Music at a wedding outside Mass
  • GiuseppeDaCopertino
    Posts: 10
    I am supposed to do music for a wedding at the parish where I work. It's an OF Catholic wedding taking place outside of Mass. I don't think I've ever been to one, so this will be a new experience. I would like some suggestions on what I should plan for the music. This is at the parish where nearly all the music is of the "Youth Mass" variety. The groom is not Catholic, and the bride said that she didn't really know anything about planning music for a wedding, so it's basically up to me... Any help is appreciated. Thanks!
  • Chris Garton-Zavesky
    Posts: 6,902
    Giuseppe,

    Bring out the fine China. Make the music for the sacrament of matrimony something she and her future husband will remember. Don't, for their sakes, slip into the "Youth Mass" trap. Now, you should prepare for someone to contradict me. I was married outside of Mass, and I wasn't Catholic at the time.


    On the assumption that you will be singing the psalm, make a simple arrangement, which can be sung unaccompanied -- so that the congregation has a stake in its "success", as it were. If you have an instrument that can do the job, Gordon Young has some quite serviceable pieces intended for weddings. Don't use the Wagner or the Mendelssohn.

    Cheers,

    Chris
  • BenBen
    Posts: 3,114
    Blow them away with fantastic sacred music. Blow them away with beauty. Make it so good it forces them to pray when they hear it. That's what good music does to me.

    If you have the voices and skills, do something cool like Durufle Ubi Caritas, which fits the theme of a wedding and just sounds cooooool.

    Thematically, it's perfect.

    WHERE charity and love are, God is there.
    Christ's love has gathered us into one.
    Let us rejoice and be pleased in Him.
    Let us fear, and let us love the living God.
    And may we love each other with a sincere heart.

    WHERE charity and love are, God is there.
    As we are gathered into one body,
    Beware, lest we be divided in mind.
    Let evil impulses stop, let controversy cease,
    And may Christ our God be in our midst.

    WHERE charity and love are, God is there.
    And may we with the saints also,
    See Thy face in glory, O Christ our God:
    The joy that is immense and good,
    Unto the ages through infinite ages. Amen.


    Not to mention it's from the Holy Thursday mandatum, which a good marriage should be ("washing the feet" of the other).
  • BenBen
    Posts: 3,114
    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=457nVpxJDkA
  • melofluentmelofluent
    Posts: 4,160
    Yeesh, guys...you need to extend the courtesy to Giuseppe of asking a few questions for clarification. And, the Rite of Marriage is not the OF, and the issue of Sunday parish repertoire is of minor concern.
    1. Giuseppe, are you the organist? Do you also sing and self-accompany?
    2. Besides yourself, are there other musicians involved? If yes, who are they in relation to your program, or are they unknown to you?
    3. Is there a parish wedding liturgy policy that the pastor endorsed?
    4. Besides the processionals and recessional, will the responsorial psalm be sung between the first two readings?
    5. Is there a commonly well sung "Alleluia" acclamation used at the parish that isn't just "youth, happy-clappy?"
    6. Is the couple having any para-liturgical actions? Such as "Unity Candle, laso/arras/Bible, etc.?
    7. Do they want a Marian devotional with a bouquet and reverencing?

    That's all for now.
    Thanked by 1noel jones, aago
  • CGM
    Posts: 699
    Typically, such a ceremony starts off like a regular wedding
    (*= instrumental music, **= vocal music):
    - Prelude Music*
    - Bridal Procession*
    - Bride's Entrance*
    - Collect
    - OT Reading
    - Responsorial Psalm**
    - Epistle
    - Gospel Acclamation**
    - Gospel Reading
    - Homily
    - Rite of Marriage
    - General Intercessions (aka Prayers of the Faithful, Universal Prayers, Petitions)

    Then, skipping the entire Liturgy of the Eucharist, it simply concludes:
    - Nuptial Blessing
    - Lord's Prayer
    - Final Prayer & Blessing
    - Recessional*

    You more-or-less have the same options for instrumental music as at a typical wedding. However, your two typical spots for "big music" (in other words, where the "Ave Maria" would go...) -- that is, the Offertory and the Communion -- are notably absent from the non-Mass wedding ceremony. Sometimes the pastor / celebrating priest will permit a piece of music between the Prayers of the Faithful and the Lord's Prayer as a sort-of "wedding meditation" -- that is, if the engaged couple agrees. Other than that occasional option, you don't really have too many opportunities to make much of a splash with vocal music.

    So, yes, "fine china" - make all the instrumental music as magnificent as you can (I'm sure that many organists can offer innumerable suggestions - shoot me a message if you want some specific pieces). And do something beautiful for the Responsorial Psalm and the Alleluia before the Gospel, perhaps in a chant-style, so that it sounds like "church", and not like a rock band or something. (I can make suggestions here, too, if you need 'em.) And if they give you the option for that lone motet, the Duruflé is quite lovely (and even the ol' Schubert "Ave" would beat the "Youth Mass" any day).
  • fcbfcb
    Posts: 338
    Actually, the Lord's Prayer typically comes after the nuptial blessing.
  • Andrew Motyka
    Posts: 946
    fcb is right about that. During Mass, the Nuptial Blessing takes the place of the embolism following the Lord's Prayer. Outside of Mass, there is no embolism, and the blessing takes place before the Lord's Prayer.
  • Jeffrey Quick
    Posts: 2,086
    No Mass, Groom not Catholic...am I the only one who things there are issues besides music here? I think the music needs to be so mindblowingly beautiful as to be an evangelistic tool, to make the groom think, "Oh my, if that's what they do, I HAVE to be Catholic." The problem of course is the budget needed to "make that so." I'd figure out what they can pay for music, talk them up, and go from there.
    Thanked by 1Ben
  • Andrew Motyka
    Posts: 946
    Good luck with that.
  • WendiWendi
    Posts: 638
    Unless they have serious money to throw around I wouldn't count on them having anything to pay for music other than maybe the organist's stipend. Too many couples plan EVERYTHING except the music. Good music just sort of happens, right?
    Thanked by 6noel jones, aago CHGiffen canadash Ben Gavin GiuseppeDaCopertino
  • hartleymartin
    Posts: 1,447
    I recently did a wedding where I was able to provide an organist, 4-voice choir (one voice per part) and three of the singers were also string players. We did a very old-style Canon in D with 3 violins and organ continuo for the entrance of the bride. I think the groom was thrilled at getting a choir and strings all for $650. (Australian Dollars) not to mention that most of the people were from a Cathedral Choir!

    I do tell people that if they want a serious choir and organist for a wedding that they should budget about $1,500 for it, which will get them 8 singers (2 per part) and an organist), although sometimes it can be done for a lot less, depending on what music they want.
Add a Comment