I've been asked to sing at my sister in law's wedding, something I've done many times before (not for her, this is her first time )during the signing of the register and for which I have quite a few pieces to choose from. However, sis-in-law wants me to sing while she's walking down the aisle and I'm completely stumped as to what would be suitable, and she doesn't have any idea of what she wants either (only that it isn't too fussy).

Has anyone else been to a wedding where a soloist has sung at this point? And does anyone have any ideas for a song for a (slightly rusty - been teaching more than practising lately) mezzo?

Any ideas gratefully received, thanks

Could we narrow it down with some idea of genre?

In the meantime, would something sort of "religious-lite" work - Rutter, perhaps? Or maybe someone's Ave Maria?

If you want something vaguely but not too religious, then there's a gorgeous piece by Robin Nelson called 'An Apache Blessing' - I think it might be 2-part, but you could adapt it. It is hard to know where to start though with such an open-ended request!

I'm not a singer - am only posting because I have been to a wedding where there was a soloist at this point. She sang Exsulsate Jubilate by Mozart

The 'Irish blessing' is beautiful and 'unfussy' and a not too overly relgious. Words =

May the wind be always at your back,
May the sun shine warm upon your face,
May the rains fall soft upon your fields,
And, until we meet again,
May God hold you in the hollow of His hand.

I have a Bob Chilcott SSA version (see musicroom) but easy to sing as a solo.

Otherwise Mozart's Laudate Dominum ? Or Jesu Joy of...? Ave maria ?

Or even a more 'pop' song - see if they have a particular favourite - Bridge over troubled waters, the Rose, Wind beneath my wings, Beautiful tonight . . . these are all quite popular.

.

Thanks for the replies.

I would love to be able to sing Exultate Jubilate - how I wish I was a soprano sometimes with the vocal agility this piece requires

I will definitely have a look at both the Irish and Apache Blessings - I've heard these but never sung them myself (or taught them as yet).

I'd thought about The Rose (one of my favourites), but as I've never been to a wedding where someone sang while the bride made her big entry, I wondered if it might be too long to sing the 3 verses, which I think you need to do to understand this song.

I think I shall have to trawl through my music and shortlist a few from different genres and see what she thinks.

Let's hope she doesn't then ask for Lady Gaga (she's 19 by the way)

The length of the music will inevitably depend on the length of the aisle. In my experience, most of the weddings I've played for over the years have required no more than about 30 seconds music max - especially if the bride's nervous and walks quickly!

That's exactly what I thought, which is why I'm in such a tizz about the song choice.

Would Widmung, Schumann - be an option...perhaps an abridged version, post middle section? Some of the other suggestions are also good - best to find out what the couple would prefer and whether it can be sacred or needs to be secular. Its been something I've had to consider in the past - but not had to sing during the processional before - have played the organ at a number of weddings in the past - and you often have to find a way to end the piece naturally! 30 secs sounds about right.
Good luck.

Just an observation - a blessing is normal at the end of a service or wedding, but I've never come across one at the beggining of a service/wedding... (although I'm sure the suggested sung blessings would sound lovely )

I sang Laudate Dominum while the bride walked down the aisle once. It wasn't a long aisle but they were happy to wait until I finished (and then everyone clapped ). While they signed the register I sang Panis Angelicus (to another clap ). It was a Catholic church and the bride was a singing student. I was able to give her her grade 5 results (distinction) at the reception as they had arrived that morning

Do you mean up the aisle or down the aisle? They would require different ideas, surely?

As far as I understand it, you walk UP the aisle to your wedding (what Kate Middletod did with her father) and DOWN the aisle to great celebration at the end of it (what Kate Middleton did with William). Do any of you use the expressions the other way around?

So up the aisle could be full of pomp and ceremony or great celebration, but it could also be contemplative. Down the aisle is always celebratory. Here Comes the Bride is for Up the Aisle, while the Mendelssohn could work for either but feels to me more right for coming back down

A friend of mine sang John Lennon's "Grow Old Along With Me" at her brother's mwedding, but that was for the signing of the register and was in a register office.

Quilter's O Mistress Mine?! Perhaps not.

It isn't something I've come across, and if the wedding I played at last week is anything to go by it had best be quite clearly noted in the programme that there will be singing on the way out. (Before the service the audience was loud, during the hymns the audience was largely silent, during the signing - whilst I was just playing on the organ the audience was loud, on the way out their cheering and whistling was rather louder than full organ)

I'm assuming that wedding is in a church as you mention and aisle, but if you're using that as a generic term for "walk way to getting married", then that would affect your choice. When OH and I got married (not in church) we were told music and reading couldn't be religious as it was a civil ceremony - ie no Bible, no hymns. Might be worth checking with the registrar if it's not a church do.

Second point. OH and teacher recently played at a wedding. Bride had a traditional dress, so the vicar said that the music should allow time for the the brides entrance; the chief bridesmaid arranging the dress at the bottom of the aisle; processional and arranging of the veil of the bride's face. So even though the church was tiny there was still time to play a good portion of Beethoven's Spring Sonata - second movement I think.

So with those extras included you get a little more time.

Yes, sorry, I do mean up the aisle. Habit of mine - having grown up half way up a mountain I still say down to everywhere

I googled this same question earlier and the search came up with websites and forums for wedding planning and some of the songs that brides have walked up the aisle to just made my mind boggle Bonnie Tyler, Dire Straits, AC/DC and most of the others I'd never even heard of....

I attended a wedding where they used a string quartet arrangement of a Metallica track for the processional. Strangely beautiful.

You also grew up halfway DOWN a mountain!

When my family had a music shop I was frequently asked for a copy of Ave Maria by a bride-to-be. If we were busy I would probably just go straight for a copy of the Schubert which we usually kept, which had the Latin words grafted on to it.

If we weren't busy and I was in a really scurrilous frame of mind, the conversation would go something like this:
This would be a Catholic wedding, would it?
Er... no...?
OK, which version would you like?
Oh, the usual
You mean the one by JS Bach?
Er... probably
Or the one by Schubert?
Oh. I don't know
(So I would play her part of the Bach)
That's the one
(I play part of the Schubert)
Oh, it might be that one. Hold on, I'll just go outside and fetch Brian in.
(In comes Brian, the prospective bridegroom. I play snippets of both Aves Maria. Eventually, after a pause, they both decide it's the Schubert)
Right. What language would you like it in?
Er... I didn't realise there was a choice
There's the Latin, which isn't the original, or there's the German, which is actually a translation from an English poem by Sir Walter Scott, or I suppose you could go back to the English
Er...
You do realise that the original isn't the normal Alve Maria prayer, but actually the hymn of a maiden in distress?
Er...
Here, have this one, it's been adapted for the Latin prayer, and it's what people usually use. It's not actually a set part of the wedding service, you know
Er... oh, isn't it? We just heard it and my friend's, and we thought...

I once knew someone who had gone "up" the Wagner and "down" to Mendelssohn (the usual suspects) and said later that she had thought they were "part of it" and hadn't realised there could be a choice of music!

Love the Ave Maria conversation. You are very naughty!

As to tunes, I would avoid "Fight the good Fight" Currently working on Vittoria Vittora by Carissimi - another one to avoid at weddings.

As to possibles, you could try "Per Te" by Josh Groban - nice sentiments for wedding.

I wanted to come into the church to Karg-Elert's Nun Danket. It was a TINY church (seated about 80) so I paced it out, went through the score and decided where the organist needed to start and end. Now, you probably won't be able to rely on the bride walking in time to the music, but there's nothing to stop you keeping on to the end of the song while there is general shuffling the bouquet and picking up the service sheet.

The daughter of one of our choristers is getting married next year and she would like to arrive to "Sigh no more, ladies" by Patrick Doyle (from the film of Much Ado about Nothing). Hmmm... what does this say about their future life together?!?!

Or, if it's been carefully prepared beforehand, you could persuade the bride to just wait a while before actually moving up. My second wedding was in a register office with only a very short walk in. We had kept the wedding music under wraps, and had chosen the wedding march from the Marriage of Figaro to come in to, because so many of our guests had some involvement with that particular opera, and we wanted to give them the chance to register what the music was. I still remember waiting outside, saying "few more bars - few more bars - few more bars - OK, let's go and get married" and by that time all of them were grinning with delight not only for us but at their own different memories as performers, audience, etc

Yes, it's amazing how people don't think about the words when they choose music, isn't it? One good friend of mine went up to (admittedly the tune only) the Marseillaise! (They're still married after about 17 years, by the way )

We were once asked (barbershop quartet) to sing 'You light up my life' for the bride to come in to. It was nerve wracking, to say the least, and then she completely messed it up by coming in at a different time from the one she'd specified (she had intended to 'set off' quite near the end, at the key change 'You light up my life' - very emotionally charged, allegedly) but she couldn't wait so she set off almost at the beginning and was at the front and waiting while we lamely finished, as cutting it short wasn't an option.

We've also ben asked to sing 'Crazy little thing called love' and 'Let's do it' during the signing of the register, in a church. Well, it raised a smile anyway!

OH has been coming up with an "alternative" selection of hymns...

Start with "Fight the Good Fight", "He who would valiant be" and finish with "When a Knight won his spurs" Staying on the theme, I suggested that I should enter to the Imperial March from Star Wars, and we should go out to the Brewer Marche Heroique...

Daddy, please say I can marry this man, or I shall go and throw myself in the river?????

How patronising

"Dear Lord and Father of mankind" has been known to be asked for at our church. After all, it is a nice tune and so well known.

If only the couple would read a little further: "forgive our foolish ways"

The choir also chuckle at the last verse: "Breathe through the heats of our desire Thy coolness and Thy balm"

How about "Through the night of doubt and sorrow?"

Do remember that if the wedding is taking place in a Church of England Church, even at a wedding the Minister taking the service has final say over the music, although it is normally the Bride's choice.

Do take into account the size of the venue. The words. These are the ones that the Minister may veto if the song is secular, and given the context of 'O mio Babbino Caro' or 'lets burst into a sham will reading, demand I get married or I throw myself off the Ponte Vecchio, O Daddy Please say Yes, or I'd rather die'...nothing like putting pressure on the folk in the Church when it gets to the phase "if anyone know any Just cause or impediment..." I don't think so!

Suitable choices include: Laudate Dominum from Solemn Vespers - Mozart. (Used in the wedding of HRH Prince Andrew to Sarah Ferguson) Domine Deus from Gloria - Vivaldi (especially if there is a decent oboist around too) Rutter- Gaelic Blessing Rutter - Lord Bless you and Keep You (although better at the signing of the register) Handel -Let the Bright Seraphim - (as sung by Kiri te Kanawa at the Wedding of HRH Charles Prince of Wales to Lady Diana Spencer)

I do not think an Ave Maria is that suitable at a wedding - far more suitable at a Christening or Funeral. The words do not match the occasion.

Mozart's Exultate Jubilate either complete, or 1st movt or last mvt is for the signing of the Register. As is Bach's Jauchzet Gott in Allen Landen. or the Et incarnatus est from the C minor Mass by Mozart. Of course I've only mentioned Classical solos for Sopranos here. Most are tricky. some fiendishly difficult. Some easier.

This is something that as the soprano, you need to discuss with the Organist, Minister, and Bride in order that the day goes without a hitch. One may laugh about the suitability of 'fight the good fight', but given the vows a wedding should be taken with the solemn reverence it deserves.

Great suggestions for a trained soprano, jod, but I believe the OP described herself as a rusty mezzo, so I'm not sure how well she'd cope with 'Jauchzet' or 'Laudate Dominum'. ( Where has the OP gone, by the way? Would be interesting to hear what she decided on.)

Well I don't usually like to dissagree but there is a considerable element of truth in what Soprano101 says. The Vast Majority of people attending weddings are not musicians or religeous and will only hear a beautiful melody sung in a language they won't understand..they will feel comfortable hearing something familiar..How often have I heard Nessun Dorma referred to as the theme tune for the Rugby World Cup with the person completely unanware that it comes from an actual Opera. The vast majority of people couldnt tell you one work from another..Just visit you tube to read the comments boxes and you'll get the picture..

Whilst I hear what Jod says about remembering you are in a church, equally remember that most people don't attend church regularly if at all and wouldn't see the harm in using secular music..people are either not bothered, don't think or in a few and remote cases just incredibly thick.. so why would it occur to them (the bridal couple) that their favourite light classic may or may not be suitable lyrically speaking..I do understand that the Minister/priest/vicar has the final say but given the state of the C Of E coffers a weddings a wedding and money in the bank and I doubt many clergy are going to object to something from the light classical repetoire..We're not talking the S.e.X. Pistols "God Save the Queen" after all are we..

Andrew

So what do you tell them when they ask you what it means? I still think it's patronising to assume that if a person is not a musician that they are bound not to give a toss about what the words mean - I've met plenty of people who say they don't like to hear things sung in foreign languages because they don't know what they mean, and these are not musicians.

If you just want a lovely tune, play it on an instrument.

Still here

I haven't decided on anything yet - the wedding's not until next June so plenty of time.

Most of the pieces suggested (obviously not the soprano repertoire) is what I would normally consider singing during the signing of the register. To me, the entrance of the bride music should be something akin to a fanfare to announce her arrival. Which is why I'm stumped!

I've just thought of the intro for Hatton's The Enchantress - played on a pipe organ I'm sure it would frighten the life out of some of the congregation

Well firstly I have never been asked what the words mean from any Aria/song and most Brides are more caught up with the minutae of the Dress, flowers,Bridesmaids, Bridegroom, Cake, Cars, Reception and what their mothers are doing/up to to worry about what the actual words mean..they like a lovely melody/tune, have heard it on TV, Classic FM or at some other event and are not overly fussed..And if a Bride wants a singer to sing instead of an instrument well it's her day so she can have what she jolly well wants..I would like to point out a lot of non musicians don't know one instrument from another..I have been asked many times if I play the flute/clarinet and one person I know can't tell the difference if he hears a Violin as opposed to the Oboe..

I don't believe that Soprano 101 meant her comment in a patronising manner, not at all, she made a general point that many people i.e non musicians truely don't know whats what and go for what they like the sound of or have enjoyed..its no more complex than that..that doesn't make them inadequate in anyway it just means they have other interests or other things that they like or which are more important to them personally..Translating things into another language from its original is rarely satisfactory, half the romance is the lyricism that when sung in for example Italian is what makes an Aria special to people..If they didn't like it they wouldn't have chosen it.

Andrew

I'm left wondering whether, in the event that a bride were to ask for O Mio Babbino Caro, and the prospective singer, off their own bat, said "yes, OK. It's in Italian, so your guests won't know that it means (summarise the meaning)" - how many brides would say, "oh, better not, then" - how many would say "oh, don't worry about them, they won't know" - how many would say "even though I know, I don't mind, I just ignore the meaning, it's off that film, innit?" - how many would say "I wish you had kept me in ignorance"?

I don't think the comparison with Nessun Dorma really holds water. Anyone who knew what it meant might have thought it was irrelevant to football - except for the final "I shall win!" of course - but wouldn't have thought it inappropriate. And excuse me, but I was teaching in secondary school during the 1990 football world cup (not rugby - has it also been used for rugby?) and all the kids loved it, even though most of them thought the tune was called Pavarotti, but I was asked by one or two of them what it meant.

The reason I said the response was patronising was that it seemed to be saying that while someone with any "culture" might have known or cared what O Mio Babbino Caro was actually about, most brides, grooms and their families are ignorant and uncultured philistines who don't know any better and never will know any better. So this sort of thing is OK for "the likes of them". I think everyone deserves more respect than that

When I was young O Mio Babbino was often presented with the translation "Oh my beloved father" which gives a completely different idea of what it means. And there was a series on TV maybe 20 years ago now, in which they were charting the development of various people who were being tsaught to sing; I don't remember if they were all "celebrities" though I know one of them was Bonnie Langford. One woman had been working on this song and had learnt it as "o mio bambino caro, hadn't looked at the meaning of the rest of it, and thought she was singing to her baby.

I'm not for a moment suggesting that the audience/congregation should be informed what it's about. But that's still the meaning, and if the bride knows the meaning and still thinks it's OK, not inappropriate, then that's fine. I just don't think an attitude of "don't worry your little head about things you won't understand" does anyone any favours

Trouble is, when you spend every weekend from Spring to Autumn playing for weddings and dealing with brides' music selections (I do the admin for my string quartet and most of our gigs are for civil ceremonies where no religious music is allowed), it's very easy to get rather cynical. I used to try & steer people towards 'appropriate' music - but really, it's none of my business what they want. We've spent most of this summer playing Coldplay & Snow Patrol, alongside the ubiquitous Pachelbel, but frankly we'll play pretty much whatever they want. It does irk me that the thought process around wedding music seems to go: "Ooh - let's have a string quartet - that's quite classy", followed by "Hmmm - what music do we like? Well everyone has that Canon thing so that must be a legal requirement. Other than that, we like Coldplay, Lady Gaga, Oh - maybe we better have some classical - Lloyd Webber's OK, and the old people will like some Beatles". Unfortunately this isn't often followed by "Does our music selection fit nicely on a string quartet, without the words?"

Some particularly memorable weddings have included the mother-of-the-bride who phoned me every day for about 2 months before the wedding to check up on various matters. She was keen that we should definitely NOT play "Arrival of the Queen of Sheba", as the Queen of Sheba was a woman of loose morals - unlike her pure and lovely daughter. And then she started pondering what we should play as a tribute to the bride's two children from a previous relationship... Which is fine - but a little incongruous given the objections to the QofS.

Then there was the Anglo-French wedding, where the participants hadn't thought through what would happen when we started playing 'All you need is Love'. Yup - it starts with the beginning of La Marseillaise, and all the French guests stood to attention then looked confused and awkwardly sat down again.

Not to mention the numerous couples who fancy hearing 'Makin Whoopee' without considering that it's one of the more cynical songs about marriage.

However - during the reception we usually have a bit more leeway to play the things that we feel fit the mood of the occasion, and it's astonishing how often the most apparently musically ignorant couples will have a guest who used to be a music professor at some European university, and will quietly thank us for playing a Mozart divertimento during the champagne reception.

We had the Ying Tong Song at our reception. The Bride (that was me) sang the solemn opening, with everyone standing, then everyone joined in when Ying Tong started

Of course you can have what you want, even if it's inappropriate. It's just that I feel you should know whether or not it's appropriate, particularly when there are words.

The usual place for a singer to sing in a wedding would be the signing of the register. Unless you are a Bravura expert there is little music that is going to serve as a fanfare, especially in the mezzo repertoire.

Let the Bright Seraphim was one of my suggestions for a soprano entry piece, as would be Rejoice Greatly (Messiah) but these are very much for Soprano.

As I suggested before, it is often a good idea to talk ideas through with the Organist, Minister and Bride to come up with something suitable.

So, mezzo from the same repertoire, let me think...

Ah, the very thing.

From Handel's Messiah: "Behold, a virgin shall conceive"

"He was despis-ed"..?

Please yourself..

Andrew

Thought I'd revive this thread after a conversation had with my sister in law yesterday.

After the pleasantries were out of the way it went something like this:

Her: I've decided what I'd like you to sing at my wedding.
Me: Oh yes?
Her: Do you know the Welsh National Anthem?
Me (don't know what the look on my face is at this point): Yes, of course.
Her: Well I'd like you to sing it when I'm walking into the church and then the Scottish anthem when we leave.