Worried about music/ no one singing in the church at wedding

[ScarlettsHoopedSkirt]

Neither of us are musical and we don't have musical friends or family we can ask to lead the singing.

We're getting married in quite a big church so I'm worried it will be quite flat!

It won't be

We paid for the church choir (think it was £50 or £100 15 years ago). Definitely worth the money.

Our hymns were O Jesus I have Promised, Make me a channel of Your peace and Amazing Grace (I think - can't remember for definite now!)

I ove your first choice of hymn and understand the reasoning for the 2nd, but they are the only 2 I know, and I attend Church regularly - not just one church, but different denominations and 'types' of church.

I would advise you to choose well known ones if your guest list doesn't contain many singers.

Definitely ask the person you are dealing with at the Church if there is a choir who might be available. Only they can tell you how they charge.

Have to post in defence of, 'Be Still For The Presence Of The Lord' after a pp said it was limp - it's an utterly beautiful hymn!! Good luck to you in getting the choir on board, sure it'll be lovely.

Actually, thinking about it, go to church for a few Sunday services (if you're not already) and go and hear the organist play and the choir in action before you book them 😁 then you can make an informed decision about whether you want them or something different/ to outsource. our church choir is definitely not something I'd pay money for

The singing was fab at our wedding! My side are all heathens but DH is Welsh and went to a private school with a very active choir so his side more than made up for it! I do love a belted out hymn.

We had ‘Guide me o thou great redeemer’, ‘love divine all loves excelling’ and ‘Jerusalem.

Priests often have good singing voices and can lead the singing. They’re used to it, honestly (personal and family experience) at weddings and particularly at funerals when naturally the congregation isn’t full of exuberance

We hired a singer who sang the first verse alone and then had everyone join in. It worked really well considering DH has loads of Muslim relatives who’d never attended a church service before!

As a teenager, I used to sing in a church choir & I could make extra money singing at weddings

Priests often have good singing voices and can lead the singing. They’re used to it, honestly (personal and family experience) at weddings and particularly at funerals when naturally the congregation isn’t full of exuberance

Not if not if nobody joins in at all. It's excruciating. I've done it when it's been just me and the vicar singing a duet and it's no fun.

Oh I came on to say you probably have nothing to worry about, but I’ve been very surprised at the responses! Didn’t know this was something so many people worried about or took steps to ‘sort’ as such.
We had a good size wedding admittedly, around 80 guests, but there certainly weren’t any concerns about the level of noise they made! We had ‘we plough the fields and scatter’ for sentimental reasons, then one more step along the world I go and Jerusalem. Good easy singalongs.

I also don’t know the third and have sung in many choirs both church and community.

Maybe let your friends know which hymns beforehand so they can have a look on youtube.

All Things Bright and Beautiful and Jerusalem - you can't go wrong with those two. Morning Has Broken is lovely too but goes bit high so is an excellent one for just the choir to sing! Abide With Me is also usually quite safe.

Oh and we had “Morning Has Broken” as well!

Larger churches usually allow you to set a budget eg £x for a quartet, £x for an octet the £x for full choir. My kids aren't children and are semi pro so week after next are getting £75 each to sing a duet during the register signing plus support the hymns

Ps love be still for the presence of the Lord, I always suggest dear lord and father of mankind. During the the register signing the lord bless you and keep you by Rutter is nice, if they are a good choir cantique de jean Racine is lovely

You've picked two of my favourite hymns. Great choices for people to sing along to.

At my wedding, this was something I was worried about as my husband’s family don’t really attend church whereas many of my side do.

We did have Shine, Jesus, Shine (Husband liked/remembered it from primary school) and I made some tambourines from cross stitch hoops, lace and bells which went down a treat (meant his friends used these and then they came to the reception with us!)

I later found out that my minister had made everyone practice the hymns before I arrived because he knew I was worried! After the wedding day, I said how impressed I was with the singing and someone admitted what had happened. It meant that people had been a little more comfortable to sing them during the ceremony and it made me love my minister a little more because of how thoughtful he had been!

I always suggest dear lord and father of mankind

You're having a laff, surely ?

"Dear Lord and Father of Mankind, Forgive our Foolish ways " doesn't sound like you have a lot of confidence in the marriage

Fight the good fight is about the only one I could think of as being less suitable

The only one of those I know is Sing Hosanna, and I went to a private school with strict hymn singing. I love a good hymn and if I'm confident in the tune am more likely to sing along, so for that reason would prefer really well known hymns. DS chose Sing Hosanna, All Things Bright and Beautiful, and Guide Me O for his baptism, so that everyone would know them.