Ceremony Music

Music has the power to set a mood, evoke emotion, and give a moment cohesiveness.

Many of the songs listed below can be used for processionals and recessionals, and/or serve as prelude music (when your guests are finding seats and waiting for the ceremony to begin) or postlude music (when your guests are exiting, and/or waiting in the receiving line). The instrumental music pieces are great for the prelude, processional and recessional parts of the wedding ceremony.

Traditional Wedding Ceremony Music

• "Bridal Chorus from Lohengrin" (Richard Wagner) (also known as "Here Comes the Bride")
• "Canon in D" by Johann Pachelbel
• "Guitar Concerto in D Major", Largo, (Antonio Vivaldi)
• "Air" (from Water Music Suite), (George Frederic Handel)
• "The Prince of Denmark's March" (Trumpet Voluntary in D major) (Jeremiah Clarke)
• "Procession of Joy" (Hal Hopson)
• "Rigaudon" (Andre Campra)
• "Wedding March" (from The Marriage of Figaro), (Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart)
• "Trumpet Tune and Air" (Henry Purcell)
• "Trumpet Voluntary" (John Stanley)
• Prelude from "Te Deum" (Marc-Antoine Charpentier)

Other Classical Wedding Ceremony Music

• "Coronation March for Czar Alexander III" (Peter I. Tchaikovsky)
• "Overture" (from Royal Fireworks Music), (George Frederic Handel)
• "Promenade" (from Pictures at an Exhibition), (Modest Mussorgsky)
• "Sinfonia" (from Cantata No. 156), (Johann Sebastian. Bach)
• "Cantata No.29" (Johann Sebastian Bach)
• "Prelude and Fugue in C" (Johann Sebastian Bach)
• "Toccata" (from L'Orfeo), (Claudio Monteverdi)
• "Romance from String Quartet" (Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart)
• "Piano Concerto No. 21 in C major" ("Elvira Madigan") (Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart)
• "Trumpet Tune in A-Major" (David N. Johnson)
• "A Midsummer Night's Dream, incidental music, Op. 61 Wedding March" (Felix Mendelssohn)
• "Winter," Largo or "Spring" Allegro (from The Four Seasons), (Antonio Vivaldi)

Contemporary Songs Appropriate for Wedding Ceremonies

• "At Last" (Etta James)
• "Only Time" (Enya)
• "Come Away With Me" (Norah Jones)
• "Appalachia Waltz" (Yo-Yo Ma, Edgar Meyer, Mark O'Connor)
• "Unforgettable" (Nat King Cole and Natalie Cole)
• "It's Only Time" (Magnetic Fields)
• "The Look of Love" (Dionne Warwick/Burt Bacharach)
• "The Vow" (Jeremy Lubbock)
• "Come What May" (Nicole Kidman and Ewan McGregor)
• "Storybook Love" from the movie "The Princess Bride" (Willy DeVille)
• "Wedding Processional" (from The Sound of Music) (Richard Rodgers & Oscar Hammerstein)
• "Can't help falling in love" (Elvis Presley)
• "What A Wonderful World" (Louis Armstrong)
• "When I'm Sixty-Four" (The Beatles)

Instrumental Wedding Ceremony Music

• "Bridal Chorus from Lohengrin" ("Here Comes the Bride") by Richard Wagner.
• "Canon in D" by Johann Pachelbel
• "Guitar Concerto in D Major" (2nd Movement) by Antonio Vivaldi
• "Trumpet Tune and Air" by Henry Purcell
• "Wedding March" by Felix Mendelssohn
• "Promenade" (from "Pictures At An Art Exhibition") by Modest Mussorgsky
• "Cantata No. 156: Arioso" by Johann Sebastian Bach
• "Eine kleine Nachtmusik - Andante" by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
• "Piano Concerto No.21, KV 467 - Andante" by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
• "Spring" (from the Four Seasons) by Antonio Vivaldi
• "Sheep May Safely Graze" (Cantata No.208) by Johann Sebastian Bach
• "Clair de lune" by Claude Debussy
• "Rhapsody On A Theme Of Paganini" by Sergei Rachmaninoff
• "Morning" (from Peer Gynt) by Edvard Grieg
• "Laudate Dominum" by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart

Go to www.amazon.com and do a quick search for any of these titles. Amazon has an MP3 excerpt for most songs, allowing you to get a sense of the music before you purchase it.

From http://weddings.about.com/od/yourweddingceremony/a/ceremonymusic.htm and http://musiced.about.com/od/lessonsandtips/a/weddingmusic.htm