and anxious moments in your life.
Typically a wedding ceremony goes like this:
1. Guests arrive and take their seats.
2. Music begins to play as the officiant, groom, bridal party, bride walk down.
3. Officiant begins speaking, bride/groom exchange vows, rings are put on, bride/groom kiss
4. Exit song is played.
For the ceremony, music is usually only played at the very beginning and at the very end.
Sometimes soft music is played when there is a special part during the ceremony like a sand ceremony or lighting of a unity candle.
Song List typically goes like this:
1. Song for Groom, Bridal Party
2. Song For Bride
3. Exit Song (once the officiant announces the newlyweds)
One thing that I highly recommend for wedding ceremony music are the use of instrumentals.
Rather than hearing lyrics of a song, the right instrumental can really set the mood and tone of the ceremony.
The beauty of having an instrumental means you can play the song on a loop if you need more time to walk down.
Lyrics can sometimes take away the focus of the ceremony, so using an instrumental sets the vibe but keeps the focus on you.
Two of the most popular and widely known artists that provide incredible instrumental music are The Piano Guys and The Vitamin String Quartet. These two regularly make instrumental versions of all types of popular music, old and current.
I usually play songs by The Piano Guys and VSQ during pre ceremony at a low level of volume as guests are arriving, although you can choose any type of music for pre ceremony.
Here are a couple of examples:
The Piano Guys - Thousand Years (Christina Perri)
The Piano Guys - Just The Way You Are (Bruno Mars)
Vitamin String Quartet - Blank Space (Taylor Swift)
Vitamin String Quartet - California Love (2pac, yes that 2pac)
Besides VSQ and The Piano Guys there also loads of other instrumentals freely available on YouTube.
There are piano, violin, saxophone, guitar versions of so many different songs.
The possibilities are endless.
If you have any favorite songs, I highly recommend you do a search on YouTube with the song name and instrumental.
You'd be surprised to find all kinds of really good instrumental music that will sound amazing during a wedding ceremony.
I highly recommend instrumentals for both the bridal party and bride songs.
Next up we have the EXIT song.
So you've finally kissed and are announced as newlyweds by the officiant.
Now's the time for your friends and family to stand up and cheer and for you as you walk back down the aisle.
The exit song can really be anything.
Fast & upbeat or slow and romantic.
Most of the time I will start the song at the chorus or the most energetic part.
Here are some examples of great EXIT songs:
Bruno Mars - Marry You
U2 - Beautiful Day (a timeless classic which always sounds great at the end of a ceremony)
Disclosure and Sam Smith - Latch
(note: there is also a really good acoustic version of this song available)
Jason Mraz and Colbie Cailat - Lucky (a slower tempo exit song)
Avicii - Levels (upbeat and high energy)
So there you have it. All you need to know about wedding ceremony music.
If you have any questions or would like some help picking out ceremony music please send an email to djkamayo@yahoo.com
I offer my help free of charge to anyone :)
DJ Kamayo Entertainment - Wedding DJs offering service in Santa Barbara, San Diego, Los Angeles, Simi Valley.
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