What would you do? Music for the ceremony

Have you asked your venue what people normally do about music for the ceremony? Do they not have a music system set up so you can play CD's or something for before and after the ceremony and for when you're signing then register? I've just assumed our venue has but I'm now thinking I'll have to look into it after reading your post x

I would check Sproggers as mine doesnt have it already set up. Although they obviously have a licence they are used a lot more as a reception venue (it is in a small village and so most people get married across the road in the church and then walk across). I dont really want someone standing with a CD player as think it sounds a bad when the music suddenly stops as soon as the bride gets to the front or you can hear someone fiddling around changing CD's.

I'm not sure what you'd want to spend but we had a string quartet who sat at the back of the ceremony room. They played whilst the guests arrived, when I walked up the aisle, signing the register, when we walked out an during the drinks reception. Is this something you could do?

I think if you can afford a live musician (even if it is electric piano!) I'd go for it as it would sounds nicer - like you said, they could fade music out rather than just turn cd on/off.

However, we are using a CD as our budget isn't very accomodating! We're going to edit songs so that they will fade out at roughly the right time. Will be tough though.

The right music for the ceremony really sets the tone for the rest of the day and if selected correctly can get everyone awestruck! I am a pianist and violinist and get a lot of last-minute enquiries as people realise an iPod is just not the way to achieve that stunning musical background to their wedding. It's best to book a musician for your ceremony who can play on into the drinks reception and wedding breakfast, if appropriate, and hopefully offering music entirely of your choice, not something from their set list. It's your wedding - you should tell them what to play!

Good luck!

CDs aren't as dodgy as you think, you just need to ensure that the person dealing with the CD player has a bit of savvy. Pick all the songs you want to play, and the order you want them played throughout the ceremony and burn them all onto 1 cd in the correct order (with a back up disc, just in case), that eliminates the "changing cds" problem. The person working the cd (it was my brother in our case) then simply has to use their head about when to fade down a track/fade up a track rather than press stop and have the whole thing cut off abruptly. It's a very cheap way to bring the music in, gives you an infinite choice of music rather than a set repertoire and it's dead easy to wheel a cd player into your wedding breakfast room to use in there as well. Most CD players will give enough oomph to fill a modest breakfast room with background music or you could hire some mini-amps for the day and rig them up yourself.

Im having a harpist 4 walking down the aisle, and a piper 2 pipe us back up, he will be outside piping 2 i think afterwards, ut if your not scottish it wouldnt really work would it?? What about contacting a music college im sure u coud have a harpist who isnt quite qualified but needs the experience?? might even be free.

Sx

Rather than using a CD, you could put together an iTunes playlist. You can set it so that it automatically fades the songs into one another so you don't get that awkward bit of silence between tracks!

Failing that, why not ask if any of your friends are nifty musicians? My MOH's other half is a very good acoustic guitarist, so he's playing a guitar adaptation of Pachelbel's Canon for me to walk down the aisle to.

Hi :-)

It sounds as if I run a similar agency to the one that you have booked your DJ from. We offer pianists for the day and DJs for the evening. (note for moderators - I am not touting for business)

We often provide pianists for civil ceremonies and we have two digital pianos that we use for this. Both of the pianos have inbuilt speakers (so that there is no need for an amp) and you can choose either a white or a black piano (depending on the colour scheme of your room).

I have some links to a couple of photos so that you can get an idea of how it can look:

1) Wedding Pianist Playing a White Piano for a Civil Ceremony at the White Hart, Essex

2) Wedding Pianist Playing a Black Piano for a Civil Ceremony at Smeetham Hall Barn, Suffolk

One of the huge advantages of a pianist over a CD is that the musician can start playing your favourite part of the piece as soon as you start entering the room and as you approach your H2B the pianist can improvise an ending so that the music finished at exactly the right time. The effect of this is that the music will sound as if it has been written to fit in perfectly with your ceremony.

Your pianist should be happy to start playing background music as soon as your guests are allowed into the ceremony room, and they should be happy to learn your requests for the entrance of the bride, the signing of the legal documents (I would recommend choosing two songs for this) and the exit of the bridal party. It is usually a good idea to ask you pianist to record you a sample of each request in advance so that you can hear how each piece will sound. This allows you to hand pick the music exactly for the most important part of your wedding day.

If you are struggling for ideas, then we have a free guide with lots of recordings of music that has been requested for civil ceremonies (and approved by the Essex registrars). Perhaps this will give you some inspiration for when you come to choose the music for your wedding.

www.WeddingMusicTips.co.uk

An insiders secret - there is little difference between the cost of booking a pianist for the ceremony and booking a pianist for the ceremony and drinks reception. Most musicians have a day fee and the additional cost is usually bulked up by agency fees, etc.

Your pianist should be in a position to provide two pianos (one for the ceremony and one for the drinks reception) and these should be set up at your venue before your guests arrive. This means that the pianist only has to move from one piano to another and the music can continue right from the ceremony to the end of the drinks reception.

If you would like any more specific advice then please feel free to ask. I would be more than happy to answer any of your questions.

James