Wedding Ceremony Music Ideas

As a provider of quality musicians for wedding ceremonies in Sarasota, Tampa, Fort Myers, Naples, and Orlando, Florida, I often encounter questions from clients regarding the style of music and type of musical groups we offer here at David Turner Music. Currently, we offer the more traditional wedding music options like strings (solo violin, solo cello, string duos, string trios, and string quartets) and flute (I play flute with strings, in a solo setting, or even with background tracks). As a saxophonist, I can offer a more contemporary take on the wedding ceremony, playing pop music, jazz, etc., along with some more traditional songs as well.

All of this said, it’s very common to see classical strings performing popular music for weddings these days. It seems like simply a matter of finding good sheet music and/or arrangements of the latest pop songs, and letting the musicians do their thing, right? Well…not exactly.  This is where it becomes critical to find a company like David Turner Music to oversee this process. Sometimes, appropriate pop music for wedding string groups is difficult or impossible to find. So, instead, tweaking or rearranging piano music for the group, or even writing out new parts will often be required. We have the expertise to do this at minimal cost to you, and the end product will be much better than some of the “faking it” that occurs with our competitors (only one or two instruments in a group playing at a time, more than one instrument playing the same exact part, etc.). Additionally, when I’m playing flute on the job, my years of learning to improvise means that I can comfortably make up great inner parts on the spot when playing pop music as part of a string duo, trio, or quartet. Ultimately, you want to be sure that the pop music you’ve selected for your ceremony processional, recessional, etc. is played well, and actually recognized and enjoyed by your guests. We will do our best to make sure your ceremony is unique and memorable, by offering great sounding pop and classical wedding music!

I have many Florida brides and grooms ask me “what are other people doing for ceremonies?”  These days, there’s not really a simple answer to that question. Some clients still utilize traditional classical music for their wedding ceremony, some want a lot of popular music, and many choose to utilize both. It’s not uncommon to start a wedding processional here in central Florida with Pachelbel’s Canon in D, shift to a song by Ed Sheeran, play a Beatles song for the bride, and exit to Mendelssohn’s wedding march, for example. In the case of semi-traditional Jewish weddings, brides and grooms may take a similar approach, mixing classical, pop, and traditional Jewish selections for ceremony. It really comes down to personal preference…after all, it’s your big day!!

Saxophone is a unique and more contemporary instrument to use for wedding ceremonies, and provides a different kind of vibe, for certain. Most often, I’m asked to play pop music for my ceremonies in the Sarasota, Tampa, Naples, Fort Myers and Orlando area. However, some light classical music can certainly work as well. I like to utilize background tracks whenever possible, to provide the nice full sound of a larger band playing at the wedding ceremony. I’m familiar with a ton of pop music from the 1950s up until today, so special requests are usually no problem at all.

Another thing that I’ve had success with at my Florida weddings (with string groups, flute, and saxophone), it’s taking a song that may be too fast, too heavy (think rock and roll), etc., and changing it to fit the more reserved ambiance of a wedding ceremony. For example, I once played a nice slower version of Billy Joel’s classic “Uptown Girl” on flute, with guitar and violin, for a brides entrance. It was cool, because it still sounded familiar to the guests, but fit in nicely with the more traditional songs that preceded and followed.

Well, hopefully this answers some of the questions regarding wedding ceremony groups and current trends in ceremony music selection. And, don’t forget about our wedding FAQ section on the site for more general info about ceremonies, cocktail hours, and receptions. Until next time, thanks so much for tuning in to Sarasota’s David Turner Music blog…where we discuss all things related to top-notch musical entertainment for your wedding or event in the greater Sarasota, Naples, Fort Myers, Tampa and Orlando, FL areas!

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