Music at Your Wedding

wedding music is prayer

As you sit down to select music for your wedding liturgy, the word we want to plant in your mind is prayer. You have chosen to begin your marriage in the context of worship. Not every one does. Your believing family and friends will tell you they see God in you, that they thank God your found each other. The music you select for the wedding service should reflect that.

Having said this, two factors have made it difficult to make the music at a church wedding "good prayer." First, we fight the image of the wedding as "spectator sport." Given the variety of guests that make them up--"churched" and "non-churched," Catholic and Protestant, members of this parish and members of other parishes--wedding ongregations tend to lose their voices. Guests are seen but not heard. Too, Catholics have been slow to develop a common repertoire of tasteful music for weddings. The tendency has been to give free reign to instrumentalists, soloists, musical groups, and--dare we say it--brides and grooms to select whatever music they want!

At Newman we do not want to surrender to these trends. We want weddings to be participatory events. We want to encourage wedding musicians to move from being perform-ers to pray-ers. What we want to achieve can be put in one sentence: the model for a wedding liturgy is newman's regular Sunday worship.

where to start?

Before you make any music choices, however, your first priority is to make an appointment with Fr. Mark Pierce, pastor at Roncalli Newman. He can be reached via e-mail (mpierce@charterinternet.com) or phone (608-784-4994) and will help you with both marriage preparation and the wedding liturgy, in general. Once you've established contact with Fr. Mark, you will need to contact Mary Ellen Haupert, the Director of Music. She will guide you in choosing musicians (if need be) and selecting appropriate music for your wedding. She can be reached by e-mail at maryellen@charterinternet.com.

The following "worksheet" will be used during your consultation with Mary Ellen as a *guide *in determining music choices for your wedding. The suggestions on the list are by no means exclusive and you're encouraged to bring any of your own ideas to the planning session. It IS your wedding!!!

Wedding Music Worksheet

Prelude music preference______________________
Solo preceding processional_______________________
Processional:
MOST POPULAR:
___Canon in D (piano and/or other instrument)
___Jesu, Joy of Man’s Desiring (piano and/or other instrument)
___Prelude in C Major by J.S. Bach (piano)
___Adagio cantabile by L.van Beethoven (piano)
___Adagio from Sonata in G Major by G.F.Handel (piano and violin/flute)
_________________________
OTHER OPTIONS:
Flute/Violin/Oboe and piano
__________________________
Trumpet and piano
__________________________

Gathering Hymn (optional):
___When Love Is Found (O WALY WALY) GC 86
___God, We Praise You (NETTLETON) RS 676
___Holy God, We Praise Thy Name (AURELIA) GC 524
___God, in the Planning (SLANE) GC 868
___Love Divine, All Loves Excelling (HYFRYDOL) GC 622
___Joyful, Joyful, We Adore You (HYMN to JOY) GC 528
___Praise to the Lord, the Almighty (LOBE DEN HERREN) GC 527
___Great Spirit of the Earth and Sky (NEW BRITAIN, Amazing Grace) Ruth Duck
___From Sacred Love (OLD HUNDRETH) Mary Louise Bringle
___Bless Now, O God, the Journey (FOREST GREEN) Sylvia Dunstan

LITURGY of the WORD
Responsorial:
___Psalm 16—You Will Show Me the Path of Life GC 24
___Psalm 33—Every Morning in Your Eyes (Cooney)
___Psalm 34—Taste and See GC 47
___Psalm 85—Lord, Make Us Turn to You (verses 4-6) GC 75
___Psalm 90—In Every Age (Whitaker)
___Psalm 103—The Lord Is Kind and Merciful GC 99
___Psalm 103—The Lord Is Kind and Merciful GC 100
___Psalm 116—The Name of God GC 110
___Psalm 128—Blest Are Those Who Love You GC 125
___Psalm 145—I Will Praise Your Name GC 137
___Psalm 145—Our God Is Compassion GC 138

Gospel Acclamation:
___Praise the God of All Creation GC 160
___Alleluia GC 187
___Celtic Alleluia GC 258
___Alleluia! Give the Glory

MARRIAGE RITE:
Lighting of the Unity Candle (optional):
Instrumental/vocal:___________________________
Other__________________________
LITURGY of the EUCHARIST
Preparation of the Gifts:
(The following selections can be used during the lighting of the unity candle as well.)
___Come and Journey with Me (p. 61)
___Wherever You Go (p. 35)
___The Servant Song GC 669
___We Have Been Told GC 699
___Now We Remain GC 694
___We Will Serve the Lord GC 869
___Blest Are They GC 659
___I Am the Vine (Warner)
___Ubi Caritas (Rosania)

Eucharistic Acclamations:
___Mass of Creation
___Other

Music for the Communion Procession:
___No Greater Love GC 628
___Taste and See GC 814
___Take and Eat This Bread GC 842
___Let Us Be Bread GC 816
___The Living Bread of God GC 826
___Without Seeing You GC 844
___We Come to Your Feast GC 850
___We Have Been Told GC 699
___Now We Remain GC 694
___Ubi Caritas (Rosania)

Recessional:
MOST POPULAR:
___Hornpipe from Handel’s Water Music
___The Prince of Denmark’s March (Clarke)
___Trumpet Tune (Clarke)
___Allegro from Handel’s Sonata in G Major (piano and violin/flute)
___Tempo di Gavotta from Handel’s Sonata in C Major (piano and violin/flute)
___Allegro from Handel’s Sonata in F Major (piano and violin/flute)
___Giga from Handel’s Sonata in F Major (piano and violin/flute)
OTHER:
____________________________