Wedding - Walking down the Aisle music (Football)

[Roundthecorneranduptheroad]

Football mad DD and fiancé plan to have the Champion’s League anthem as they walk down the aisle. Please be aware that this is an adaptation of classical piece Zadoc the Priest. It is not a here today, gone tomorrow pop song. If you are unfamiliar, please listen ‘Alexa, play the Champion’s League theme’ before you prejudge. It really is a lovely and appropriate piece of music in my view.

My parents (DD’s grandparents) are aghast. They had volunteered £5k towards wedding and are (vaguely) threatening to withdraw it. Nothing explicit (yet) but lots of comments about the music. AIBU to think DD and her fiancé should hold firm with their choice of wedding music?

I haven't heard the Champion's League version, but doesn't Zadok the Priest regularly feature in Royal weddings and service -and I think even in the Coronation of Elizabeth II?

If you google, you should get lots of video/YouTube links you can show the GPs

That should do the trick!

One might think so but my parents are snobby culturally clued up. They object to the bastardised version of Zadoc the Priest - lyrics “the champions!”

Btw I appreciate this is a very first world/Mumsnet issue!

If your dd and her fiancé want that music then it’s totally their choice.
If the grandparents withdraw their offer of £5k then that is up to the grandparents.
My ds and dil had Out of the Blue (football sports report music) as they walked down the aisle it made everyone smile because it’s such a happy piece.

You need to explain as diplomatically as possible to your parents that a gift should only be made without strings and if they can’t give the money freely then sadly you will have to find £5k elsewhere.
You could vaguely hint that this may mean culling the guest list and perhaps having a tiny wedding and let them make of that statement what they will.

Yes, it has actually been used at every coronation since it was written in the eighteenth century - so about 300 years.

Just tell them they've gone for an abridged version of Handel. Though it shouldn't be necessary and I'm with you on principal.

I’ve just listened. It’s fabulous and very apt. Says “something brilliant is happening. I’ve never heard it before ……

Very pedantic to threaten to withdraw the money contribution from the grandparents over the aisle music...

Your parents sound ghastly.

I wouldn’t even bother my children with this. I’d say to them that they are not to convey the slightest problem with their choice of music.
If they “withdraw”, can you fill the void?

Well not really

the underlying issue is that your parents are at the very least a bit twatty and probably gave you a pretty dire childhood

How about 'The Pink Panther' theme?

Although one would need to choregraph the 'walk down the aisle' with pauses timed to the music and perhaps a couple of complete twirls along the way.

Is it this?

I’d just tell your parents that if they feel they feel the gift of money comes with conditions, is it really a gift

Of course they should hold firm but you can't control if grandparents then decide to not contribute. If the choose not to then that shows them in a poor light and they then take the consequences of this. I assume they have MO for acting like this. I'd try and raise the money another way it ll be more straight forward.

Have they not realised that it isn’t their wedding, gifts should never come with conditions, people who love their grandchildren wouldn’t want them to have a wedding they didn’t want.

Zadok the priest is one of my all time favourite musical pieces and holds a lot of family sentiment. I didn't know it was football related and when I played it to then DH to be as a potential aisle song, he said half the men in the church would be laughing. I almost did it anyway!

It's a wonderful piece of music and if they love the football connection they should go for it.

If someone had held parts of my wedding to ransom and threatened to withhold money I'd have got a credit card to cover the difference and told them to stuff it!

Always best not to discuss these things with anyone until the actual day when they will have no say in what's being played. Keep all other details of the wedding to yourselves as it's nothing to do with them and too many opinions are a pain. If they withdraw their gift their gd will never forget that!!

We had Toto's Africa played on the organ for my arrival. I liked it, it was something quirky for the organist who was a close friend, the phrasing worked for the bridesmaid entrance and you could see people trying to place it and smiling when they did. It was great fun!

I think their grandparents are being unreasonable suggesting that their gift is conditional. What else would it apply to? If they didn't like the colour scheme, or the readings, or the bride's dress? If they want to withdraw their offer then that's up to them but they should tell the couple exactly why they are and then let the couple decide whether they want a gift from petty grandparents or not.

"See the conquering hero come" from Judas Maccabeus is a good one on the same theme. It's also a hymn tune so they shouldn't baulk at that.

Still, if they want to offer a conditional gift that's their right, so if they take the huff the OP will just have to 'suck it up'.

( Might be an idea to start saving now, just in case they 'get a strop on' ! )

Let them withdraw their offer and the couple adjust their spending accordingly

Speaking with my registrars hat on, side stepping all the moral issues: how long is the aisle? I say this because... if it's a wedding in a registry office/town hall/small venue, the aisles are usually pretty short and you really only get a couple of mins tops of actual music as the bride/couple walks in. If it's a church/venue with a long aisle then yes more of a problem. Also depends on how is the music being played? If it's on a phone/Bluetooth/Spotify situation then the music will need to be queued up at a certain point by a guest in charge of it. Unless it's being played live by a performer, for example. Saying this because I'm thinking a live performer could blend bits of music together.

Zadok the priest is one of my all time favourite musical pieces and holds a lot of family sentiment. I didn't know it was football related

Zadok the Priest is not football related!

OP, I'd be tempted to say "oh well in that case we can have what we really wanted which is the match of the Day theme"

It’s a fabulous piece of music. As a non-football fan, I had no idea it was associated with the Champions League, I thought it was mainly associated with royalty and state occasions. It would be great as a wedding march. Is there any way they might compromise and play the classical version rather than the Champions League version? In years to come they might wish they had done so anyway. But it’s their choice and even if they stick to the CL version, it’s hardly ‘Three Lions on a Shirt’ or whatever, which might be a tad tacky for a wedding!

I’d tell them to keep their 5k and that they’ll be sent an evening invite so they’re not offended by any music during the ceremony. Weird.

When I saw this thread I had visions of the Bride and Groom walking down the aisle to the theme from Grandstand or Match of the Day... 😂😂😂