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Suggestions Wanted: Wedding Processional Tunes


Jim Besser

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Have a wedding gig coming up and we have to do something for the processional that isn't "Here Comes the Bride."

 

It'll be just concertina and fiddle.

 

I was thinking something O'Carolanish, but I'm wondering if there's anything that works particularly well in this setting.

 

I've only done one other wedding that required us to play a processional, and since we didn't know we'd be doing that part of the event and had to come up with something on the spur of the moment, we did the Winster Processional, which in retrospect was probably a little too vigorous.

 

Any ideas?

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I once played (theorbo) for a wedding which used Arbeau's "Dame qui a ma vie" --- A bridal march is often actually a pavane, so you might look for one of those. There are also some lovly Swedish bridal marches; my band once used one for a grand march at a reception.

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I've only done one other wedding that required us to play a processional, and since we didn't know we'd be doing that part of the event and had to come up with something on the spur of the moment, we did the Winster Processional, which in retrospect was probably a little too vigorous.

 

Any ideas?

 

Jim, you might consider giving them a few options as to the processional. O'Carolan is very elegant, or a march, even the jig Haste to the Wedding done at an unhurried tempo.

 

Considering that a wedding procession can take a bit of time, the offering might be one you and the fiddler have performed a lot and feel comfortable ornamenting. Perhaps a combination of tunes with a rather celebratory air to the ultimate offering as the bride enters (asssuming they will be that traditional).

Edited by Mark Evans
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Try this link:

 

http://www.london-harpists.co.uk/index.htm

some of the harpists show their wedding repertoire.

 

Thanks, lots of good ideas there.

 

Why are almost all London harpists women? Come to think of it, all the harpists I know around HERE are women. Is there any other instrument with such a strong correlation to gender?

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Considering that a wedding procession can take a bit of time, the offering might be one you and the fiddler have performed a lot and feel comfortable ornamenting. Perhaps a combination of tunes with a rather celebratory air to the ultimate offering as the bride enters (asssuming they will be that traditional).

 

I like that idea; prevents boredom! We could do various versions of Haste to the Wedding...the Morris version, the Irish.

 

Part of the problem is that the couple doesn't want to be at all involved in music selection. Won't give us even vague preferences. (Irish? Scottish? Klezmer? They don't seem to care).

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Have a wedding gig coming up and we have to do something for the processional that isn't "Here Comes the Bride."

 

It'll be just concertina and fiddle.

 

I was thinking something O'Carolanish, but I'm wondering if there's anything that works particularly well in this setting.

How about "Give me your hand"??. This one is not by O'Carolan but by Rory Dall O'Cathain, another Irish harper who spent the biggest part of his life (c. 1570 - c. 1650) in Scotland. It combines very nice with O'Carolan's "Planxty Fanny Power" (Noel Hill plays this combination on Anglo International).

 

Another O'Carolan tune that might sound very nice is "Henry McDermott Roe". I recently recorded this lovely tune.

 

Attached is the relevant material.

 

Give_Me_Your_Hand.pdfHenry_McDermott_Roe.pdfPlanxty_Fanny_Power.pdf

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A few years ago, Kettle Bridge Clogs were performing at a village fete, and a wedding was occurring in the village church the same afternoon. It was not planned in advance but we were invited to process with the wedding party from the church to the village hall. The dancers performed their standard processional dance, for which the tunes were Cock of the North, 100 pipers and Blaydon races!

The wedding party seemed appreciative.

 

- John Wild

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A few years ago, Kettle Bridge Clogs were performing at a village fete, and a wedding was occurring in the village church the same afternoon. It was not planned in advance but we were invited to process with the wedding party from the church to the village hall. The dancers performed their standard processional dance, for which the tunes were Cock of the North, 100 pipers and Blaydon races!

The wedding party seemed appreciative.

 

So maybe Winster wasn't such a bad choice, after all!

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  • 4 weeks later...
  • 8 years later...

Have a wedding gig coming up and we have to do something for the processional that isn't "Here Comes the Bride."

 

It'll be just concertina and fiddle.

 

An interesting coincidence last week, and I'm wondering:

The once-every-3-years Nordlek Scandinavian folk dance festival was in Viborg, Denmark, and after years of prodding by a Seattle friend, I went. At one evening concert I arrived just before the start, and there was a single seat free right up front. Talking in the intermission with the young couple at the same table, I learned they were from D.C., so I asked if they knew you, Jim. Monica and Andrew said you had played at their wedding. :) Small world!

I thought I remembered a thread in these Forums in which you had asked about Scandinavian wedding tunes, but I couldn't get a match with either the search here or a Google search, so I'm wondering if I misremembered, and this is the thread I "remembered". In any case, it's quite interesting, since there were enough folks at Nordlek that if it hadn't been for the coincidence that single empty seat, I probably would never have met Monica and Andrew.

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Have a wedding gig coming up and we have to do something for the processional that isn't "Here Comes the Bride."

 

It'll be just concertina and fiddle.

 

An interesting coincidence last week, and I'm wondering:

The once-every-3-years Nordlek Scandinavian folk dance festival was in Viborg, Denmark, and after years of prodding by a Seattle friend, I went. At one evening concert I arrived just before the start, and there was a single seat free right up front. Talking in the intermission with the young couple at the same table, I learned they were from D.C., so I asked if they knew you, Jim. Monica and Andrew said you had played at their wedding. :) Small world!

I thought I remembered a thread in these Forums in which you had asked about Scandinavian wedding tunes, but I couldn't get a match with either the search here or a Google search, so I'm wondering if I misremembered, and this is the thread I "remembered". In any case, it's quite interesting, since there were enough folks at Nordlek that if it hadn't been for the coincidence that single empty seat, I probably would never have met Monica and Andrew.

 

 

 

Wow, that's funny. I remember their wedding - Frog Hammer did a ceilidh, and we also played some trad Scandi tunes with a Swedish fiddler. I probably asked in these forums about tunes for that wedding - they wanted a traditional Scandi wedding polka.

 

But this thread was from a different wedding. A funny story: the bride wouldn't tell us in advance what she wanted, except we knew we had to do a processional.

 

We got to the wedding - a big outdoor chapel - and there was nobody there. Finally a guy came up to us and asked if we were part of the wedding. Turned out he was the minister, and nobody had told him what they wanted.

 

Suddenly a bunch of people came out from the restaurant and took seats. The mother of the bride came up to us and told us what they wanted: a very, very short processional, 1 X thru Amazing Grace and a very quick recessional.

 

We played for a total of about 2.5 minutes.

 

The whole wedding was about 8 minutes, recessional to processional.

Edited by Jim Besser
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Part of the problem is that the couple doesn't want to be at all involved in music selection. Won't give us even vague preferences. (Irish? Scottish? Klezmer? They don't seem to care).

Can you get any information from them about the processional itself? E.g., will you need music for the attendants and then separate music for the bride? Will the bride be coming in by herself (with or without parent or parents doesn't really matter) or with the groom?

 

How long will the aisle be? Sometimes it's a long walk, sometimes zoom, she's there.

 

Recessionals are a lot more fun!

 

I have zero experience playing for weddings, but lots of experience of being the guy in the dark suit at the front of the room, watching people process and recess. I love a nice, perky recessional!,

Edited by Mike Franch
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Part of the problem is that the couple doesn't want to be at all involved in music selection. Won't give us even vague preferences. (Irish? Scottish? Klezmer? They don't seem to care).

Can you get any information from them about the processional itself?

 

Mike, it looks like you didn't notice that I revived an old (2007) thread because of something I thought might be related, but the wedding itself was over long ago. :)

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Mike, it looks like you didn't notice that I revived an old (2007) thread because of something I thought might be related, but the wedding itself was over long ago. :)

I sure didn't! I'll have to watch out for that sort of thing! It's happened to me before in these discussions.

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  • 7 years later...

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