Music is often played at wedding celebrations, including during the ceremony and at festivities before or after the event. The music can be performed live byinstrumentalists orvocalists or may use pre-recorded songs, depending on the format of the event, traditions associated with the prevailing culture and the wishes of the couple being married.
There are many different styles of music that can be played during the entrance and ceremony. While some elements of the ceremony may be personalized for a specific couple, the order of service will most of the time follow a similar pattern.
Aprelude often precedes the wedding. During the prelude, guests arrive to the gathering place while ambiance music is being played. Calm and light music is usually performed at that time, setting the mood for the ceremony while not being too distracting for the guests. Popular prelude music includesAir on the G string andJesu, Joy of Man's Desiring byJohann Sebastian Bach.
Music can be used to announce the arrival of the participants of the wedding (such as a bride'sprocessional), and in many western cultures, this takes the form of awedding march. For more than a century, theBridal Chorus fromWagner'sLohengrin (1850), often called "Here Comes The Bride", has been the most popular processional, and is traditionally played on apipe organ.[1]
Some couples may consider traditional wedding marches clichéd and choose a more modern piece of music or an alternative such asCanon in D byJohann Pachelbel. Since the televisedwedding ofCharles, Prince of Wales andLady Diana Spencer in 1981, there has been an upsurge in popularity ofJeremiah Clarke's "Prince of Denmark's March" for use as processional music; the piece was formerly (and incorrectly) attributed toHenry Purcell asTrumpet Voluntary.
AtJewish weddings, the entrance of the groom is accompanied by the tuneBaruch Haba.[citation needed]
TraditionalBurmese weddings incorporate songs from theMahāgīta corpus. Abwe song called "Aura of Immeasurable Auspiciousness" (Burmese:အတိုင်းမသိမင်္ဂလာသြဘာဘွဲ့,Ataing Mathi Mingala Awba Bwe) is used as a wedding processional song in traditionalBurmese weddings.[2] The style ofMahāgīta songs has also been adapted in more modern compositions, such as "Auspicious Song" (Burmese:မင်္ဂလာတေး,Mingala Tei) composed byTwante Thein Tan, and "Akadaw Pei" (Burmese:အခါတော်ပေး) by Waing Lamin Aung, both of which are commonly played at traditional Burmese weddings.[2][3]
InEgyptian culture,[4] thezaffa (Egyptian Arabic:زفـّـة /ALA-LC:zaffah), orwedding march, is a musical procession ofbendirdrums,bagpipes,horns,belly dancers and men carrying flaming swords. This is anancient Egyptian tradition that predatesIslam.
Interfaith marriage ceremonies have benefited by the efforts of several modern composers, many of whom have written processional marches to honor the religious traditions of both the bride and the groom. Included in this group areJohn Serry Sr. (1968).[5]
During the service there may be a fewhymns, especially inliturgical settings.
The exiting of the bridal party is also called thewedding recessional.
At the end of the service, in Western traditions, the bride andgroom march back up theaisle to a livelyrecessional tune, a popular one beingFelix Mendelssohn'sWedding March fromA Midsummer Night's Dream (1842).[6] The piece achieved popularity after it was played during the wedding ofVictoria, Princess Royal toPrince Frederick William of Prussia in 1858.[7] Another popular choice isWidor'sToccata fromSymphony for Organ No. 5 (1880).[8]
After the ceremony, there is often a celebratory dance, or reception, where there may be musical entertainment such as a wedding singer, live wedding band, orDJ to play songs for the couple and guests.
Siman Tov ("Good Tidings") is an all-purpose celebratory song in Jewish weddings.
In Zanzibar,Beni is performed both as a street parade and stationary as awedding dance.
