quote:

---

We can make an alternative "wedding music from hell" list, starting with inappropriate/offensive songs or hymns.

I'll start you off with:
Lord of the Dance
Jerusalem
Kumbaya

---

The thread has now moved into discussion of silly rules God might or might not make. Or something. TBH I skimmed past it because it was boring me

Anyway, inappropriate songs for weddings?
 

---

Posted by Sarkycow (# 1012) on :
 
My church normally has a couple of people to 'man' it during weddings - point people to the toilets, get tissues, change the bride's baby's pooey nappy (yes really!). I often used to be part of the team.

One particularly memorable wedding the bride and groom decided that whilst they were signing the register, they'd have "We've got tonight" playing

quote:

---

I know it's late,I know you're weary
I know your plans don't include me

---

Beautiful statement to start your marriage with
 

---

Posted by orfeo (# 13878) on :
 
Didn't encounter it personally, but when Lips of an Angel by the band Hinder was a big hit it was apparently turning up at weddings at a lot.

Rather odd, when the lyrics are all about talking to someone OTHER than your current girlfriend.
 

---

Posted by JonahMan (# 12126) on :
 

quote:

---

Originally posted by orfeo:
Rather odd, when the lyrics are all about talking to someone OTHER than your current girlfriend.

---

quote:

---

Originally posted by JonahMan:

quote:

---

Originally posted by orfeo:
Rather odd, when the lyrics are all about talking to someone OTHER than your current girlfriend.

---

Like your wife?

---

quote:

---

Originally posted by John Holding:
I was at a wedding where the bride entered to: "(I'm) goin' to the chapel and I'm gonna get ma-ha-ha-ried..."

Oddly, at this same (RC) wedding, the roman catholics (bride's famili and friends) in the congregation did not take communion but the anglicans (groom's family and friends), having listened carefully to the priest's invitation, decided that they qualified and did. Just as well, as the priest had consecrated enough bread for a multitude, and a couple of chalices full of wine.

John

---

quote:

---

Kumbaya

---

quote:

---

Originally posted by orfeo:
Didn't encounter it personally, but when Lips of an Angel by the band Hinder was a big hit it was apparently turning up at weddings at a lot.

Rather odd, when the lyrics are all about talking to someone OTHER than your current girlfriend.

---

quote:

---

Originally posted by Lamb Chopped:
We had a Vietnamese recessional to the tune of "You picked a fine time to leave me, Lucille."

---

quote:

---

Originally posted by Karl: Liberal Backslider:
From which we conclude that not everyone is obsessive saddos like us who actually listen to all the words of a song. It's not unusual; how many times have the hymns in a service clearly been chosen by the tenuous relationship between the theme of the service and the somewhat misleading first line?

---

quote:

---

Originally posted by Sarkycow:
On another thread L'organist proposed:

quote:

---

We can make an alternative "wedding music from hell" list, starting with inappropriate/offensive songs or hymns.

I'll start you off with:

Jerusalem

---

---

quote:

---

Originally posted by Anglican't:

quote:

---

Originally posted by Sarkycow:
On another thread L'organist proposed:

quote:

---

We can make an alternative "wedding music from hell" list, starting with inappropriate/offensive songs or hymns.

I'll start you off with:

Jerusalem

---

---

I thought Jerusalem was a fairly traditional for a wedding?

---

quote:

---

Originally posted by Anglican't:

quote:

---

Originally posted by Sarkycow:
On another thread L'organist proposed:

quote:

---

We can make an alternative "wedding music from hell" list, starting with inappropriate/offensive songs or hymns.

I'll start you off with:

Jerusalem

---

---

I thought Jerusalem was a fairly traditional for a wedding?

---

quote:

---

Originally posted by Oscar the Grouch:
Jerusalem is OK - much better than "I vow to thee" or "Sing Hosanna"

The problem is that knowledge of "hymns" (among brides and grooms) is so limited these days that it won't be long before someone asks for "broad beans are sleeping on a blankety bed".....

---

quote:

---

Originally posted by Amos:

quote:

---

Originally posted by Oscar the Grouch:
Jerusalem is OK - much better than "I vow to thee" or "Sing Hosanna"

The problem is that knowledge of "hymns" (among brides and grooms) is so limited these days that it won't be long before someone asks for "broad beans are sleeping on a blankety bed".....

---

in a blankety bed, please!

I think 'Jerusalem' is popular because people really enjoy singing it together loudly. I do myself.

We've had 'Sing Hosanna' at the wedding of a couple of publicans who wanted 'keep me serving till the break of day.' They also had 'Always look on the bright side of life' as a recessional. This is becoming increasingly popular.

The one hymn I've had to dissuade someone from having was 'We plough the fields and scatter...'
'But we had it at Our Dad's funeral.'

---

From a couple who the onlyh ymn they knew was one he sang as school

He who would valiant be
Gainst all disaster….
 

---

Posted by Baptist Trainfan (# 15128) on :
 
I tried to dissuade a couple from having "Autumn Days", complete with "jet planes refuelling in mid-air", although I did manage to rewrite it a little.

On the Big Day, no-one sang - as I had predicted. Embarrassment all round.

[ 08. November 2013, 17:33: Message edited by: Baptist Trainfan ]
 

---

Posted by Zacchaeus (# 14454) on :
 
He who would valiant be goes on to say

‘there’s no discouragement shall make him once relent
his first avowed intent to be a pilgrim..
 

---

Posted by SvitlanaV2 (# 16967) on :
 
'Kumbaya' and 'Sing Hosanna' are okay, IMO. The first calls on God to be with people through the ups and downs of their lives, and marriage does include a few of these, so why not mention it? The second praises God and asks him to help us do what's right and to face every day with the right attitude. Divine support like this is what newly-married couples need, isn't it?

In any case, are there that hymns that are specifically for newly married couples? Maybe a few. But I'd rather get married with a hymn that I know and like because it encourages me in my faith journey rather than picking something I don't know just because it might be applicable to romantic love.

Anyway, back to the topic: I once went to a wedding where the minister got us to sing nursery rhymes to perk us up. I really didn't appreciate that!
 

---

Posted by Baptist Trainfan (# 15128) on :
 

quote:

---

Originally posted by SvitlanaV2:
In any case, are there that hymns that are specifically for newly married couples? Maybe a few.

---

quote:

---

Originally posted by Pyx_e:

quote:

---

Kumbaya

---

We like Kumbaya, sing it all the time.

---

♬ Someone's barfing Lord Kumbaya ♪♬...

-it's really good if you act it our while singing it.
 

---

Posted by Qoheleth. (# 9265) on :
 
Thinking of after the reception:

[Come, O thou Traveller unknown,
whom still I hold, but cannot see!]
My company before is gone,
and I am left alone with Thee;
with Thee all night I mean to stay,
and wrestle till the break of day.


 

---

Posted by art dunce (# 9258) on :
 
I once attended a wedding where they played "Thank You" by Led Zeppelin as the bride walked down the aisle. It's certainly a romantic song.
 

---

Posted by L'organist (# 17338) on :
 
Jill Jenkins' We pledge to one another is horrible, maudlin and mawkish. And note that from the first line it should be sung by the couple alone - so if its mass singing you're after really only appropriate at one of those mass weddings as favoured by the Moonies.

Jerusalem is NOT a hymn - it is a national song (at best) and is not appropriate at any time.

I vow to thee my country for a wedding? No, not suitable.

O perfect love, all human thought transcending is good and has two good tunes (Strength and stay & Highwood).

Yes, there is a huge problem with young people not knowing ANY hymns these days: maybe if they've been to a church comp they may know a few ghastly worship songs but on the whole they tend to be of the If I were a butterfly variety.

Of course, you could make up the ANTI wedding hymn list - for those good old-fashioned shotgun weddings how about:

• Great God, what do I see and hear (at the entrance of the bride)
• Courage brother, do not stumble
• Behold! the bridegroom cometh in the middle of the night
• Through the night of doubt and sorrow

quote:

---

Originally posted by Rev per Minute:
But then, hardly anyone seems to sing at weddings, except the parents who are old enough to have sung hymns regularly. The marrying couple are often too nervous to sing and the rest of the guests scarcely know how to (it seems). Perhaps that's an Anglican/establishment issue where anyone can marry in their local church, regardless of any faith or church connection?

---

quote:

---

Famously (but perhaps apocyphrally), some couples have asked for a school hymn "Fight the good fight with all thy might".

---

Definitely not apocryphal here. I was at a wedding very many years ago with the rest of my youth group.

This was one of the hymns in the days of printers doing the programme. Said programme had reached the happy couple for editing too late for any errors to be corrected. Throught the entire hymn and chorus the words, "fight the good fight with all thy might" were in block capitals.
 

---

Posted by Ariston (# 10894) on :
 

quote:

---

Originally posted by Ann:
Have courage, my boy, to say 'No!'

---

quote:

---

Originally posted by Baptist Trainfan:
At my son's wedding last year (in a village parish church in Devon) we included both "And can it be" (all five verses, to "Sagina") at the beginning, and "Guide me O thou great Jehovah" (to "Cwm Rhondda") at the end.

The singing was lusty, possibly due to the fact that several members of the congregation were off-duty choristers!

---

quote:

---

Originally posted by Curiosity killed ...:
Michael Perry wrote O God beyond all praising as alternative words to Thaxted (which is the one that gets recommended here as an alternative to I Vow to thee my Country, which gets sung at Remembrance services) - words to O God beyond all praising - it's still in copyright but covered by CCS.

---

quote:

---

Originally posted by Spike:

quote:

---

Originally posted by Baptist Trainfan:
At my son's wedding last year (in a village parish church in Devon) we included both "And can it be" (all five verses, to "Sagina") at the beginning, and "Guide me O thou great Jehovah" (to "Cwm Rhondda") at the end.

The singing was lusty, possibly due to the fact that several members of the congregation were off-duty choristers!

---

What's Hellish about that?

---

Nothing ... but I thought folk might be interested!
 

---

Posted by L'organist (# 17338) on :
 
I'm also fairly hacked off with brides who ask for either The arrival of the Queen of Sheba (too long for the aisle in a village church and IMO a crime to cut) or Pachelbel's Canon in D (ditto on length, so if you cut sounds like a baroque Jaws theme). Yes, I know you can adjust or get the bride to wait but...

Make me a channel of your peace is pretty lousy for weddings: apart from its dirge-like qualities, is it really appropriate?

But... we recently had a bride who wanted a Christmas wedding "since I was a little tiny girl" and the "hymns" were

• Away in a manger
• In the bleak mid-winter
• God rest you merry, gentlemen

Much hilarity among the choir because the first was printed "Away in a manager ".

I suppose we should have been warned when her sister had Mine eyes have seen the glory of the coming of the Lord - when she wed an heriditary baronet

[ 09. November 2013, 10:57: Message edited by: L'organist ]
 

---

Posted by Francophile (# 17838) on :
 

quote:

---

Originally posted by Baptist Trainfan:

quote:

---

Originally posted by Spike:

quote:

---

Originally posted by Baptist Trainfan:
At my son's wedding last year (in a village parish church in Devon) we included both "And can it be" (all five verses, to "Sagina") at the beginning, and "Guide me O thou great Jehovah" (to "Cwm Rhondda") at the end.

The singing was lusty, possibly due to the fact that several members of the congregation were off-duty choristers!

---

What's Hellish about that?

---

Nothing ... but I thought folk might be interested!

---

quote:

---

Originally posted by L'organist:
I suppose we should have been warned when her sister had Mine eyes have seen the glory of the coming of the Lord - when she wed an heriditary baronet

---

quote:

---

Originally posted by Baptist Trainfan:
At my son's wedding last year (in a village parish church in Devon) we included both "And can it be" (all five verses, to "Sagina") at the beginning, and "Guide me O thou great Jehovah" (to "Cwm Rhondda") at the end.

The singing was lusty, possibly due to the fact that several members of the congregation were off-duty choristers!

---

Oh ... which one?
 

---

Posted by Chorister (# 473) on :
 
'Lord of the Dance' (they whipped and they stripped) is often asked for. Probably because it was remembered from school assemblies.

The choir usually get asked to sing something traditional, but we did raise our eyebrows at Cohen's 'Hallelujah' and had to be careful which words we sang.

Fortunately, we have never been asked to sing 'Bind us together, Lord'....
 

---

Posted by Leorning Cniht (# 17564) on :
 

quote:

---

Originally posted by Nick Tamen:
How did it get to be considered a wedding hymn? (We sang it in North Carolina at the wedding of wife's cousin and her English husband.)

---

quote:

---

Originally posted by Chorister:
'Lord of the Dance' (they whipped and they stripped) is often asked for. Probably because it was remembered from school assemblies.

The choir usually get asked to sing something traditional, but we did raise our eyebrows at Cohen's 'Hallelujah' and had to be careful which words we sang.

Fortunately, we have never been asked to sing 'Bind us together, Lord'....

---

quote:

---

Originally posted by Amos:

quote:

---

Originally posted by Oscar the Grouch:
Jerusalem is OK - much better than "I vow to thee" or "Sing Hosanna"

The problem is that knowledge of "hymns" (among brides and grooms) is so limited these days that it won't be long before someone asks for "broad beans are sleeping on a blankety bed".....

---

in a blankety bed, please!

I think 'Jerusalem' is popular because people really enjoy singing it together loudly. I do myself.

We've had 'Sing Hosanna' at the wedding of a couple of publicans who wanted 'keep me serving till the break of day.' They also had 'Always look on the bright side of life' as a recessional. This is becoming increasingly popular.

The one hymn I've had to dissuade someone from having was 'We plough the fields and scatter...'
'But we had it at Our Dad's funeral.'

---

quote:

---

Originally posted by Ariston:
pr

As for specific wedding hymns: apparently, "Be Thou My Vision" is supposed to be a popular wedding hymn Not that I have anything against BTMV; I'm quite fond of it, actually. Just...at a wedding? It's not what I'd call "joyful," more meditative and plaintive, and a tad on the good, solid standby side. To each their own, I suppose, but it'd be like bringing a well-cooked pot roast to a formal afternoon tea: great in another situation, entirely out of place and unlikely to be appreciated in this one.

---

quote:

---

Originally posted by L'organist:

Other bizarre choices: the Lachrymosa from the Mozart Requiem

---

At a wedding? I like Mozart's Requiem very much, and I can think of some marriages where huic ergo parce, Deus might well be going through people's minds, but, um,
 

---

Posted by Rev per Minute (# 69) on :
 

quote:

---

Originally posted by Leorning Cniht:
I can think of some marriages where huic ergo parce, Deus might well be going through people's minds, but, um,

---

My what? comes from huic ergo parce, Deus - my Latin doesn't stretch that far, and of Mozart I know next to nothing. Translation, please?
 

---

Posted by L'organist (# 17338) on :
 
Huic ergo parce Deus = Thus have mercy on him O God

Yes, I too can think of unions where such a supplication might have been considered appropriate
 

---

Posted by Jane R (# 331) on :
 
L'organist:

quote:

---

Surely you should be rather more than hopeful on your wedding day?

---

quote:

---

Originally posted by Jane R:
L'organist:

quote:

---

Surely you should be rather more than hopeful on your wedding day?

---

Well it does go on to say '...Lord of all joy...'

Seems about right to me. However joyful you might be on your wedding day, realistically you can only embark on the rest of your marriage in hopefulness because you don't know what the future will bring.

---

quote:

---

Originally posted by Leorning Cniht:
Along with "All Things Bright and Beautiful", it's the only hymn that a lot of non-churchgoing people know?

---

quote:

---

Originally posted by Dormouse:

quote:

---

Originally posted by Ariston:
pr

As for specific wedding hymns: apparently, "Be Thou My Vision" is supposed to be a popular wedding hymn Not that I have anything against BTMV; I'm quite fond of it, actually. Just...at a wedding? It's not what I'd call "joyful," more meditative and plaintive, and a tad on the good, solid standby side. To each their own, I suppose, but it'd be like bringing a well-cooked pot roast to a formal afternoon tea: great in another situation, entirely out of place and unlikely to be appreciated in this one.

---

We had the other version of "Slane" at our wedding - Lord of all hopefullness. Yes, possibly a bit "dirgey" but the words, taking one through a day, seemed quite appropriate. It is a bit "twee" but I like it!

---

Now Slane *is* hellish, especially when played from an edition that takes it down to a low A, to avoid having a crotchet on a highish note.
 

---

Posted by Gee D (# 13815) on :
 
Nothing which avoids a crotchet - or even an innocent looking baby demi-semi-quaver - on a high note is hellish.
 

---

Posted by pererin (# 16956) on :
 
And that is exactly the sort of response that shows that the only answer to Slane is singing it to Ellers (or similar) instead!
 

---

Posted by mark_in_manchester (# 15978) on :
 
For our marriage (UK Methodist, Irish RC) at a Catholic church in Dublin, we had What shall our greeting be . It's a great hymn - 'may we no more defend, barriers he died to end, give me your hand my friend, one church one Lord'...but I think the priest thought the ecumenical shock-troops had arrived, and in retrospect it feels as if we got ourselves up as the marriage of King Billy and the Countess Markievicz...
 

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Posted by Sandemaniac (# 12829) on :
 
The Knotweed and I have long since decided that organising a wedding would be the thing by far likeliest to destroy what thus far has been a long and happy* relationship. However, we occasionally entertain ourselves by thinking of highly inappropriate songs to play at the reception.

A gruesome twosome from Tom Lehrer with "I Hold Your Hand in Mine" and "When You are Old and Grey"

That's enough links to inflict on the hosts, so you'll have to imagine Siouxsie and the Banshees "Drop Dead", Billy Idol's "White Wedding", and the rest...

AG

*she told me I had to say that
 

---

Posted by Sioni Sais (# 5713) on :
 

quote:

---

Originally posted by Sandemaniac:


A gruesome twosome from Tom Lehrer with "I Hold Your Hand in Mine" and "When You are Old and Grey"

That's enough links to inflict on the hosts, so you'll have to imagine Siouxsie and the Banshees "Drop Dead", Billy Idol's "White Wedding", and the rest...

AG

---

quote:

---

Originally posted by L'organist:
Lord of all hopefulness!!!

Surely you should be rather more than hopeful on your wedding day?

---

What on earth is 'more' than hope? The word 'hope' means rather more than the use it sometimes gets of taking a wild punt with no knowledge of the outcome.
 

---

Posted by L'organist (# 17338) on :
 
Codepoet

LOVED your hellish rendition of Jerusalem.

I would say in defence of the hapless organist that the Parry is not the easiest thing to play, it being a transcription of something written for full orchestra.

People get the impression it is simple because it is sung every month at WI meetings - but maybe you haven't heard many WI pianists? I've recorded the organ part for Jerusalem for a few WIs over the years.

And take heart - the French organist made a damn sight better fist of it than the person (I cannot say organist) at my sister's MiL's funeral. It was unrecognisable: we only knew it was meant to be Jerusalem because it had been announced.
 

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Posted by MrsBeaky (# 17663) on :
 
L'organist
It seems to me that because of your wide experience you are very well placed (not to mention having strong opinions too!!)to suggest a full "ideal" musical order of service (introit, hymns,signing of register,recessional)for a church wedding.
Two of my four (four, I say, four!!) daughters are married and they had two very different services: they had the weddings they wanted which was important to me despite my personal preferences.....
So my request is that given that I have two more possible weddings to go please give me two examples which you would feel appropriate, one reflecting a more traditional choice one a more modern worship style

I have sat through so many weddings but only really enjoyed a few of them. Some have had bizarre music choices especially things like Bob Marley which no-one could sing and it was really awkward with my musical family the only ones singing and not brilliantly either as we weren't sure of the tune.....

That said, with the use of an imported sound system in a very beautiful parish church, my eldest daughter entered the church to the very dramatic music from the Romeo and Juliet film and there were eyes being wiped throughout the church: the music worked because of the couples' life histories which all their friends and family knew...maybe it was inappropriate but it was definitely authentic.

I have to say that the same daughter (who is a professional singer) has sung at several weddings and hated most of the songs..."You raise me up" being her all time Nemesis....
 

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Posted by Margaret (# 283) on :
 
Ah, "You raise me up"... In our former church, where my husband was organist, we were blessed to have the church sociopath in the choir. With her extensive knowledge of church music and her impeccable musical taste she felt that this was something we should learn and sing during the signing of the register (where we usually sang an anthem if the couple hadn't requested anything else).

In fact the choir probably does sing it now - she managed to elbow us out of the church and get her elderly, doddery but obedient husband installed as organist instead
 

---

Posted by pererin (# 16956) on :
 

quote:

---

Originally posted by L'organist:
I would say in defence of the hapless organist that the Parry is not the easiest thing to play, it being a transcription of something written for full orchestra.

---

quote:

---

Originally posted by pererin:
I thought it was fairly fundamental for bad organists faced with something like that to:
1) keep it going at a good rate
2) make sure the melody line gets out
3) make sure the bass line gets out
4) make sure any middle part that moves conspicuously gets out for the conspicuous bit
5) play only as much of anything that's left that you are confident you can play without screwing up any of 1-4

---

quote:

---

Originally posted by MrsBeaky:
[QBI have to say that the same daughter (who is a professional singer) has sung at several weddings and hated most of the songs..."You raise me up" being her all time Nemesis.... [/QB]

---

At least it wasn't Every breath you take.

That. Is. Just. Wrong.
 

---

Posted by orfeo (# 13878) on :
 
I'm trying really hard, now, to think of some wildly inappropriate songs I could have at my wedding so I can be all wide-eyed and innocent and go "what? what's wrong? how could anyone possibly have a problem with that?"

I have this weird notion that Ricky Martin might be a fertile area of investigation. I seem to remember a Spanish-language song where the only intelligble words to an English-speaking audience were "Boom! Boom!"

EDIT: Ooh. I'd forgotten all about Shake Your Bon-Bon.

[ 11. November 2013, 11:50: Message edited by: orfeo ]
 

---

Posted by South Coast Kevin (# 16130) on :
 

quote:

---

Originally posted by balaam:
At least it wasn't Every breath you take.

That. Is. Just. Wrong.

---

quote:

---

This one goes out to the one I love
This one goes out to the one I've left behind
A simple prop to occupy my time
This one goes out to the one I love

---

quote:

---

Originally posted by South Coast Kevin:

quote:

---

Originally posted by balaam:
At least it wasn't Every breath you take.

That. Is. Just. Wrong.

---

Along these lines - and heard on several 'request a song for your loved one' radio shows - I'll add 'The One I Love' by REM:

quote:

---

This one goes out to the one I love
This one goes out to the one I've left behind
A simple prop to occupy my time
This one goes out to the one I love

---

---

quote:

---

One love
One blood
One life
You got to do what you should
One life
With each other
Sisters
Brothers
One life
But we're not the same
We get to
Carry each other
Carry each other

---

quote:

---

Originally posted by Baptist Trainfan:
At my son's wedding last year (in a village parish church in Devon) we included both "And can it be" (all five verses, to "Sagina") at the beginning, and "Guide me O thou great Jehovah" (to "Cwm Rhondda") at the end.

The singing was lusty, possibly due to the fact that several members of the congregation were off-duty choristers!

---

We had Guide me, O thou great Jehovah / Cwm Rhondda at our wedding. Several people had to be reminded that they weren't at the Arms now.

Tubbs

[ 11. November 2013, 13:58: Message edited by: Tubbs ]
 

---

Posted by mdijon (# 8520) on :
 
Sounds optimal. You can't beat a good lusty "Strength and shieeeeellllllld" in the tenor/bass.

Sagina is another good favorite. Hellish only in the sense that these are hymns to withstand the worst the fire, brimstone and Satan could throw.
 

---

Posted by iamchristianhearmeroar (# 15483) on :
 
"Dear Lord and Father of mankind" is another hellish classic. Great tune, and words generally OK.

But does noone think about what they're going to sing?!

"...
Forgive our foolish ways!
Reclothe us in our rightful mind
..."
 

---

Posted by Lord Jestocost (# 12909) on :
 

quote:

---

Originally posted by iamchristianhearmeroar:
"...
Forgive our foolish ways!
Reclothe us in our rightful mind
..."

---

quote:

---

Originally posted by iamchristianhearmeroar:
"Dear Lord and Father of mankind" is another hellish classic. Great tune, and words generally OK.

But does noone think about what they're going to sing?!

"...
Forgive our foolish ways!
Reclothe us in our rightful mind
..."

---

quote:

---

Originally posted by Amos:
They also had 'Always look on the bright side of life' as a recessional. This is becoming increasingly popular.

---

quote:

---

Originally posted by L'organist:
I'm also fairly hacked off with brides who ask for ... Pachelbel's Canon in D ...

---

quote:

---

Originally posted by Leorning Cniht:
Along with "All Things Bright and Beautiful", it's the only hymn that a lot of non-churchgoing people know?

---

quote:

---

Originally posted by Amos:


The one hymn I've had to dissuade someone from having was 'We plough the fields and scatter...'
'But we had it at Our Dad's funeral.'

---

quote:

---

Originally posted by pererin:
I was amused on more than one level to see J.S. Bach's Air on the G String making some recommended wedding music lists. Maybe people don't associate it with Hamlet ads any more...

---

quote:

---

Originally posted by Erroneous Monk:

quote:

---

Originally posted by Leorning Cniht:
Along with "All Things Bright and Beautiful", it's the only hymn that a lot of non-churchgoing people know?

---

THE PURPLE-HEADED MOUNTAIN

---

Always good for a cheap laugh, that verse. "Bind us together", aka the Bondage song, is another one. Both of which are suggested on this wedding site.

Tubbs

[ 13. November 2013, 14:24: Message edited by: Tubbs ]
 

---

Posted by Lord Jestocost (# 12909) on :
 

quote:

---

Originally posted by piglet:
Here, the bridesmaids come in one by one before the bride, almost always to Pachelbel's Canon.

---

quote:

---

Originally posted by Pigwidgeon:
Did I miss it, or have we really neglected this one ?

---

quote:

---

Originally posted by Anglican't:

quote:

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Originally posted by Sarkycow:
On another thread L'organist proposed:

quote:

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We can make an alternative "wedding music from hell" list, starting with inappropriate/offensive songs or hymns.

I'll start you off with:

Jerusalem

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I thought Jerusalem was a fairly traditional for a wedding?

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I was recently forced to sing this at a wedding, a gay one no less, before I realized what I was getting myself into. Being a) American, and b) relatively newly Episcopalian, and though I love my church, their latent Anglophilia is one of their less endearing qualities (though in this case one of the grooms was English), I had never been been subjected to this particular bit of jingoistic British tripe. Jingoistic American tripe in church equally makes me want to .
 

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Posted by Scots lass (# 2699) on :
 

quote:

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Originally posted by Wilfried:
I had never been been subjected to this particular bit of jingoistic British tripe. Jingoistic American tripe in church equally makes me want to .

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quote:

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Originally posted by L'organist:
In my rural church We plough the fields and scatter is sung for baptisms, funerals AND WEDDINGS - always strikes me a rather indelicate but ...

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Next time you should suggest "Lo, the conqu'ror mounts in triumph."
 

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Posted by Honest Ron Bacardi (# 38) on :
 
Jerusalem jingoistic? I suppose it can be seen that way, and has been seen that way. But it has a far more honourable history.

You should also be aware that the composer (Sir Hubert Parry) was a long-time supporter of the movement for women's suffrage, and made it over to National Union of Women's Suffrage Societies as their property. Jerusalem was taken up by them as "their song".

Dismissing it as a nationalistic aberration doesn't do justice to either its history in use, nor to Blake's words. Please read it again.
 

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Posted by Honest Ron Bacardi (# 38) on :
 
(following that last post - to aid your studies - the mighty oracle.)

If it's any consolation, I don't particularly think it's appropriate for a wedding either. I've certainly heard worse though.
 

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Posted by L'organist (# 17338) on :
 
Definitely English.
 

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Posted by QLib (# 43) on :
 
Yes, building Christ's Kingdom in England and initiating an era of peace and free love - yes, obviously that's jingoistic crap.
 

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Posted by LutheranChik (# 9826) on :
 
Leonard Cohen's "Hallelujah." When I once gently pointed out to someone who loved the music that the words weren't exactly wedding- or church-worthy, she got angry with me for being "nitpicking."
 

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Posted by L'organist (# 17338) on :
 
Had a meeting with our News Years Eve couple today: "we know all the songs we want, and the other music, but the vicar said we should talk to you anyway".

This is their list:

Bridal entry : Arrival of the Queen of Sheba
Song (sic) : O come, all ye faithful
Song : The Angel Gabriel
Song : Good King Wenceslas
Signing of registers : Little Jesus, sweetly sleep; White Christmas; "Pachelbell's Cannon".
Exit music (sic) : "Wagner's Wedding March"

They really couldn't see anything wrong with any of it.

I did persuade them that the first two pieces for the registers would require the choir. And now we can finally sing the incredibly kitsch SATB version of White Christmas I've had for a number of years.

Oh, and by Wagner's Wedding March they mean Mendelssohn.
 

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Posted by pererin (# 16956) on :
 

quote:

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Originally posted by L'organist:
And now we can finally sing the incredibly kitsch SATB version of White Christmas I've had for a number of years.

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quote:

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Originally posted by L'organist:
Oh, and by Wagner's Wedding March they mean Mendelssohn.

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• Enter to Send in the Clowns
• First hymn Hail Thee Festival Day - all twenty-odd verses and choruses
• Second Hymn Fight the Good Fight - natch
• Signing the register - Band of Gold
• Last Hymn Through the Night of Doubt and Sorrow
• Exit music Please Release Me, Let Me Go

quote:

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Originally posted by L'organist:
Had a meeting with our News Years Eve couple today: "we know all the songs we want, and the other music, but the vicar said we should talk to you anyway".

This is their list:

Bridal entry : Arrival of the Queen of Sheba
Song (sic) : O come, all ye faithful
Song : The Angel Gabriel
Song : Good King Wenceslas
Signing of registers : Little Jesus, sweetly sleep; White Christmas; "Pachelbell's Cannon".
Exit music (sic) : "Wagner's Wedding March"

They really couldn't see anything wrong with any of it.

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quote:

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Originally posted by L'organist:
Spike

Since they originally didn't want choir, The Angel Gabriel would have been pretty much a non-start since neither the couple nor their relatives are church-goers or singers.

White Christmas - well, apart from the obvious that it almost guarantees a snow-free scene, since it looks FORWARD to Christmas and the wedding is AFTER doesn't that alone qualify as being slightly out of skew.

I'm trying to ignore the snigger-fest that will erupt during O come, all ye faithful...

I agree, it is their wedding. What I, any most of my colleagues, try to do is to give couples the best possible wedding we can: going ahead without murmur with things that we know will mean either no singing or a hideous duet between the vicar and our non-singing verger is not, IMO, the best way to do this. Similarly, choosing music that sounds lousy on the available instrument should, IMO, prompt any caring player to at least warn the happy couple that it may not be the best thing.

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quote:

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Originally posted by L'organist:


White Christmas - well, apart from the obvious that it almost guarantees a snow-free scene, since it looks FORWARD to Christmas and the wedding is AFTER doesn't that alone qualify as being slightly out of skew.

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quote:

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Originally posted by L'organist:
Don't care if no one likes it, we did and the congregation on the day did too.

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quote:

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Originally posted by Ariston:

quote:

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Originally posted by L'organist:
Don't care if no one likes it, we did and the congregation on the day did too.

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So, basically, exactly the line the couples you look down your nose at could use in reply to your attempts at tastemaking. Got it.

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You beat me to it, Ariston!

 

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Posted by L'organist (# 17338) on :
 

quote:

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posted by Spike
So why the rather snarky use of (sic) after ther words "song" and "exit music"? You've said yourself that they are not regular churchgoers, so why should they be expected to know what the "correct" terminology is?

That, along with your criticism of their choice of music is precisely the sort of snobbish elitist attitude that probably puts them (and others) off being regular churchgoers

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quote:

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It's not AFTER Christmas at all. 31st January is still the season of Christmas. Given your "expert" knowledge of things liturgical, I'd have expected you to know that

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quote:

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Originally posted by L'organist:

In any case, the chief cause of my concern was that, as the couple themselves said, "none of our guests sing really, we just hope they do on the day" and they've chosen a couple of things that aren't particularly well-known. Once that was explained, they decided to have a choir - one incidentally that I've had to recruit 8 old friends for since NYE is slap in the middle of the post-Christmas choir break and most of mine will be away.

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quote:

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So, basically, exactly the line the couples you look down your nose at could use in reply to your attempts at tastemaking. Got it.

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quote:

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Originally posted by L'organist:

about White Christmas ...
And the song is about dreaming of Christmas IN THE FUTURE.

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quote:

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Originally posted by L'organist:
Gosh, I really must learn to be less off-putting, elitist and snobbish and REALLY put myself out for wedding couples.

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Great tactic. Say something snobbish and elitist, then when called on it put on the martyr's gear, hoik up the cross, position accordingly and list your great sacrifices.

Personally I don't care what level of Christ-like servitude and flagellation you go through, if the first you post about it is your sneering "Lord give me strength" stuff about someone else's taste in wedding music that is what I'm responding to.

And, like they said, hilarious that you don't care what anyone else thinks of your choices.
 

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Posted by L'organist (# 17338) on :
 
Mrs Beaky
OK.
Christmas-tide wedding for non-churchgoers who don't want a choir but do want a Christmas theme:

Entrance of the Bride: If PA system can play CDs, what about All I want for Christmas is You - bouncy, jolly and with heaps of feel-good factor

Hymns: Start with something congregation can do alone with confidence - so YES to Good King Wenceslas. Something quieter in the middle of the service - what about Away in a manger. For the last hymn/carol I'd suggest God rest you merry, Gentlemen

Signing of the registers I'd suggest getting everyone singing with things like O Little town of Bethlehem, See amid the winter's snow or While shepherds watched. Alternatively I'd ask the organist if they could play a Christmas-themed medley: I can real off things like Walking in a winter wonderland, Rudolph the red-nosed Reindeer, etc, etc, etc. Or get something like a special Christmas collection by Dean Martin or Perry Como - both more than competent singers with loads of relevant Christmassy stuff.

For the recessional either the Wedding March or, if a PA system and player are available, what about the Ronettes Sleigh Ride, followed by more Dean Martin (or whoever).
 

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Posted by L'organist (# 17338) on :
 
Spike

I know that - its December the twenty-fourth, and I am longing to be up north....

mdijon

Remind me not to get on your wrong side anytime soon.
 

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Posted by L'organist (# 17338) on :
 
Spike and mdijon

There is a thread in Heaven about music at our own wedding - hope to see your contribution there soon.
 

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Posted by MrsBeaky (# 17663) on :
 
Thank you L'organist

I'm glad you mentioned the various carols as I'd misunderstood your frustration up thread about the NYE wedding couple choosing to sing carols rather than hymns which I would have thought appropriate and I thought you'd condemned.....
Glad I asked and surprised too at some of your other suggestions...unless of course they are tongue in cheek?!
My husband and I left the church to Vidor's Toccata but I also like the idea of something a bit fun/ upbeat.
I might end up sending you a private message for advice if and when the next daughter marries(as she might consult me) as long as I feel brave enough to do so as you are definitely someone of strong opinions which perhaps have misrepresented you here....(that's about as hellish as I can get so I'll go now before I draw the fire of other shipmates)
 

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Posted by L'organist (# 17338) on :
 
Feel free Mrs B.

I didn't go for a Christmas wedding because its too close to the birthday for comfort but for those who do, if they want to theme the whole thing as "Christmas" then careful choice can mean everyone gets to sing and have a good time.

Me, I'm a sucker for Wham!'s Last Christmas but with "the very next day you gave it away" it isn't too brilliant for a wedding.

Dean Martin's 1959 Winter Romance is better than his Christmas Album IMO - and it was reissued on CD in 1989 with a bonus 13th track - don't get the later 2005 version, the extra 4 tracks aren't worth it.
 

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Posted by Spike (# 36) on :
 

quote:

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Originally posted by L'organist:
Spike and mdijon

There is a thread in Heaven about music at our own wedding - hope to see your contribution there soon.

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quote:

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Originally posted by mdijon:

quote:

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Originally posted by L'organist:
Gosh, I really must learn to be less off-putting, elitist and snobbish and REALLY put myself out for wedding couples.

---

Great tactic. Say something snobbish and elitist, then when called on it put on the martyr's gear, hoik up the cross, position accordingly and list your great sacrifices.

Personally I don't care what level of Christ-like servitude and flagellation you go through, if the first you post about it is your sneering "Lord give me strength" stuff about someone else's taste in wedding music that is what I'm responding to.

And, like they said, hilarious that you don't care what anyone else thinks of your choices.

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quote:

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Originally posted by L'organist:
Hands up all those non-choristers on here who'd feel confident singing The Angel Gabriel with confidence.

... [/QB]

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quote:

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Originally posted by L'organist:
Mrs Beaky
OK.
Christmas-tide wedding for non-churchgoers who don't want a choir but do want a Christmas theme...

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quote:

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Originally posted by L'organist:
Hands up all those non-choristers on here who'd feel confident singing The Angel Gabriel with confidence.

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quote:

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posted by Ariston

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quote:

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posted by mdijon
There's no accounting for taste is there... because your entrance and recessional choices, with the exception of the wedding march of course, would make me think of Christmas shopping in Harrods or a school disco rather than a wedding, the hymns are my least favoured Christmas ones available (esp Away in a manger) and the organ medley sounds like something from the Christmas edition of Alas Smith and Jones. I could imagine the wedding being set in an eighties department store.

But that's just me.

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The organ medley you deride is actually what the NYE couple have asked for before the service (plus a few other bits).

Good King Wenceslas, Away in a Manger & God rest you merry, Gentlemen are always in the top 5 carols requested when we sing in the local pubs before Christmas, and for the civic carol service I play for: so I think that counts towards them being generally popular.

As you say, it all comes down to taste...I was asked for suggestions for a Christmas, not Christian, themed wedding.
 

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Posted by mdijon (# 8520) on :
 
Are you seriously making an appeal to populism in support of your choices?

Do you not see how that might look a little self-defeating on scrolling up through the thread?
 

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Posted by L'organist (# 17338) on :
 
No
 

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Posted by Beethoven (# 114) on :
 
I once, many years ago, was in the choir for a wedding which included the hymn/worship song 'Meekness and majesty'. Just so wrong.

And last year our church choir sang at one which included All Things Drear and Dreadful, and possibly Lord of All Hopelessness, with the signing of the registers being accompanied by Schubert's Ave Maria and an SATB arrangement of All You Need is Love. (I should perhaps qualify this by saying that in the hands of a very good, crisp, well-rehearsed group of singers and in a different context this might have been ok. None of the above applied.)

Can anyone explain to me the relevance of Ave Maria at a wedding where neither of the couple is a regular churchgoer, let alone one with some sort of particular devotion to the BVM?

[ 19. November 2013, 13:20: Message edited by: Beethoven ]
 

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Posted by L'organist (# 17338) on :
 
No, Ludwig van B, I can't explain why people have this hankering for the Schubert AVM.

Difficult to do well, either with a soloist or SATB, but there we go - the customer is always right so if that's what they want then that's what they get.
 

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Posted by Beethoven (# 114) on :
 
Gah. I now have M&M going round my head. I didn't like it 20 years ago, and time and distance have not made the heart grow fonder in this instance... 'Oh what a mystery, meekness and majesty. Bow down and worship, this is your Go-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-od'.
 

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Posted by mdijon (# 8520) on :
 
And now I have that "Ab major, Bb major, C major" progression under the "Goo-ooo-oooo-oood" that feels like a few picnics short of a resolution rattling around between my ears as well.
 

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Posted by Rev per Minute (# 69) on :
 

quote:

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Originally posted by Tubbs:

quote:

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Originally posted by Baptist Trainfan:
At my son's wedding last year (in a village parish church in Devon) we included both "And can it be" (all five verses, to "Sagina") at the beginning, and "Guide me O thou great Jehovah" (to "Cwm Rhondda") at the end.

The singing was lusty, possibly due to the fact that several members of the congregation were off-duty choristers!

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We had Guide me, O thou great Jehovah / Cwm Rhondda at our wedding. Several people had to be reminded that they weren't at the Arms now.

Tubbs

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quote:

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Originally posted by ArachnidinElmet:

quote:

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Originally posted by L'organist:
Hands up all those non-choristers on here who'd feel confident singing The Angel Gabriel with confidence.

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I'm not having a go (strange in Hell, I know) but this baffles me a little unless we're talking about a different song. Surely this is quite a well known carol; it's in every (choral and non-choral) hymnbook I've had my hands on. The only time I've heard it sung in parts was on Carols from Kings, but otherwise it's been unison and we sing it every year with no problems reported by newbies. I learnt the song at primary school accompanied by a guitar and recorder (hence the lyrics 'most highly flavoured gravy').

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quote:

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posted by Orfeo
You know, I particularly love the way some of you line up to say how such and such is so obviously wrong for a wedding, without then stating why.

If it was universally 'obvious' that it was wrong, you wouldn't have heard it at a wedding in the first place, would you?

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quote:

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Originally posted by L'organist:
Thinking of the wedding I had where the bride came in to a movement from a Requiem ...

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quote:

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Originally posted by L'organist:

quote:

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posted by Orfeo
You know, I particularly love the way some of you line up to say how such and such is so obviously wrong for a wedding, without then stating why.

If it was universally 'obvious' that it was wrong, you wouldn't have heard it at a wedding in the first place, would you?

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Thinking of the wedding I had where the bride came in to a movement from a Requiem ...

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quote:

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Originally posted by orfeo:

quote:

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Originally posted by L'organist:
Thinking of the wedding I had where the bride came in to a movement from a Requiem ...

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Did the particular movement have words? What were the words about?

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quote:

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Originally posted by orfeo:
Because not everything in a Requiem Mass is specifically about death, or even unique to a Requiem. There are bits of it that are the same as an ordinary Mass.

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quote:

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Originally posted by orfeo:
Why doesn't anyone ever 'speak now', and why do people hold their peace temporarily?

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quote:

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Originally posted by orfeo:
Why doesn't anyone ever 'speak now', and why do people hold their peace temporarily?

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quote:

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Originally posted by Beethoven:
I once, many years ago, was in the choir for a wedding which included the hymn/worship song 'Meekness and majesty'. Just so wrong.

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What could be *more* appropriate to a wedding than to sing about the Incarnation? The sacrament of marriage is a wonderful example of the way in which God, through Jesus, has glorified our frail, human state.
 

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Posted by Beethoven (# 114) on :
 
Well, indeed. But I suspect that the incarnational references may be somewhat lost on a non-churchgoing congregation (and indeed couple). And without that understanding, 'Meekness and majesty, manhood and deity in perfect unity, the man who is God' is a particularly odd choice for a wedding ISTM...
 

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Posted by Erroneous Monk (# 10858) on :
 
Bwa ha ha! Didn't think of it like that
 

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Posted by L'organist (# 17338) on :
 
The movement from a Requiem (Faure) that was sung was the Agnus Dei And it was the proper Requiem version, moving straight into the Lux aeterna.

No, before you ask neither party had had a recent bereavement - the groom was a nominal CofE and the bride of no belief - but family background was Confucianism.
 

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Posted by orfeo (# 13878) on :
 

quote:

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Originally posted by L'organist:
The movement from a Requiem (Faure) that was sung was the Agnus Dei And it was the proper Requiem version, moving straight into the Lux aeterna.

No, before you ask neither party had had a recent bereavement - the groom was a nominal CofE and the bride of no belief - but family background was Confucianism.

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And yet I still don't see anything completely dreadful about it.

Here's the thing. When I was the right age for seeing lots of friends getting married, I went to a church that had a lot of very firmly Christian young people in it. In other words, these people went to church every week, and to Bible study every week, and to put it simply they knew their shit.

Many of their weddings would involve hymns or songs that mentioned things like Jesus' dying for their sins and his victory over death. Things that some folk here would apparently find completely inappropriate for a wedding.

Those friends would stare in disbelief at such remarks, because the entire point was that they were getting married before God and that expressing their Christian faith was an important part of that. To mark off particular bits of Christian faith as inappropriate because we only want nice, pretty things in a wedding would seem to them like watering stuff down so as not to challenge the unchurched. They wanted to challenge the unchurched. They wanted to say, "you're at our wedding, and this is who we are, we are Christians, and this is what we believe".

So while I can understand there are some pop songs that are pretty unfortunate for a wedding, when it comes to things with consciously Christian texts my tolerance band for 'what is appropriate for a wedding' is pretty damn wide. If people want to sing about the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world, it's not going to bother me. If they happen to sing a version that throws 'grant them rest' in there as well instead of 'have mercy on us' well, it's not actually very different in sentiment and everyone at the wedding is going to need eternal rest at the end.
 

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Posted by John Holding (# 158) on :
 
While I'm generally in agreement with what Orpheo says, I take L'Organiste's point with respect to the excerpt from the Requiem. Translated, the words of that movement are:

Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world, grant them rest. (repeated three times)

Appropriate, perhaps, for the morning after the wedding, but hardly for the service itself.

John
 

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Posted by North East Quine (# 13049) on :
 
We had "Love Divine" as one of our wedding hymns, which I know l'organist approves of, as it's in her list in the Heaven thread. I also intend to have it as one of my funeral hymns. Likewise, we had "Dark Island" as the music for the first dance at our wedding reception, and I intend to have my coffin piped* out of church to the same tune. So I don't understand the idea of a sharp division between "wedding" music and "funeral" music.

Or is it acceptable to have "wedding" music at a funeral, but not vice-versa?

*yes, bagpipes in church - a foretaste of heaven!
 

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Posted by L'organist (# 17338) on :
 
I think what some of us are trying to say is that some music (hymns, songs, anthems, other music with words) may express sentiments perhaps more usually associated (a) with a person of faith or broadly Christian belief, and/or (b)have imagery that some might think infelicitous for a wedding.

For example: you or I might realise instantly that the hymn O love, that wilt not let me go is all about the unfailing nature of God's love, it being ever-dependable through all that life may throw at us - and so in that sense it could be seen as being quite good for weddings.

But a non-churchgoing/non-faith person is more likely to associate it with funerals, if only for reasons of (a) the popular tune, and (b) the words I give thee back the life I owe which many people associate with someone having passed from the life on earth to either life elsewhere or no life at all.

Put baldly, an unchurched person might consider O love that wilt not let me go as being THE hymn for a shotgun wedding.
 

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Posted by orfeo (# 13878) on :
 

quote:

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Originally posted by L'organist:
Put baldly, an unchurched person might consider O love that wilt not let me go as being THE hymn for a shotgun wedding.

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quote:

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posted by SvitlanaV2
If a church is in the business of conducting marriages for people regardless of their faith I don't think it can reasonably distinguish between wedding hymns whose content is suitable for believers and other kinds of hymns.

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quote:

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Originally posted by L'organist:

quote:

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posted by SvitlanaV2
If a church is in the business of conducting marriages for people regardless of their faith I don't think it can reasonably distinguish between wedding hymns whose content is suitable for believers and other kinds of hymns.

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So on the basis of that, if the hymn(s) requested would be considered unsuitable for churchgoers/believers then they should also be considered unsuitable for those of no faith?

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quote:

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Originally posted by North East Quine:
...

*yes, bagpipes in church - a foretaste of heaven!

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The bagpipes are a weapon of warfare, and as inappropriate in church as tanks, rocket launchers, or machine guns.
Angus
 

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Posted by Honest Ron Bacardi (# 38) on :
 

quote:

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Originally posted by Golden Key:
I'm boggled by the idea of a choir at a wedding. At least at the wedding of every-day folks. I could see it for royals, rich, and/or famous, and for musicians. I don't think I've ever even *heard* of a wedding choir, except maybe as I just mentioned.

Is it a normal thing in CofE weddings??

Thanks.

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quote:

---

Originally posted by A.Pilgrim:

quote:

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Originally posted by North East Quine:
...

*yes, bagpipes in church - a foretaste of heaven!

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The bagpipes are a weapon of warfare, and as inappropriate in church as tanks, rocket launchers, or machine guns.
Angus

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quote:

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Originally posted by Zacchaeus:
He who would valiant be goes on to say

‘there’s no discouragement shall make him once relent
his first avowed intent to be a pilgrim..

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quote:

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Originally posted by Chorister:
'Lord of the Dance' (they whipped and they stripped) is often asked for. Probably because it was remembered from school assemblies.

The choir usually get asked to sing something traditional, but we did raise our eyebrows at Cohen's 'Hallelujah' and had to be careful which words we sang.

Fortunately, we have never been asked to sing 'Bind us together, Lord'....

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quote:

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Originally posted by Erroneous Monk:

quote:

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Originally posted by Leorning Cniht:
Along with "All Things Bright and Beautiful", it's the only hymn that a lot of non-churchgoing people know?

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THE PURPLE-HEADED MOUNTAIN

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And if the guy is hair-triggered - ".. the river running by"?

 

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Posted by Spike (# 36) on :
 

quote:

---

Originally posted by Alex Cockell:

quote:

---

Originally posted by Chorister:
'Lord of the Dance' (they whipped and they stripped) is often asked for. Probably because it was remembered from school assemblies.

The choir usually get asked to sing something traditional, but we did raise our eyebrows at Cohen's 'Hallelujah' and had to be careful which words we sang.

Fortunately, we have never been asked to sing 'Bind us together, Lord'....

---

Reminds me of one wedding order of service that came through work's email quarantine system (back when I was a Lotus Notes admin) - first 2 up were Bind Us Together and Morning Has Broken. I cringed... before sending the request to our security team to decide on.

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quote:

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Originally posted by Fr Weber:

quote:

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Originally posted by L'organist:
In my rural church We plough the fields and scatter is sung for baptisms, funerals AND WEDDINGS - always strikes me a rather indelicate but ...

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Next time you should suggest "Lo, the conqu'ror mounts in triumph."

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quote:

---

Originally posted by Spike:

quote:

---

Originally posted by Alex Cockell:

quote:

---

Originally posted by Chorister:
'Lord of the Dance' (they whipped and they stripped) is often asked for. Probably because it was remembered from school assemblies.

The choir usually get asked to sing something traditional, but we did raise our eyebrows at Cohen's 'Hallelujah' and had to be careful which words we sang.

Fortunately, we have never been asked to sing 'Bind us together, Lord'....

---

Reminds me of one wedding order of service that came through work's email quarantine system (back when I was a Lotus Notes admin) - first 2 up were Bind Us Together and Morning Has Broken. I cringed... before sending the request to our security team to decide on.

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Wow, having the choice of music cleared by security sounds a bit heavy handed.

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I'm in a finance company's IT dept..
 

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Posted by SvitlanaV2 (# 16967) on :
 
I think it's a bit much to disapprove of a wedding hymn choice just because there's a potential double entendre in the title, or somewhere in the verses! Yes, 'Bind us together, Lord' could raise a little nudge and a wink, but we all know that it's about how Christians should live in unity, not about bondage in the marriage chamber, or any other unmentionable activities!! Aren't wedding parties and church choirs peopled mostly by mature adults?

 

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Posted by Lamb Chopped (# 5528) on :
 
Dunno, I've never met any there!
 

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Posted by Jane R (# 331) on :
 
Svitlana:

quote:

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Aren't wedding parties and church choirs peopled mostly by mature adults?

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Not during (a) the sermon and (b) the wedding speeches at the reception, when all the babies will start screaming their heads off and all the toddlers will run up and down making enough noise for a herd of elephants...

WE thought having 'Love divine' at our wedding would be presumptuous. Even in the first heady throes of Romance we retained enough sanity to realise that our love for each other couldn't compare with God's love for us... and I had it at my confirmation service, so it will always be associated with confirmations in my mind.

[ 24. November 2013, 09:12: Message edited by: Jane R ]
 

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Posted by Golden Key (# 1468) on :
 
Svitlana--

Re maturity: people sometimes get the giggles at weddings, due both to nervousness and general levity. Add potential word play to that mix...

Personally, I wouldn't want to go to a wedding that was deadly serious. If I were to *have* a wedding, I'd want everyone to be relaxed and free to laugh. And the music would be whatever I and the other party wanted, and to heck with everyone else!

 

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Posted by SvitlanaV2 (# 16967) on :
 
Well, it sounds as if it might be simpler to avoid hymns altogether and just sing happy romantic love songs. Far less chance of theological confusion!
 

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Posted by L'organist (# 17338) on :
 

quote:

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posted by SvitlanaV2
Aren't wedding parties and church choirs peopled mostly by mature adults?

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Wedding parties - it varies.

Church choirs - in parishes with mixed-age choirs its usual for the children (trebles) to do all the weddings that request choir.

In a former parish this kept the PP on his toes: if he preached the same sermon too often they'd say it with him under their breath

And their joy when the first hymn at the wedding of a very (?8 months) pregnant bride was "Dear Lord and Father of mankind" which, as you know, includes the line Forgive our foolish ways...

And I can assure you that the older trebles (12/13) spotted ALL the double-entendres.
 

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Posted by Moo (# 107) on :
 
After my older daughter's wedding, her younger sister remarked that she had never realized the extent to which the idea of sex permeates the ceremony.

Since the service has already focused people's minds on sex, they notice every double entendre.

Moo
 

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Posted by orfeo (# 13878) on :
 

quote:

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Originally posted by Jane R:
WE thought having 'Love divine' at our wedding would be presumptuous. Even in the first heady throes of Romance we retained enough sanity to realise that our love for each other couldn't compare with God's love for us...

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Surely for anyone that gets past the first line of the hymn, that is precisely the freaking point.
 

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Posted by Taliesin (# 14017) on :
 
My brother's adolescent income depended on weddings and funerals,at which he was paid to sing!
These days the only people I know who have a choir at their wedding are teachers, who bring their own
 

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Posted by Gee D (# 13815) on :
 
The choir at School commonly sang at weddings - usually in the chapel, but sometimes travelling to churches. I can't remember how much Dlet was paid, but something around $20 -$25 a wedding.
 

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Posted by Anselmina (# 3032) on :
 

quote:

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Originally posted by orfeo:

quote:

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Originally posted by L'organist:

quote:

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posted by Orfeo
You know, I particularly love the way some of you line up to say how such and such is so obviously wrong for a wedding, without then stating why.

If it was universally 'obvious' that it was wrong, you wouldn't have heard it at a wedding in the first place, would you?

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Thinking of the wedding I had where the bride came in to a movement from a Requiem ...

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Did the particular movement have words? What were the words about?

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LIbera me, Domine?

Ref: choirs at weddings. I'm boggled that anyone would be boggled at the idea of a choir at an 'ordinary' wedding?! For the most part the choir is usually just the regular bunch of musos who lurk in the stalls on a Sunday morning, and it's nice to boost the singing for a special service where the congo might be a little retiring or inexperienced in that area. The singing at some weddings can be pitiful and embarrassing, in fact, without a choir around.

Besides a wedding is still an act of worship (ostensibly) and if your normal worship involves your choir, why not?
 

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Posted by Pigwidgeon (# 10192) on :
 
I love the idea of a Choir at weddings, but it just doesn't happen around here. When one of our priests got married a few years ago, the Choir sang, but that's the only time I'm aware of in my parish. Well, except one wedding when the bride's son was a member of the local Boys Choir, so they all showed up to sing! (We also had the Phoenix Symphony Chorus here for the funeral of one of their members.)
 

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Posted by SvitlanaV2 (# 16967) on :
 

quote:

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Originally posted by Anselmina:


Ref: choirs at weddings. I'm boggled that anyone would be boggled at the idea of a choir at an 'ordinary' wedding?! For the most part the choir is usually just the regular bunch of musos who lurk in the stalls on a Sunday morning, and it's nice to boost the singing for a special service where the congo might be a little retiring or inexperienced in that area. The singing at some weddings can be pitiful and embarrassing, in fact, without a choir around.

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quote:

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Originally posted by John Holding:
Re Anselmina's point (I can't bring myself to quote the whole string) -- it would be a highly unusual wedding in large parts of Canada at least where the congregation sang anything at all.

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quote:

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Originally posted by John Holding:
it would be a highly unusual wedding in large parts of Canada at least where the congregation sang anything at all. Hymns are by far the exception rather than the rule over here.

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You all looked so normal.
 

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