Wedding Songs for Your Wedding Ceremony

Your choice of wedding songs for your ceremony will depend on the type of ceremony you have. A religious ceremony will require traditional music, whilst a civil ceremony which tends to be less formal will give you a wider choice of wedding songs to choose from, just as long as they don’t have any religious references.

Here are a few suggestions for each type of ceremony including suggestions for the processional (walking down the aisle) and the recessional (walking up the aisle as man and wife).

Religious Ceremony

A religious venue may have a set list of music that they will want you to choose from, whilst others are happy to let you choose but impose some criteria first. Whatever you choose make sure your officiant is happy with it and that the organist is happy to play it!

Processional Music

1. Air in F, Handel
2. Arrival of the Queen of Sheba, Handel
3. Prince of Denmark’s March, Clarke
4. Pastoral Symphony, Handel
5. Trumpet Concerto, Torelli
6. Ave Maria, Gounod
7. Bridal Chorus, Wagner
8. Sheep May Safely Graze, Bach
9. Canon in D, Pachelbel
10. Sleepers Awake, Bach

Recessional Music

1. Wedding March, Mendelssohn
2. Hornpipe, Water Music, Handel
3. Air On The G String, Bach
4. Jesu, Joy of Man’s Desiring, Bach
5. Spring, The Four Seasons, Vivaldi
6. Trumpet Voluntary, Purcell
7. Ode to Joy, Beethoven
8. Autumn, The Four Seasons, Vivaldi
9. Processional To Te Deum, Charpentier
10. Sonata in G, Tartini

Civil Ceremony

You can choose music from across all genres for a civil service, however, as mentioned above there must not be any religious references to your choices. Many couples will choose a traditional song for the processional, such as any of those listed above and a modern love song for the recessional.

Processional Music

1. Bach to Basics, Paul Mottram
2. In My Life, The Beatles
3. When You Say Nothing At All, Ronan Keating
4. Close To You, The Carpenters
5. Salut d’Amour, Elgar
6. Because You Loved Me, Celine Dion
7. Trumpet Voluntary, Clarke
8. Day Dream Duet, Tim Garland
9. Clair de Lune, Claude Debussy
10. Romance, Christopher Slaski

Recessional Music

1. What a Wonderful World, Louis Armstrong
2. Signed, Sealed, Delivered, Stevie Wonder
3. The Prayer, Andrea Bocelli and Celine Dion
4. Walking on Sunshine, Katrina and the Waves
5. Laudamus Te, Vivaldi
6. We’ve Only Just Begun, The Carpenters
7. This Will Be An Everlasting Love, Natalie Cole
8. Belle Vie, Paul Mottram
9. Can’t Get Enough of You’re Love Babe, Barry White
10. All You Need is Love, The Beatles

As with many of the elements of your wedding, your choice of wedding songs needs to reflect your personal musical tastes. However, it maybe the case that your choice of music you listen to everyday would not be deemed appropriate for a wedding

This can leave many couples facing something of a dilemma when it comes finding wedding songs for their big day. Whilst choosing appropriate is an easy task, choosing something that is both appropriate and personal to them is a bigger problem.

Classical music is often the music of choice for formal ceremonies and during the early part of the wedding reception. But classical music can come in a range of tempos from loud and lively to sedate and serene, making it a good place to start for music which is representative of your tastes but which won’t upset the guests!

Look out for instrumental versions of your favorite tracks. These are often more sedate versions and are devoid of lyrics. Instrumental music makes a good choice for civil ceremonies and as background music during your cocktail hour.

Check out cover versions of songs you like. Many artists will cover songs in a different way to the original which could make them a better choice than the original. Live recordings can also prove a better choice although sound quality may not always be good.

Hire a live band for your evening reception and ask them to do covers of your favorite songs. They will sound very different to the originals but by this point you guests will not be concerned with the type of music just so long as they can dance to it!

One thing you will need to consider when choosing songs for your wedding is the tastes and age range of your guests. It would be impolite to have a playlist of music for your entire wedding that was entirely your taste in music. It may also kill the party dead before it has got started, with many of your guests leaving early! Choose a range of songs that has something for everyone, from golden oldies to the latest chart hits.

If you hire a DJ for an evening disco then make sure they can play a wide and varied number of tracks and know how to please the crowd with lively songs to keep everyone dancing. Your more elderly guests are most likely to leave early, probably before the evening entertainment has gotten under, so make sure there is something for them played early on.