Choosing the perfect songs for your Catholic Wedding Ceremony, full Nuptial Mass
Welcome to today’s blog helping you to select the perfect songs for your catholic wedding ceremony mass. If you haven’t already read Part 1 of my Wedding Ceremony blog, I encourage you to first head on over there to learn all the basics behind selecting songs for your wedding ceremony before reading Part II below. Part I lists my top tips for selecting wedding ceremony music that you will also need for your catholic mass. So make sure you check that out first!
If you are having a Celebration of Marriage or full Nuptial Mass in a Catholic Church and need help selecting your songs for the day, you’re at the right place. In addition to the standard songs you will need for a wedding ceremony (i.e. bridal entrance, signing of the register & exit), you will need to organise a few supplementary songs for the hymns, communion, candle lighting, presentation of the gifts and your offertory. It’s important to be prepared for these moments as the sacraments involved in these traditional wedding ceremonies can take time. You may like to enjoy the silence that these moments offer for an opportunity to reflect, or if you’re like most of the population and are a little uncomfortable with silence, you may like to consider having music fill these moments. The choice is yours! If you are opting for having music, keep reading for ideas on what music suits traditional catholic wedding ceremonies best.
So, let’s get started.
Choose music that is appropriate for your wedding ceremony
First and foremost, the most important thing to consider is that you will need to choose music that is appropriate for a church or cathedral. If you have chosen to get married in a church then you will need to be mindful of the rules that your church has in place.
Definition: church [t∫ 3t∫ ] (noun); A church is a holy place for meeting, gathering, community & christian worship.
So what music am I allowed to have in my traditional Catholic Wedding Ceremony?
Make sure you speak to your officiant or the church staff to find out what music is and isn’t allowed for your wedding ceremony. It’s best to speak to them prior to selecting songs and prior to hiring musicians for your day. You will need to find out if there are any restrictions on the songs or the musicians that you can use at your ceremony. Some churches and cathedrals only allow for hymns or religious music to be played and may have a specific list of traditional songs for you to choose from. In some places of worship, your music may only be allowed to be played by the assigned church musicians. Other churches may allow any songs to be played, by any musicians, as long as they’re instrumental songs with no lyrics.
Side Note: if you’re Orthodox and are reading this, you most likely won’t be able to have music playing at your wedding ceremony. On a side note to the side note, if you’re unable to have your dream musicians play for your church, you could always consider booking them for your wedding reception instead!
What does a full Nuptial Mass look like?
The Celebration of Marriage/Nuptial Mass ceremony in a catholic church has the following five parts:
The Introductory Rites
The Liturgy of the Word
The Rite of Marriage
The Liturgy of the Eucharist
The Concluding Rites
Your priest will provide you with more details on the above points for your wedding ceremony and what you will be able to include in your service handouts. Within these five significant parts of your mass, there will be moments where your musicians will have the opportunity to play some music. These specific points can be found in our next point.
When will I need music played for my Catholic Wedding mass?
You will need to consider what music you would like to have for the following points of your wedding ceremony:
Bridesmaid’s entrance
Bride’s entrance
Signing of the register
Exit
Candle Lighting
Presentation of the gifts & offertory
Holy Communion
For more information and song ideas on points 1 - 4 above, please take a look at my previous blog. Today we will cover points 5-7, choosing music for the significant points of a catholic wedding ceremony.
Candle Lighting
Photo by Siempre
The candle lighting ritual is the part of the wedding ceremony when the family’s of the bride and groom step forward to light their respective family candles. Usually this is done by the mothers’ of the bride and groom, but this can also be done by both parents. You can select one song to have for your parents lighting their candles. Later on in the service the bride and groom step forward to transfer the flame from their family’s candle to one shared unity candle symbolising their two families becoming one in marriage. This moment of the service is only brief and your priest may continue to talk through this sacrament however it is quite beautiful having some added soft background music to amplify the symbolism of this moment.
Number of songs needed for candle lighting: 1
Presentation of the gifts & offertory
The presentation of the gifts is the part of the service when one of your chosen guests brings forward gifts of bread & wine and places them on the altar. Your priest will then pray over the offering in preparation for Holy Communion.
Having a hymn playing during the offertory is a beautiful way to fill this moment. This offers your guests a time to reflect while listening to the music played.
Number of songs needed: 1-2
Holy Communion
Holy Communion is also referred to in the catholic church as the Eucharist. This represents the Last Supper where Jesus broke bread and drank wine with his disciples before his death, symbolising Jesus’ sacrifice of his body and blood. In this part of your service, your priest will offer you and your christian guests the opportunity to come forward to the eucharistic table and share in communion.
Depending on the number of guests you have at your wedding ceremony and the amount of church staff who are helping your priest on the day, the sharing of communion can take some time. It is best to choose two to three songs to have played by your musicians to fill up this time. It is recommended that these songs are hymns as this is a sacred time.
Number of songs needed: 2-3
What songs should I have played at my Catholic Wedding Mass?
For your presentation of the gifts, offertory and communion, it is recommended that you incorporate classical music and hymns to best suit the ceremony you are having. Please find below some popular hymns & classical songs that work well for religious wedding ceremonies. There’s no specific songs that need to be played at any particular moments, but the following list will give you some good ideas on where to start your selection process. Start by choosing your favourite songs below and then you can assign them to the significant points of your ceremony, starting with your wedding entry, exit & signing of the register songs. Then choose your communion & offertory songs. And finally choose something short for your candle lighting.
Just imagine this stunning church filling up with the sound of these beautiful songs played by the warm sounding strings of a violin or your favourite instrument.
I can feel the chills!
Popular Hymns:
1. Amazing Grace – John Newton
2. Ave Maria – Schubert
3. Oceans – Hillsong
4. The Prayer – Celine Dion & Andrea Bocelli
5. What A Beautiful Name – Hillsong
Popular Traditional Hymns:
1. Be Thou My Vision
2. Shout To The Lord
3. When I Survey The Wondrous Cross
4. How Great Thou Art
5. Give Thanks
Popular Classical Music:
1. River Flows In You – Yiruma
2. Water Music Suite: Air – Handel
3. The Swan – Saint Saens
4. Jesu, Joy of Man’s Desiring – Bach
5. Meditation – Massenet
If you’re still stuck on ideas for your wedding ceremony, get in touch with our team who can help you find the best songs for your day.
How many songs do I need to choose in total for my Catholic Wedding Ceremony?
You will need to choose between 6 - 11 songs for your traditional catholic wedding ceremony.
Maronite Marriage Ceremonies
Okay, but what if I’m getting married in a Maronite Church, is this the same or different to the above?
Photo by Siempre
Maronite wedding ceremonies are not quite the same as Roman Catholic ceremonies. They’re similar in some ways, but also very different. Some of the wedding traditions in a Roman Catholic Church are not performed in a Maronite Catholic Church and vice versa. For example, the lighting of the unity candle is not a recognised part of Maronite wedding liturgies.
Just like in Roman Catholic ceremonies, for Maronite ceremonies, you will need to discuss with your priest directly about what music is and isn’t allowed. Your wedding music will most likely have to be liturgical. Hymns used by the Roman Catholic Church are usually acceptable however it’s best to have these approved by your priest in the Maronite Church. For a Maronite ceremony, you may also need to organise a singer to sing the responses & chants.
The following Sydney based Maronite wedding singers are all highly experienced and would be the perfect addition to your ceremony.
Fun Fact Friday!
That’s almost all for today, but I did want to change it up a little before signing off and share one fun fact with you:
Did you know that the violin has been officially voted the number one most romantic instrument of all time? That’s right, the number one most romantic instrument, ever (well, according to us… not biased at all, of course!) If you’re wanting to secure a violinist for your wedding ceremony make sure you get in touch with our team so we can help you to bring the romance and magic to your special day.
And on a final note, to simplify the whole process for you, I have put together a quick cheat sheet below to help you choose the right amount of songs for your ceremony. Hope this helps!
