Processional help

[DietCokeBreak]

Hi ladies! Question...

Do I have to have 2 pieces of music for the procession? It's a formal church wedding with full mass in the evening, but I only have a MOH and BM-- no bridal party. The aisle isn't all that long, so for...

Cross bearer
Priest
BM
Groom
MOH
me

it won't take that long to get down the aisle. I don't particularly want to change music, but mom is freaking out because "it's just not done this way."

Also, because this is a church thing and a religious occasion, I wanted everyone to walk to my favorite hymn and it has a really awesome descant/harmonization for the last verse. I wanted the organist to change keys and the trumpet to play the descant for when I walk down the aisle.

As an alternative, I could have the organist do an improvisation between the 3rd and final verses, and walk down to that. He does that most Sundays anyway, and that way people wouldn't have a hymnal in their face when I'm walking down. We could still do the fancy last verse when I get to the front.

What do you think-- separate music, walk on last verse, or walk just before last verse?

And how do I deal with mom?

 

[Lanie]

We are having a full mass as well, but I have a bridal party. What you could do is have them play an extended version of one song that you choose. I think it would be too choppy to play one, then another right after. Organists are good at extending as they wait.

Also, make an appointment with your organist AND your mother and get this all hashed out. If you say that she says that things aren't done this way, how are they done? Does she mean that people don't usually have 2 songs?

 

[DietCokeBreak]

Thanks for the reply Lanie. I should clarify-- mom says it''s "not done" that the bride doesn''t have her own music. She says no matter how long the other music is, I can''t walk down to the same thing as the rest of the procession. I''ve never been to a wedding where there was only one processional song, but it just makes more sense to me.

You are right, though, maybe the organist can tell her differently.

 

[musey]

Sorry, aren''t the BM (this stands for best man in your case, not bridesmaid, right?) and MOH the bridal party? Or does that only refer to the extended party members (bridesmaids and groomsmen, flower girls, etc.)?

Regardless, we had about the same size processional as you:

1. Groom + Mother of the Groom
2. Groomsman 1 + Mother of the Bride
3. Groomsman 2 + Matron Of Honor
4. Flower girls (together)
5. Me and my Dad

We had just one song for everyone, including me. We had a classical guitarist, and she just took a dramatic pause and turned up the volume a bit when my dad and I were about to start down the aisle. It seems like something like that would work.

Your mom is being silly

(but you knew that already!)

 

[Elmorton]

For our full mass, we had the same size processional - me, DH, priest + acolytes, MoH, and BM. We just had one processional for the entire thing, but the organist kindof changed the "mood" of it for DH's and my entry (we walked together).

I've definitely seen a mass where there are two songs for the processional. In fact, for a friend's wedding (her father is an Episcopal priest, so it was a full mass, high church wedding), they ended the first hymn, shut the back doors, and then reopened them as the second hymn began playing for her walk down the aisle.

So - ditto to everyone else. It's proper either way.

ETA: Re- dealing with mom. This is how I did it - our priest was awesome and kept on reminding us that he was in charge of all things liturgical, and there was nothing about the service that we needed to worry about. Just say "Mom, I talked to Fr.Awesome. He said this (whatever way you'd like it) is how the mass is done." Most people who are worried about correctness when it comes to a mass will see the priest's preference as the last word.

 

[Pandora II]

In the UK it is normal for the bridal party to follow the bride down the aisle, so we only ever have one piece of music.

I had my bridesmaids go first - mainly because the eldest was 12 and I thought that either of the 3 year olds were fairly likely to just tear down the aisle sobbing into their mothers arms - and I preferred them not to trip over me to do so.

I just picked the one piece and had someone signal to me when they had reached the top - the piece of music I chose (Gustav Holst''s ''Theme from Jupiter'' from The Planets) got more expansive - for want of a better phrase - in the second half so it did sound different enough for when I came in.

I don''t see why a single piece of music can''t be considered just as formal - check out some of our Royal Weddings, you don''t get more formal than those and they have only ever had the one processional.

 

[teapot]

Your musicians could amp up the music as you walk down the aisle, I don''t think it would be strange at all. My mom didn''t like lot of the things in my wedding since it wasn''t "normally done", but as long as I listed to her and gave a good alternative, she might have disagreed, but was "OK" with it all.