[Music] Wedding music

[Robert Waldrop]

Things have been a bit quiet lately. . . 

I have been asked by our new pastor to write some guidelines for wedding music.  He is the first priest that I have worked for who has taken the liturgy seriously enough to ask me to tell couples that the prescription for the Rite of Marriage is for a congregational hymn for the processional.  He says he is willing to allow an instrumental processional, but that after the procession has come to the altar, we will have to sign a gathering hymn.

This is very novel for our parish, and indeed, in my 12 years of pastoral musicianship I have only had maybe 3 weddings with hymns for processionals.  

Anyway, I am looking for suggestions for hymns, or wedding hymn texts that could be set to very familiar hymn tunes.  I worry about the effect of an "entrance hymn sung badly" on the ceremony.  Given the demographics of Oklahoma, where we Catholics are a minority, most wedding congregations are more than half Protestant, and probably a lot of them (Catholics and Protestants alike) are not frequent church attenders.  So that presents its own challenges.

He has also forbidden use of the Wedding March from Lohengrin ("Here comes the bride").

Any ideas?

Robert Waldrop, Epiphany Church, Oklahoma City
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