With your permission and planning, your family and your friends can perform at your wedding ceremony. Whether the person sings or plays an instrumental piece, the performance is their gift of love to you!
Hey, Christie!
I’m so excited! I’m getting married this fall at Ainsworth House & Gardens! You have the perfect venue for us!
Question: Could a family member or friend sing for us during our wedding ceremony? I thought we needed to hire a professional singer. What do you think?
–Molly, Musically Mystified in Molalla
Hey, Molly!
Congratulations! We look forward to hosting your perfect wedding here!
As long as there have been family members and friends invited to weddings, there have been songs sung by the loved ones during the wedding ceremony—with the permission of the couple getting married, of course!
That tradition found its way onto Broadway. In the Broadway musical and the movie, Fiddler on the Roof, the community sings “Sunrise, Sunset” at a wedding. Since then, many fathers have sung this song—often through happy tears—when their children married.
While family members and friends reading Bible passages or singing for the happy couple has been a feature of weddings for many years, that faded out for a while. We are now seeing an uptick in these heartfelt performances.
At a Washington, D.C. wedding, a choral group and the father of the groom sang “Ubi Caritas” (“Where True Charity Is, God as There”), a Christian hymn dates that back to the 8th. century.
A friend of ours returned from a California wedding during which the groom stepped to the side, joined his mariachi band, and serenaded his beloved by singing “Qué Bonito Amor.”
In their wedding program, the couple printed the lyrics in English and Spanish.
There was not a dry eye in the house when he finished!
One bride and groom sang The Beatles “When I’m 64” and “As Time Goes By” from the movie, Casablanca at their wedding.
Seeking to include their family and friends in the singing, they printed in their wedding program the lyrics to “Ode to Joy” and “Will the Circle Be Unbroken?”
All the guests lifted their voices to join in the joyful celebration!
If a family member or friend wishes to sing for you during your ceremony, work with them to find a song you two would welcome!
If you would like suggestions, let us know! We are happy to help you!
Your friend in the wedding business,
Christie Shyne
Images courtesy of Pixabay.com and Pexels.com.
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