Chances are you’ve found this post because you need help with your ceremony music selections. Rest assured you’ve come to the right place… we have created a simple guide on how to select your ceremony music, along with recommended songs. This post is intended to help both the people who are “just looking for song ideas”, and those who are “stuck” and need inspiration on the type of music to help them narrow down their search.
What does ceremony music usually entail?
Of course, the short answer to this question is “it depends”. Do you have a planner? Is your DJ from craigslist? Or did you hire the best wedding DJ in your area? All of these will impact what your ceremony music will be, but ultimately, it should consist of what YOU want, since it is your wedding after all ;). Generally, ceremony music consists of 3 parts; prelude (or pre-ceremony/guest arrival music), processionals, and recessional(s).
Prelude Music
Prelude music is background music played as guests arrive and take their seats before the ceremony begins. We suggest using instrumentals of love songs for this, and keeping it mostly low key on this music. A pro tip: Make sure the list of prelude music does not include any of your processional songs! Here are some pre-made prelude lists you can check out to get an idea:
Spotify Prelude Lists (Live Embedded)
Processional Music
Processional songs are the songs that are used as select parties enter the ceremony such as: the bride, the bridal party, and can even be used for the officiant. Most weddings use 2-3 processional songs (one for the wedding party, one for the bride). However, this is not a rule, and you can go as simple or as complex as you would like with this music. On that note, do be aware of any limitations on your DJ’s (or other ceremony performers), as ceremony set-ups are generally designed to be simple, and if you want more complex music, they may need to bring additional equipment. As for the music itself, we suggest using instrumental covers of love songs that have some meaning to you (the couple), or the party walking in. Again, this is not a rule, think of the processionals as more formal songs and different from the wedding party introductions during the reception. If you have “Flower Men” for example, you may want to have them come out to a section of Thunderstruck, by AC/DC.
Songs/Artists to Look For
Some good artist profiles you can look up for well made popular covers are:
- Vitamin String Quartet
- Midnight String Quartet
- The Piano Guys
- Daniel Jang
- You can also try generally searching on a platform like Spotify for “Acoustic version”, “Instrumental”, or “Piano Cover”
Song Timing for Processionals
One of the details that is often overlooked, and also asked of our DJ’s is the timing of the processional music for the ceremony (both starting times, and durations). Again, depending on who is playing the music, they may need more or less direction, just remember that no one can read your mind :). That said, if you want a song to start at a specific time, make a note of the time, and as an added bonus, leave a link to the version of the song that you used to get that timing, this way the DJ/vendor, can confirm that they are using the same version. Couples also frequently ask if the whole song will be played or not during processionals… Generally, it won’t unless you need the full length. Much like wedding party introductions into the reception, the song will be faded out one the people walking to it, have reached their destination.
Recessional Music
Recessional music is generally a single song that follows the officiants last words to end the ceremony, as part of our planning process, we ask for the officiates last word to get the song timing just right. A recessional song generally is an upbeat song that talks about love, and is usually the original version and not a cover. (though it could be!). Some of the most common songs we see are:
- You are the best thing – Ray LaMontagne
- Best Day of My Life – American Authors
- This Will Be (An Everlasting Love) – Natalie Cole
In Conclusion
Hopefully after reading this post you’ve gained a new respect for the amount of work that goes into a wedding ceremony from the DJ’s part. By the way, this is only the music portion, DJ’s usually also provide microphones for the ceremony, adding an additional layer of complexity. Do you need a wedding DJ in RI, MA, or CT? Checkout more information on our wedding DJ services here.
