To be amazed at the lack of imagination

[Maxandrubyrubyandmax]

Attended my third church wedding in less than a year yesterday. But what amazed me was that the three weddings had EXACTLY the same choice of music! Here comes the bride, all things bright and beautiful, lord of the dance, Jesu joy of mans desiring during the signing of the register and out to Mendelssohn. With everyone so fixated with having the Original wedding these days and so many great hymns and processional pieces of music why oh why are we repeatadly faced with the same pieces of music again and again and if we are going to be stuck with the same pieces can't people pick something a bit more appropriate than Wagners shagging tune and a song miabout nailing someone to a cross and at least occasionally go for Royal Oak for all things bright and beautiful. Even the person who wrote it seemed amazed it was allowed in church! Off to another wedding next week. Won't be holding my breath!

OP not sure you have any locus to complain about lack of originality of music at weddings when you walked out to Toccata. It is not original and I have heard it far more frequently than any of the others you mention. I've been to around 30 weddings and not heard any of those hymns at any of them except all things bright and beautiful once. I hear Toccata and Pachelbel far more frequently than Wedding March or Wagner. I hate to break it to you but you are the new unoriginal!

My wedding is Saturday. I am having Here Comes the Bride and Wedding March because I don't want to be different. I don't care about being original. I associate these songs with a big white wedding so that's what we are having. If being traditional means we are unoriginal and someone we invited wants to bitch about us for it so be it. To me it doesn't feel like a wedding without the wedding march, but my views don't matter for any wedding except my own.

For hymns we are having i vow to thee my country, lord of all hopefulness and and Jerusalem. Most Church weddings I have been to have had these hymns.

I went to a wedding once where the first dance was Make you feel my love by Adele. Maybe I misinterpret the song, but I get raw heartbreak from it rather than happiness! But again, up to them.

McTufty That sounds like a lovely wedding!

I didn't pick "here comes the Bride" as my mum always used to " add 40 inches wide" when it was on TV and I didn't want everyone else thinking that and associating it with my not exactly perfect 10 dress.
I had Pachelbel Canon in D, which I think is much nicer

Civil ceremony here as neither of us are religious or fond of tradition for tradition's sake. Having been to a number of church weddings though, I find the hymn singing and prayers excruciating. I don't know the words, I can't carry a tune anyway and just find it all a bit tedious and a tad hypocritical when you know the bride and groom aren't churchgoers either.

Often, weddings have felt as though the B&G have gone through a traditional wedding check list and are doing all the first dance/greeting line/chair covers/tiered cake/speeches/shit disco because they think that's what they are meant to do for a wedding.

Because people are boring, conservative and lacking in imagination? Look at the Middletons!

16 verses

God's teeth!

Here's a 2013 BBC poll (Songs Of Praise) of Britain's favourite hymns.

www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/articles/3DnJQz7zsF1JrB3rZ8yQ86w/the-uks-top-100-hymns

I know a lot of them (CofE primary, daily hymn in assembly at secondary) but oddly not many in the top 10

I realise after my shock at 16 verses I never said what we had. Walked in to the Dubliners , had game of thrones theme instead of a reading and Huey Lewis and the News 'Power of love' as we walked out(from back to the future). The registrar said she hadn't had that combination before so it is possible if you don't do hymns

I did a temp job as a registration officer one year for civil weddings/partnerships/vow renewals. After 80+ weddings over the season I was fed up with Pachelbel's Canon! The best weddings had cheerful music (things like Your Love Keeps Lifting Me). If I was having a church wedding, I wouldn't pick Here Comes the Bride as I actually don't even think it's a nice piece of music. It's a bit stodgy.

That would have been amazing.

It was strange. She would have been so pleased about the noise too; one of her pet hates was going to events where people were expected to sing and they didn't (she also objected to sitting down and singing as it's impossible to project - so at the first swell of the organ would bob up out of her seat and expect everyone to follow her).

My only regret about not having a church wedding (wasn't happening, not religious) was that we got married at Christmas and we could have had everyone belting out carols. I love O Come All Ye Faithful and Good King Wenceslas.

So few people go to church now they have to pick things people know. Lol.

I was Bridesmaid for my sister and she asked me and the other bridesmaid to sing up nice and loud to encourage the rest of the congregation (I can't hold a tune in a bucket ) to do the same.

She chose this m.youtube.com/watch?v=aNz-33V1V8A and as we approached the high bit, I realised I had started the hymn way too high and had no chance of getting anywhere near the note without sounding like I'd been strangled . All you can hear on the video is my voice getting higher and higher and then suddenly dropping to sound like the bloke that sang Old Man River !

Alright mctufty keep your hair on! It's meant to be light hearted bloody hell, I'll attribute it to pre wedding nerves! Hope you have a fab day looks like the weather is on your side😁😎. As for the toccata yes it's prob one of the most used pieces apart from Mendelssohn due to most people thinking it's one of the best recessional pieces of music ever written (well according to my late granddad who was a church organist for 65 years and was my nod to him at the wedding😁)

Well it's easy for you to say "lighthearted" when you've just criticised a wedding choice, bearing in mind that society continually tells us your decisions about your wedding are THE DEFINING REPRESENTATIONS of your relationship (whether the couple sees it that way or not). No one wants to think of their guests sitting their rolling their eyes

*there

For our wedding I walked down the aisle to Charpentier's Te Deum and out to Arrival of the Queen of Sheba.

We did have Lord of the Dance because both me and DH had strong memories of singing it in school assemblies, but we sandwiched it between Praise my soul the King of Heaven and Jerusalem, which I felt were uplifting. We then had the choir sing You'll Never Walk Alone as we signed the register which gave me goosebumps as the did it so beautifully.

Weirdly we went to the wedding of one of our guests not long after ours and they used the exact same hymns and music choices that we did, which made me feel really weird.

I do agree that many weddings are very unoriginal in many aspects, particularly music choices and it is quite sad that there is so much choice which is being narrowed down to a select few, but it's all about familiarity isn't it? People want what they know, which is how traditions form and continue over time.
Not sure how that will ever really change.

I walked down the aisle to Charpentier's Te Deum

Snap, Gunty!

Wales here and totally predictable- Guide me O thou great Jehovah (to the tune of Cwm Rhondda), Calon Lan followed by Gwahoddiad and Myfanwy as we signed the register. Completely unoriginal but the singing was beyond fantastic.

We went out to the Ode to Joy at which one of the pages shouted loud 'Its the Champions League song!' Everyone roared 😊

How funny Gunty - I was thinking this morning about a hymn we used to sing at school which I couldn't remember the name of and you've just given it to me; it was Praise, My Soul, The Everlasting King!

I just cringe at the lack of imagination for weddings in general! Must have a white dress. Must have a suit. Must be a church. Must invite all and sundry to be bridesmaids. Must have long photography session and bore pants off everyone.

Can you tell we had jeans at ours, Tex Mex grub, and camping?! My friend referred to it as a "budget wedding" which it wasn't really! But then she had designer WHITE dress, hymns and a helicopter entrance. Each to their own eh?

No. I don't think its very light-hearted. I think your Op was heartfelt. I think its really offensive. Yeah, lets all be different, quirky. yeah man, Lets chose an obscure piece of music that no one has heard of, just to show how uber intelligent the bride and groom are? Naff and twatty.

I don't go to many weddings. But I just enjoy those that I do, for what they are. Not really critical about anyone else's parties or events. Just grateful to be invited.

If you don't like it. If you scorn and think that these people are so naff, then why are you bothering to go?

Imagine your recent bride saw this thread?

We had a church wedding. No hymns though. I walked down the aisle to Paul weller's you do something to me and we walked back up the aisle to Florence and the machines version of you got the love. We had London grammar playing while we signed the register. My grandma thought it was "a bloody pantomime" but we loved it ❤️

help me please! after reading this thread I can't remember the name of the song I walked down the aisle to! It wasn't mendlesons here comes the bride (yes I know that's not its real name!) It was the other one! Married in the 90's if that helps!

oblovmov 17 back to the specific thread I agree with you, so what? Let them do what they want after all it is their wedding