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Patrick Byrne’s Wedding Music Guide for Brides and Grooms

Patrick Byrne Piano Mayfair Wedding Reception Ceremony Service

Photo courtesy John Hainstock Photography

Listen to smaples of Patrick ByrneYour Wedding Ceremony or Service will generally follow this simple formula:

  • a beginning,
  • a middle and
  • an end.

Within this simple framework there are countless variations and that is what makes each wedding service a unique experience.

Listed below are just some of the many religious and classical musical possibilities for your Wedding Ceremony or Service. You may have already put together a list of your own personal favorite songs and likely have a list of suggestions from your family and friends. Having played for hundreds of Weddings, Pat Byrne is uniquely qualified to help you choose the musical selections that will be just right for the style that you have in mind for your Wedding Ceremony or Service.

You can request a similar list of pop songs that Pat would play for a dinner party or the dinner at a wedding reception. To request this Dinner Music list or to discuss your wedding’s music with Pat further, please contact him at (262)893-1759 or send him an email.

If the church or other venue for your wedding does not have a suitable piano or organ, don’t worry, I have a portable Yamaha keyboard (pictured above) and professional sound system. Go to my main Samples page to hear and download some examples of my playing using this instrument.

Brides and Grooms, please keep in mind that this long list of wedding music barely scratches the surface!

Since the repertoire of religious and classical music suitable for a Wedding Ceremony or Service spans about 500 years, it would be impossible to list everything. Pat will be happy to work closely with you to sort through the seemingly endless possibilities to help you create a truly unique Wedding Ceremony or Service.

Prelude Music

Several quieter songs can be played for 15-30 minutes while your family and friends are gathering before the ceremony:

  1. “A Time for Us” (from Romeo and Juliet)
  2. “Air on the G String” (J.S. Bach)
  3. “All I Ask Of You” (from Phantom of the Opera)
  4. “Aria, Bist du bei mir” (Be thou near me), (J. S. Bach)
  5. “At Last” (Etta James)
  6. “Can’t help falling in love” (Elvis Presley)
  7. “Come Away With Me” (Norah Jones)
  8. “Evergreen” (Barbra Streisand)
  9. “Gymnopedie No. 1″ (Erik Satie)
  10. “Jesu, Joy of Man’s Desiring” (J. S. Bach)
  11. “Largo” from (Xerxes), (George Frederic Handel)
  12. “Longer” (Dan Fogelberg)
  13. “Only Time” (Enya)
  14. “Sheep May Safely Graze” (J. S. Bach)
  15. “Somewhere Over the Rainbow” (from The Wizard of Oz)
  16. “Sonata in E Flat,” Adagio, (Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart)
  17. “Storybook Love” from the movie “The Princess Bride” (Willy DeVille)
  18. “The Gift” (Jim Brickman)
  19. “The Look of Love” (Dionne Warwick/Burt Bacharach)
  20. “Unchained Melody” (Righteous Brothers)
  21. “Water Music” (George F. Handel)
  22. “Wedding Song” (Peter Yarrow)
  23. “We’ve Only Just Begun” (Carpenters)
  24. “What A Wonderful World” (Louis Armstrong)
  25. “When I’m Sixty-Four” (The Beatles)
  26. “Wind Beneath My Wings” (Bette Midler)

Processional

The “walking” songs that are played when first the parents of the Bride and Groom, the bridal party and finally you walk down the aisle:

  1. “Air” (from Water Music Suite), (George F. Handel)
  2. “Bridal Chorus” (also kown as “Here Comes the Bride”, Richard Wagner)
  3. “Canon in D” (Johann Pachelbel)
  4. “Sunrise, Sunset” (from Fiddler on the Roof)
  5. “The Look of Love” (Dionne Warwick)
  6. “The Prince of Denmark’s March” (Jeremiah Clarke)
  7. “Trumpet Tune” (Henry Purcell)
  8. “Trumpet Voluntary” (Jeremiah Clarke)
  9. “Trumpet Voluntary” (John Stanley)
  10. “Wedding Processional” (from The Sound of Music)

Interlude

A quieter song played during any quiet moment(s) during the ceremony such as a Unity Candle Lighting or the sign Sign of Peace:

  1. “All Things Bright and Beautiful” (Traditional hymn)
  2. “Amazing Grace” (Traditional hymn)
  3. “Annie’s Song” (John Denver)
  4. “Arioso” (J. S. Bach)
  5. “Ave Maria” (Franz Schubert)
  6. “Ave Maria” (Johann S. Bach/Charles Gounod)
  7. “Bless the Broken Road” (Rascal Flatts)
  8. “Dodi Li” (Traditional Jewish)
  9. “Grow Old With Me” (John Lennon)
  10. “Hawaiian Wedding Song”
  11. “How Beautiful” (Twila Paris)
  12. “Joyful, Joyful, We Adore Thee” (Traditional hymn)
  13. “Londonderry Air” (also known as “O, Danny Boy”)
  14. “Morning Has Broken” (Cat Stevens)
  15. “One Hand, One Heart” (from West Side Story)
  16. “Panis Angelicus” (Cesar Franck)
  17. “Reverie” (Claude Debussy)
  18. “Simple Gifts” (traditional Shaker hymn)
  19. “Wedding Song (There Is Love)” (Peter, Paul and Mary)
  20. “Where e’er You Walk” (from Semele, George F. Handel)

Recessional

The joyous song played as you and the bridal party exit down the aisle:

  1. “Allegro Maestoso” (from Water Music Suite), (George F. Handel)
  2. “Hornpipe” (from Water Music Suite), (George F. Handel)
  3. “Now Thank We All Our God” (Traditional hymn)
  4. “Ode to Joy” (Ludwig van Beethoven)
  5. “Rondeau” (theme from Masterpiece Theater)
  6. “Wedding March” (from A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Felix Mendelssohn)

By Patrick Byrne 6:13 am