The London Lounge

Anyone have any recommendations for the wedding aisle walk for the groom?

Thanks,

Cordovan

If your budget is large enough, the Sinfonia from Bach's Cantata #29 is an excellent curtain-raiser. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PrVh-OyS ... re=related

But where is this wedding and what is available?

Cordovan wrote:Anyone have any recommendations for the wedding aisle walk for the groom?

Do you mean that you plan to start the wedding ceremony at church by the groom parading down the aisle at the rhythm of grand music?
Yeah, this has been seen before and of course you can do whatever you want, but my advice is that the groom enters by the side door and patiently waits with the priest or minister by the altar. The church ceremony should begin with the bridal procession (i.e. groomsmen and bridesmaids, best man and maid of honor, children with the ring and flowers, and the bride with her father or escort).
If you still want the groom to stroll down first, in this case the most appropriate music would be Bad Bad Leroy Brown with corresponding strut.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QvwDohEEQ1E

Yes, um, what is the setting, time of day, nature of service, size of wedding party and number of attendees? Is it a grand affair or more intimate; traditional or moderne, country or urban, and if urban, what city? Is other music already selected, and if so which pieces for which purposes? What forces would you have access to?

If, for example, you are using Clarke's trumpet voluntary (requires only an organ and a [very good] trumpeter) for a bridal processional or the recessional, you might walk to Purcell's Trumpet Tune in B-flat, or the Prelude from Charpantier's Te Deum (both of which would also make good processionals, and the Purcell a good recessional). Lots of parish churches do these with just an organ. But they really need a fairly large space, a good crowd, a trumpet, and a certain amount of occasion in order not to seem a bit silly, in my view.

At the other extreme, my own wedding many years ago was a very intimate affair held entirely in the choir of an old church, and all the music was provided by a lutenist (Dowland and the other Elizabethans).

One could imagine an elegant and witty moderne wedding in which the groom walked to an insouciant instrumental version (string quartet or small dance band) of Irving Berlin (Isn't This a Lovely Day, Top Hat, Cheek to Cheek) Kern (The Way You Look Tonight) or Cole Porter (You're the Top, Anything Goes, Night and Day, From This Moment On, All of You, You'd Be So Nice To Come Home To . . .) with complementing pieces for the other functions.

It really all depends on the style you (presuming you're the groom to be) and your intended have in mind.

Good advice from Couch. I had the Purcell Trumpet Tune to walk out to. In my opinion it sounds great on an organ with a good trumpet stop.

For a very flamboyant affair, one could go this way: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xQUduGnJ06I

As always, though, there is an element of showbiz-- so the question is, what sort of entrance do you want to make, and to what would you like to draw the guests' attention?

Concordia wrote:For a very flamboyant affair, one could go this way: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xQUduGnJ06I

As always, though, there is an element of showbiz-- so the question is, what sort of entrance do you want to make, and to what would you like to draw the guests' attention?

I think the moment is not (yet) a merry one in the wedding ceremony - I see it as more quiet, restrained, in waiting, composed... Preparation, rather than exultation. It's about making a discreet entrance and setting the atmosphere for the actual celebration that follows. No show at this time. Something sober (but light-hearted) and simple. An organ chorale perhaps? And Haendel, rather than Bach?

An interesting pair of cases to test Costi's proposition: the bridal processional for Catherine Middleton and that for Lady Diana Spencer. Parry isn't Bach, but it's certainly less triumphal and more anticipatory than Clarke.

In view of the history of the earlier marriage, perhaps something less fate-tempting was preferred for the more recent ceremony. At the time, however, and for several years afterward, Charles and Diana's wedding was generally viewed as paradigmatic, at least for ceremonies in the grand style.

Costi wrote: I think the moment is not (yet) a merry one in the wedding ceremony - I see it as more quiet, restrained, in waiting, composed... Preparation, rather than exultation. It's about making a discreet entrance

As always, great sensitivity -and sensibility- in Costi´s words.
And nothing more discreet than entering by the side, close to the alter, as I advised above instead of having the groom strutting down the aisle (thank you Couch for the clips showing that).
Of course, there would be music already playing in church setting the tone and then.... a dramatic change in mood when the bride processional begins.