All

Am getting married in December.
It is the second time around for both of us, so we are doing a small thing, just immediate family.
It will be more a nice Dinner with a quick ceremony than the traditional ceremony, dinner, dance / piss-up.
We will have access to a "system" ( Ghetto blaster fed I'm betting )for the ceremony and dinner, but don't know what to choose.

I was thinking string quartet, or maybe piano / small ensemble. Unfortunatelly, my classical knowledge extends to either I like it or I don't when I hear it.

Suggestions appreciated.

Thank-you.

regards,

michael

Why not have music that you enjoy? Does it have to be classical if you don't normally listen to it?

Presumably you will need two processional pieces, a number for the signing and loads of backrground stuff for the meal.

For the meal, there is absolute load of stuff written specifically. Try things like the Telemann Tafelmusic

Tom
Actively enjoying it all

Maybe its an Urban myth of the greatest proportion but a friend of mine reckons he was at a wedding years ago where the bride had asked to go down the aisle to "the music from Robin Hood" meaning 'Everything I do, I do it for you' by Bryan Adams. As she arrived on the big day and entered the church the Organist struck up with the old tune 'Robin Hood, Robin Hood riding through the glen'...etc etc

Hope you have better luck than that.

Also what about the evening do hopefully you've already got the following ESSENTIALS teed up..


1 The Shoop Shoop Song

2 Grease Megamix

3 Come on Eileen (Don't forget to do the 'embarassing foot stomping in a circle at the fast bit' bit)

4 New York New York (Don't forget to do the 'in a circle kicking legs' bit)

5 The Time Warp

6 YMCA (All the men have to pretend not to look camp or shamefaced as they semaphore out the letters)

7 Its Raining men

8 That one where you all sit on the floor between eachothers legs patting the floor left and right as directed by a pissed Aunt at the front.

All the best on the day,
Jonathan

Careful with the classical stuff if you don't know much about it. A mate of mine was in the same situation, bought a cd of 20 greatest classical etc etc, thinking it was safe, & half way through the meal a few of the ladies started crying.It turned out that the music that was playing was from the movie "schindlers list",& it upset a few guests & set off a chain reaction!
For easy listening music (musak?) alternatives for the meal,how about:-
woman, by john lennon,van morrison stuff,a bit of everything-but-the-girl,diana krall etc,etc. A compilation cd/ipod like that should be easy to put together, & not too offensive, bearing in mind it is only really background music.(ok, it may sound to some like elevator music, but you've got to cater to the masses! Hope it helps, Matt.

Firstly, congratulations!

When we got married a couple of years ago, my wife came down the aisle to Bjork's "Frosti". Durung the signing we had Lambchop's "Theone" which has a fabulous string quartet arrangement. After the ceremony, for maximum cheese effect, we walked out to "It Had To Be You" from Whe Harry Met Sally. First dance, Lyle Lovett "She's No Lady , She's My Wife".

At my first wedding we went down the classical route, but this time we chose stuff that we liked and that was part of our story. Classical stuff gives a formality but can be a little anonymous if chosen because it signifies seroiousness rather than because you love it, IMO.

Kevin

We had classical music for our wedding just over a year ago. We had:

Incoming:
Theme from Brahms' Variations on a theme by Haydn.
Signing the register:
Mendelssohn's Nocturne from a Midsummer Night's Dream.
Slow movement of the Mendelssohn Violin Concerto.
Outgoing: Stanley Trumpet Voluntary

.....but these were very personal to us - we got a bunch mates in to play the music and, as I play the horn and my wife the violin, the choice of music for the register signing seemed obvious.

The ingoing and outgoing were more traditional though, and if you're looking for something classical, we thought they were beautiful....

Kevin

Congratulations Mykel!

Unless you hire a quartet or trio you'll have to rely on recommendations I guess.

Personally, I'd be going for something light, positive and inconspicuous. Therefore, I'd recommend Vivaldi's "The Four Seasons", Bach's "Brandenburg Concertos" or "Air on a G String", or pretty much anything by Mozart, such as "Eine Kleine Nachtmusik",(pardon my spelling folks)and his Clarinet and French Horn concertos. Handel's "Water Music" is good and I think it was Haydn who did "The Fireworks" suite.
All of these are fairly safe IMO.

The other route is a fairly mundane contemporary soundtrack, i.e lift music, so I'm thinking Norah Jones for example/David Gray/Damien Rice/ Nick Drake,etc.

My only other recommendation is to get a ghetto blaster with a remote control. That way, your best man can fade the volume down for the vows and then fade back up when you're signing the register, etc. Getting one with detachable speakers is a good idea - you can then pop it out of sight behind a chair or curtain and have the speakers positioned discreetly in the corners somewhere.

Good luck!
jon

I suggest Etta James in some later recordings of classy jazz ballands. I told my friend Sandy about James' "At Last" and she used that as her first dance when she got married.

Life is analogue, enjoy it while you can.

Oddly enough I'm listening to Kevin Bowyer's "For Weddings" (Nimbus Records NI 7712) at this very moment! Just borrowed it from the library beause it was the last organ music CD on the shelf I hadn't heard yet.

Though ideally you'll need a good subwoofer to go with the ghetto blaster to enjoy it fully

It has all the usual fare. 23 tracks of popular classical music on Chichester Cathedral Organ. Vagner (The well know Bridal March), Handel, Purcell, Bach, Walton, etc.

Not sure what you orginally hand in mind but this is all the traditional stuff on the right instrument for the Big Day.

Congratulations to you both! Have a great day and delerious future happiness together!

Nime

Scratch my Etta James, I listened to "Mystery Lady:songs of Billie Holliday" last night and it is too down and bluesy. great jazz combo behind her tho. Not good for a festive wedding

Life is analogue, enjoy it while you can.

Congrats all the way around!
Here's what we did:
My best friend and his wife played a violin / cello duet for the small ceremony.
For the big reception I had my Linn LK1 & LK2 combo driving a set of Mordant-Short bookshelves. I had the Linn remote control in my pocket and could control volume at my discretion. It's amazing how far that old Linn remote would transmit.
I made a tape of music (no such thing as commercial CD burners at the time), all sorts, all stuff we enjoy. It was our party afterall!
All my friends expected nothing less from their audiophile pal.
I still have the tape but have not played it since the day of the wedding. Will have to get it out sometime.
To each his/her own. Then, once you've been married a bit, to each her own!
All the best,
David