Typical Wedding Order and Necessary Musical Selections

One of the great things about a wedding ceremony is that the couple can tailor it exactly to their liking; after all, they're the ones getting married. Nothing is set in stone, unless the bride and groom choose it to be such.

That being said, it's nice to have a starting point. A typical wedding order would look something like the following, with places for musical selections notated:

• Prelude
  15-30 min. before ceremony, guests are being seated, various musical selections (sometimes this is left to performer to decide, other times it is selected by bride/groom)
  
• Seating of the Mothers/Grandmothers
  1 musical selection.
• Entrance of the bridal party
  Includes bridesmaids, ring bearer, flower girl, etc. Often a runner is pulled down the aisle at the end for the bride's entrance which follows. 1 musical selection.
  
• Bridal Processional
  1 musical selection.
• Welcome/Address from Officiant
  
• Scripture/Poetry Reading/Prayer
• Special Musical Performance (soloist, etc.)
  1 musical selection
• Devotion or Sermon by Officiant
• Vows & Rings
  
• Unity Candle or Communion
  Sometimes includes 1 musical selection, depending on time, sometimes a second soloist performance, sometimes simply background music
• Pronouncement
• Recessional
  1 musical selection
• Postlude
  5-15 minutes, various musical selections, similar to prelude
  
  

National Park Music

Below are some interesting selections that might be of interest to Kim and her future husband. Being that I know Kim has a love for the outdoors and for our national parks, one way to make the wedding ceremony unique would be to use music from "The Grand Canyon Suite" by Ferde Grofé, and from the soundtrack to "The National Parks: America's Best Idea," the Ken Burns film. I've included some selections below, some of which I've used in weddings before. All of them are beautiful, but my favorite is "Late Summer Air."

The opening few minutes of "Cloudburst" from the Grand Canyon Suite is also wonderful.

One song that would work well in that context, but not listed here, is the hymn "This is my Father's World."

What a String Quartet Sounds Like...

String quartets can be a beautiful part of a wedding ceremony, especially if the wedding is outdoors and requires flexibility regarding audio needs.

Usually, you'll hear a string quartet in the context of classical or baroque music for weddings, such as Bach's "Air on the G String":

Sometimes you'll hear them in other styles that closely resemble classical music, such as a modern tango arrangement of "Besame Mucho":

Often, however, you'll hear styles of music that are much more modern, such as Disney's "When You Wish Upon a Star."

Even pop music from artists such as The Beatles can be played by a string quartet:

So a string quartet can make any style of music sound beautiful within the context of it's own unique sound.