Picking the Perfect Processional

Right from the beginning we knew we would not be using Wagner’s "Bridal Chorus" (“Here Comes The Bride”) for the processional or Mendelssohn’s "Wedding March" for the recessional. We didn’t plan to use anything by Bach, Pachelbel, or Handel either. It’s not that we don’t like these traditional pieces but we wanted something unique for our wedding. But how do you pick something completely unique over such tried and true standards and know that it will work properly? Here are some suggestions based on what we experienced and also what we’ve seen at other weddings.

Use processional music that has an easy “walking” tempo. You don’t want to march down the aisle like you’re in a parade but you also don’t want to meander so slowly that people begin to fidget.

Use processional music that is upbeat and joyful. This is a celebration after all and the music will set the mood. In our family there was also a sense of propriety to be observed. It was a religious ceremony, not a raucous party. We wanted our music to be respectful as well as respectable. Having said that, whether the ceremony is religious or not, the music should not be so distracting as to take attention off the bride.

Use processional music that is well timed. By this I mean literally taking a stopwatch and timing it, especially when using prerecorded music. I’m serious. Go to the ceremony location and play the song a few times, walking down the aisle for each person in your party, and figuring out just exactly how much time it’s going to take for each to get from point A to point B. It helps to take notes.

If a live musician will be performing the music at the ceremony, timing the piece is not quite as critical, but still a good idea. A good musician will be able to extend or shorten a piece as necessary so that everyone not only arrives at the altar but that the music ends once you're there. No matter how awesome your music is, it’s awkward to make everyone wait an extra 30 seconds for the final notes to finish, and that can seem like an eternity when you’re just standing there.

My daughter liked two instrumental pieces, "I Giorni" and "Divinere" by the pianist Ludovico Einaudi, but when we listened very critically to each piece, trying to envision each as the processional, we realized neither would work because the first was too slow and the second too overpowering. Instead we chose to use "I Giorni" as part of the pre-ceremony music.

With this decision, and still needing a processional, my daughter then asked around among her friends for their thoughts and they suggested that she use a favorite romantic song or a favorite hymn. This got her to thinking that her favorite hymn, "Be Thou My Vision", might work as a processional and asked me what I thought of the version performed by the group 4 Him. We both agreed that the pacing would work but we also wanted an instrumental version rather than a song with vocals. I went to work looking for instrumental versions of the song.

"Be Thou My Vision" uses an old Irish folk tune and has the same melody as the hymn "Christ Be My Leader". Both hymns have beautiful lyrics and we considered printing them in the program. My daughter was most familiar with the words of "Be Thou My Vision" and liked the imagery of God as her Friend, Counselor, and Protector; Someone Who stays by her side throughout her life. On the other hand, I was more familiar with the words to "Christ Be My Leader" and liked the imagery of Christ leading my daughter down the aisle. We abandoned the idea of printing the lyrics in the program only because two full sets of lyrics, no matter how meaningful, would not be something anyone was likely to read and it would add clutter to the layout of the program. The bottom line here, I suppose, is that the processional hymn meant a great deal to both of us even though it was for different reasons.

I listened to a dozen different renditions of "Be Thou My Vision" and finally found an instrumental version by Craig Duncan that I really liked. The hymn was done in the Celtic style with harps, flutes, and fiddles. Upon hearing the first glissando, the groom commented that there was a little too much harp for his taste. I said he could stand a little enchantment on his wedding day.

The hymn was 3 minutes and 35 seconds long and had five verses – one verse for the ring bearer and flower girl, one verse each for the three bridesmaids, and one verse for the bride and her father with a tag at the end for good measure. All in all, each verse was 27 seconds long with 4 seconds in between each verse. I thought it was perfect. Our church sanctuary is not all that long. My daughter and I played the song in the sanctuary and walked the distance no less than 20 times to figure out pacing. We were sure the party could make it from the back to the front easily enough by walking naturally at a leisurely pace. Our pastor was not so sure.

“You’ve got them on a pretty tight schedule,” said Pastor. “You say the flower girl is 18 months old? In all the years I’ve been doing this, I haven’t seen a child under the age of three make it down the aisle without stopping.”

“If that happens we’ll just have the first bridesmaid collect the ring bearer and flower girl on the way down,” I said, willing to do just about anything to make it work. We even thought of having my nieces and nephews act as “spotters” along the aisle to urge them on. Meanwhile, my nieces (the mothers of the ring bearer and the flower girl) got together and had their children practice. This was time well spent. When The Day came, the two little ones made it down the aisle just fine!

The only other person to have a little difficulty with the pacing was my husband. He didn’t seem to understand that we didn’t want him to do the old “step, stop, step, stop”. My daughter and I put on the music at home and promenaded back and forth in the living room to show him what we wanted. Suddenly he cried, “I get it! You want me to mosey!” I have to say this is the perfect description of the pace we wanted.

A final thought: Musical taste is a very subjective thing; not everyone is going to like the same music. However, speaking as a musician I believe music is very powerful and rarely leaves the emotions of the listener untouched. The music a bride chooses for her processional will set the mood for the ceremony so it’s a choice that ought to be made with care. Choose something that will leave listeners in no doubt of your happiness.