Wedding Music for an Outdoor Wedding Ceremony

 SMT Music

The vision of an outside wedding ceremony strikes a beautiful chord in the imagination of many a bride. And rightly so. Who of us wouldn’t like a beautifully landscaped garden setting or perhaps an open clearing bordered by towering trees for that most important life event, our wedding ceremony?

As a wedding musician, I’ve been able to enjoy such scenic places and play a small role in the lives of many a bride. And those settings can be truly wonderful but…. you knew there was a but coming right ? When the stars are aligned in your favor an out of doors wedding ceremony can be a dream. But, Mother Nature can capriciously intervene and pull the rug out from under you.
So, it’s important to have a “backup plan”. Try to choose a setting that has a shelter, building, or house nearby which can be the safety net in case of sudden rain showers or high winds. Here in Louisville, Ky. I can think of a number of places that have beautifully landscaped settings with an on-site structure that can be used for receptions or in the case of inclement
weather be quickly converted to accommodate the wedding ceremony. If you’re getting married in the summer, think about the comfort of your guests. Have cold bottled water available for them to take to their seat, and consider printing your program on a fan so they can keep cool. Also, think ahead to where the sun will be at the time of your wedding. Try to position your seating so the sun is at the back of the guests, not in their eyes.

On the other hand, if you’ve chosen mid October for your wedding ceremony the mercury can dip in other direction. Here in the Ohio Valley, late September to mid October can be very warm, or it can be downright chilly. While your guests can keep their coats on and even their gloves, please consider your musicians. We arrive usually an hour before the wedding. We get set up and run through a few selections before we begin your prelude music which normally last about 30 minutes. We can’t wear bulky coats and we can’t wear gloves. Even more critical our expensive instruments can be damaged by cold weather conditions or also by direct sun especially in mid summer. We are more protective of the instruments than we are ourselves.

So, if your wedding is in mid summer make sure your musicians are in a shaded area. Try to have them on a flat surface. It’s hard to play your best if one leg of your chair is 3 inches below the other and you’re angled like you’re playing on the deck of the Titanic. Position them to the audience left off to the side of the wedding party.

To recap: temperature (heat or cold), sun exposure, rain and even high winds, can be factors in an out of doors wedding ceremony. Talk with the music leader and wedding coordinator, if you have one, in advance and plan for contingencies.

What about noise ? It’s a good idea to scope out the wedding ceremony site before you book it. Visit it the same day of the week (usually a Friday or Saturday) and time that you plan on having it. I can think of one site in particular in town we play at that, although it’s very scenic, it seems that planes are always flying overhead. It’s near a small airport and Saturdays are popular days for pilots to practice their takeoffs and landings. Another is in a park like setting but borders a residential area. Saturdays are popular days to mow the grass. I haven’t found a piece of music yet that harmonizes with a whining lawnmower! Another consideration along those lines: when you’re checking out the wedding ceremony site position a person at what will be the back row of the seating. Have another person do some speaking up where the minister will be. How’s the volume ? You may need to have sound reinforcement for your minister.I have been at lots of weddings where there are 200 or so guests and only those near the front can hear what is being said or read. Often the couple has carefully picked out a favorite poem or reading and only those who are in the first few rows or have Peter Parker (Spiderman) super hearing can enjoy the recitation. If you’re having a singer make sure you have a mike for them. We often will present a string quartet at a wedding ceremony and may accompany our singer. The strings carry pretty well and we rarely need sound enhancement, but a singer will need it. Even trained singers whose voice can project well in a hall will benefit with some miking when performing outside. The sound is dispersed very differently in an open air setting than in a church sanctuary. If you’re having a DJ or band for your reception inquire if they would be willing (for an extra fee) to take care of the sound for the wedding. Your minister would need a lapel mike and your readers will need a mike. If you have a singer, they should be able to use that same mike. Make sure you have a sound check before the ceremony. All too often, the equipment gets set up but not properly tested. So, it’s about as useful as yesterday’s news. Another word about the band. If the reception is in the vicinity of the wedding ceremony talk with the band leader and make sure the band sets up before the wedding and certainly not during the preludes. They should be set in advance if possible, and have already had a sound check. As ceremony musicians we have often been trying to create a nice ambiance during the prelude music only to have the thumping of an amplified bass or reincarnation of Jimmy Hendrix trying out his latest amazing riff simply annihilate our puny acoustic string instruments. So, a little advance planning there helps too.

What else? Well, if your outside wedding ceremony is anywhere near a lake, or low lying water you may need to plan ahead for those pesky flying critters. Have plenty of citronella candles in stock placed along each row of your guests. You don’t want see them constantly swatting the air as if practicing kung fung during your wedding. A lot of what I’ve mentioned comes under the category of “common sense”. Try to think ahead and be prepared for unforeseen circumstances and have a back up plan in case mother nature decides to throw you a curve ball.
It can take a lot of the burden off you if you hire a wedding planner. They have been through all this before and a good planner will have a long check list of to do’s and have contacts for all the services you will need. They can save you a lot of time, hassle and provide peace of mind so you can enjoy your day to the fullest.

I hope this helps a little as you plan for your outside wedding ceremony.
Cordially,

Steve Taylor
SMT Music

 

PLANNING YOUR WEDDING PROCESSIONAL MUSIC

This week Stephen Taylor with SMT Music shares with us some excellent advice on choosing your music for your wedding processional.  SMT Music is comprised of Louisville Wedding Musicians that offer several varieties of music ensembles, such as your traditional string ensemble, strolling groups, western and swing bands, vocal ensembles and other unique niche groups.  After reading this great article please check out SMT Music's website that is a great resource chalked full of information and examples of musical selections. 

Whether you’re having an elaborate church wedding with hundreds of guests in attendance or a simple backyard affair the basic parts of a wedding are the same. There is the prelude period, usually about 30 min. before the wedding, during which your guests arrive and are seated. The processional part is next when the wedding party and bride and groom walk forward to take their places. Then, the ceremony proper during which the officiant speaks and may include readings followed by the vows and exchange of rings. Finally, the pronouncement of marriage and recessional period as the wedding party and bride exit.
Music will be played during the wedding. One thing that is optional but can be important, is the lighting of a unity candle or possibly a sand ceremony or a remembrance. This usually occurs after the exchange of rings. Music played here helps to convey deep feelings of commitment and love shared by the couple.

We’ll assume you’ve chosen your wedding musicians. Being a violinist I tend to advocate for a string ensemble as a starting point. Either a string trio or string quartet works great for weddings. Then are options such as trumpet, vocalist, harp, organ or piano which can be added to the basic core group. Music plays an important role in the parts of the wedding I outlined. During the prelude period the music creates a certain “ambiance” as your guests are being seated. The music is in the background and upbeat in character. Often, a potpourri of light classical music and popular songs that people know and love is chosen. You, the bride, can give the musicians some input as to what sort of music you would like played but I would suggest you give them a free hand in choosing the prelude music. They will want your specific input as regards the processional music and music in the ceremony. If you do have a specific song you would like played in the prelude period that is fine, but generally I suggest the program indicates “prelude music played by” (insert the name of the ensemble). If you have a specific one or two songs you want played you can list those.
After you decide on your “core” ensemble i.e. string trio or string quartet you then might decide whether you want to have a unity candle and if so, whether you will have a vocalist for this. This decision can affect other parts of the wedding.

During the prelude time guests are visiting and getting seated and the atmosphere can be quite lively with all the movement and hum of ongoing chatter. A vocalist can be very effective in helping to make the transition from prelude to procession. Often guests are not aware the prelude is ending unless there are candles being lit by ushers. A vocal selection at the end of the preludes gets everyone’s attention and sets the stage for the beginning of the ceremony.

The music becomes more prominent during the processional phase of the wedding. If the bride has chosen a vocalist they may decide to have Ave Maria or some other piece sung for the seating of the parents and the mothers. If there is going to be a unity candle later then the mothers will light a candle before being seated.
Even if the vocalist sings for the seating of the parents I still like utilizing them to close out the prelude. If you don’t have a vocalist then I would suggest having ushers light some candles, perhaps on either side of the aisle or up front, to help with the transition from prelude to procession. This indicates the ceremony is about to begin and helps quiet the guests.
Next, I would suggest you decide what sort of song you want to use as your bridal march. There are a number of pieces a string group can play that work nicely for the bridal march. There is the traditional Wagner March (Here Comes the Bride) and the Canon in D by Pachelbel also is still quite popular. There are a number of marches that use trumpet which also can be played by strings only. If there is an organist at the church then the bridal march works very nicely with the organ and strings and trumpet too, if there is one.

An organ can provide a “boost” to the strings for a more grandiose entrance of the bride. Or, you may like to take it up a notch and have the sound of a trumpet for your walk down the aisle. This is a personal decision and partly depends on the scope of the wedding. If you are getting married in an intimate space with 20-30 friends present it might be “overkill” to use a trumpet for the bridal march. That’s fairly obvious. If you are in a spacious church with 250-300 guests in attendance then you may find the regal call of the trumpet suits you. It’s an individual choice that has to do with the bride’s personality and style. I’ve played at very large weddings where we used strings only and I’ve had smaller weddings that added trumpet. There is no right or wrong decision.

If you decide you do want a trumpet be advised that you do have options to use it more than just for the bridal march and the recessional. Often the trumpet player sits for the entire prelude and then jumps up for the bridal march and then stirs again at the end for the recessional. And that’s fine, but there are a number of pieces of music that the trumpet can play with the strings. For example, Jesu Joy of Man’s Desiring is a pretty tune by Bach that is often used for the seating of the parents or grandparents. It can also be used for both since the song is substantial in length. There is a nice choral section which repeats several times that the trumpet can play. So, it’s nice to have the option to use the trumpet. There are other songs … for example the trumpet can play the melody of Ave Maria in the absence of a vocalist. Arioso by Bach is another song where the trumpet can play the melody at times. If you like the Canon in D you can have the music leader come up with an obligado trumpet line that won’t overwhelm the strings. And there are a number of Baroque trumpet concertos
which have beautiful slow movements that the trumpet could play with the strings during the prelude portion of the wedding.

So, again it is an individual decision. Do you want to have the trumpet player or singer more involved and also get more bang for your buck? That’s a somewhat personal choice, but the purpose of mentioning this was to let you know that there are options.

If you do use a trumpet you probably will want it to be prominent for the bridal march. So, for the maids a piece like Canon in D works very well in tandem with one of the trumpet marches. You don’t want the maid’s procession to upstage the bridal procession so be mindful of what music you choose. There are lots of pieces of music which do not feature the trumpet available for the maids. Just to name a few: Somewhere Out There, Theme from Ice Castles, Marcello Psalm 19 for organ and strings, Vivaldi Spring from the Four Seasons and many others. The trumpet player will often play a brief fanfare to signal the arrival of the bride. The congregation will stand for the bride’s procession.

Next, let’s discuss the unity candle. This is an optional part of the wedding. If the couple decides to have this it normally occurs following the exchange of the rings. The officiant mentions something about lighting a candle to signify the unity of two becoming one through marriage. As the couple walk over to light the candle a musical selection is played or sung, to accompany that. A special song, or instrumental selection, gives voice to deeply held feelings of love, commitment and joy. Everyone is held captive for a few brief moments before the official end of the ceremony and pronouncement of marriage.
And then finally, the moment comes when the officiant pronounces the couple “man and wife” and presents them to those in attendance. It is a joyous moment. The bride and groom exit followed by the bridal party and then the immediate families of the couple. Music played during this of course, is the recessional music. It will be upbeat, joyful and loud. There a lots of marches and musical selections available for this which can be played by strings alone, or in concert with trumpet and or organ.

As a parting thought I would suggest if you don’t have a wedding coordinator you appoint someone to act as your “coordinator”. It can be a friend or relative. Make it someone who is not in the bridal party. They will attend your rehearsal and they will be at the wedding early to assist the musicians with any questions or needs they have in terms of chairs or lighting. They will stand at the back of the church or entrance area to help direct the bridal party and also will give a “signal” to the musicians (nod of the head or wave) when the seating of grandparents or parents is to begin. The musicians will finish the music they are playing and the next piece will be for the start of the procession.
The “coordinator” won’t let anyone walk until everyone is ready. You want the procession to have a flow without gaps. The role of a coordinator is not difficult and can be useful in helping the procession work smoothly. I hope these thoughts and suggestions will be of some use to you as you plan your wedding.

Cordially,
Steve Taylor
SMT Music
Louisville, Ky