One of the most popular questions we get asked is “how many songs do I need to choose for my ceremony?” Aside from narrowing down your guest list, picking the ceremony music can be one of the most challenging parts of the process for a lot of couples.
Our advice – keep it short and sweet. Don’t overwhelm your guests (and musicians) with too many song choices. We recommend choosing one song for the family & bridal party processional, one song for the bride’s processional, and one song for the recessional. Often, brides have a song in mind for each member of their bridal party, but try to keep in mind that they are only walking for about 10-15 seconds, which is rarely long enough to recognize a song. If you have “must play” songs that you’d like your guests to hear, have the musicians play them in the prelude as guests are arriving and getting seated, or even after the recessional as guests are leaving the ceremony.
Need a couple ideas? Here are some of my favs that our rockstar brides & grooms have picked:
Family & Bridal Party Processional
“Home” by Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeros
“First Day Of My Life” by Bright Eyes
Bride’s Processional
“Here Come the Sun” by The Beatles
“Canon in D” Pachelbel (I’m a sucker for the traditional ones too)
Recessional – After The Kiss!
“Signed, Sealed, Delivered” by Stevie Wonder
“Sweet Child O’ Mine” by Guns N’ Roses (note: this sounds phenomenal on a string quartet)
Image above by Lauren & Abby from our recent wedding in Italy at Cala di Volpe.
