Wedding Plannin'

This year, just to shake things up a bit, I'm getting married. I haven't done it in a while, and it's really just time. ;-) Love you, Kristi.

Seems that everyone else is trying to do the same thing, and as a result, I'm helping plan a few weddings summer. I just finished typing up a real long email to assist in the planning for a friend of mine, who also happens to be the Deacon's son. This information is the kind of stuff I bring to every meeting I have when it comes to wedding planning, and a lot of it in general mass planning. I've been writing a long post on mass planning, and since it isn't done, but my emailing IS, I figured I'd just keep the ratio of stones to birds down and just post part of my email here. They are having a Unity Candle, but not a Marian Adoration piece, so keep that in mind as (or IF) you read it.

You may find it useful. First read it, and figure out if its useful. If it's not, then don't read it. It's just that simple.

God bless you in your ministry!
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PRELUDE(S)
Any number of pieces while people walk in. This is a good place to put things that don't generally fit into the program for Liturgy. I start playing about 15 minutes before any ceremonial actions start, so if you don't have anything in mind, I'll run a few pieces past you. These are generally instrumental and do not necessarily command the attention of your guests.

LIGHTING OF THE UNITY CANDLE
Pick something for your mothers or families to light the until candle to. The action only takes about 90 seconds, but the song can go a bit longer. This can be sung, or an instrumental that you like, possibly having some meaning for the two of you. Instrumentals work well because they can be cut short based on the promptness of actions taken by your mothers. :-) Generally, this would also be when your parents / grandparents are seated. Does your planner have a specific set of plans for this? Since this is really non-Liturgical, there is no formal format here - just experience and a little (very little) tradition. An "Ave Maria" could work here, but generally, I like to save those for Marian adoration type things. This song can command more attention than the Preludes, and starts to bring people into the rite of the ceremony, since this really is part of the ceremonial action, even if it is preparatory.

PROCESSIONAL
1 - 2 pieces for the brides maids, flower girls, etc. to talk into. The bride can have her own piece, or we can reprise the first piece with more "gusto". It's generally instrumental, though a hymn sung WELL can be just as effective. Common examples of these pieces are "Canon in 'D'" (Pachelbel), "Trumpet Voluntary" or "Trumpet Tune" (Purcell), "Jesu, Joy of Mans Desiring" (Bach), "Rondeau" and "Spring".. whose compsers escape me at the moment.

PSALM
The Lord is Kind and Merciful
Blessed are Those Who Fear the Lord
Taste and See the Goodness of the Lord
are among others that are sanctioned by the book.


GOSPEL ACCLAMATION
For Life Teen, we've done stuff I've written recently, which I wouldn't recommend for the sake of familiarity to your guests. "Love Has Come" is the Matt Maher one, again... probably not the best choice (though I'm going to use it for MINE!) More common ones include the "Celtic Alleluia" (Walker), which has a couple selections for verses for weddings.

UNITY CANDLE (and other ceremonial pieces)
Totally your call here. It can be done in silence, which instrumental, or some sentimental piece. We can do a shortened version of "The Prayer" as sung by Josh Groban and Charlotte Church, or really just about ANYTHING.

OFFERTORY
This totally depends on what you're doing for offertory. 1) are you bringing up the gifts? Father can bypass this and just get to the Liturgy of the Eucharist without the procession. 2) Do you want people to sing, or reflect? Since the Offertory Hymn is not really part of the liturgy, we have plenty of leeway. The people are not required to sing, because it is not part of the liturgical rite. It's function is to accompany the otherwise silent actions of sacrifice and procession. It can 1) reflect on the gospel 2) anticipate the celebration of the Eucharist or 3) reflect on the message of the celebration (your WEDDING!) or 4) reflect on theme of the season (we're not really in one).

Marie's doing "Your Love Is Extravagant", I'm doing "The Prayer" here.

PARTS of the MASS
These are the "Holy, Holy", "Memorial Acclamation", "Great Amen" and "Lamb of God". The "Mass of Creation" is the most widely used, but we can really use any one you're comfortable with. I can give you a demonstration of a number of settings in person (among other songs!)

I would elect to have the "Our Father" spoken or possibly chanted - but I wouldn't use another setting unless like 80% of your guests are familiar with the same setting.

COMMUNION
Something that reflects on the Eucharistic Sacrifice. We are one Body, Make Us A Eucharistic People, I am the Bread of Life... another favorite? I've been doing this so long that I know a lot more than what we do at LIFE TEEN, so, if you have a favorite that's great. The best thing I can tell you is something common that everyone knows is best if you want people to sing!

RECESSIONAL
The big one. Marie's going with "Ode to Joy" with a trumpet soloist. Big organ pieces are the norm here, though an accomplished organist I cannot pretend to be. Good use of a soloist can help bolster the piece. Trumpets work well, violins as well.

ADDITIONAL PIECES
Generally leftover songs like our PRELUDE songs, stuff that didn't fit in but is generally upbeat and instrumental - background noise to keep the people generally talking louder than they would otherwise because they just witnessed your exciting ceremony and are discussing any implications by any slip-up or faux pax during your exchange of vows. :-)

ADDITIONAL RESOURCES
I have a couple of trumpet players at my disposal you could audition and possibly a violinist or cellist. Depending on the quantity of songs and quality of their musicianmanship, their fee should command at the absolute least of $50 per player to upwards of $125 or better (especially for those I only know professionally!)

Also, another thing I can advise you is to run our ideas past your parents as well, since they will want to participate and may have a better idea of the diversity of the musical spirit of your guests.

(c) 2007 by Art Leonard. All rights reserved.