3 Questions To Ask Yourself When Picking An Entrance Song. Only 3!
Here’s some sound advice to help steer you towards a great entrance song. And to steer you away from a less than awesome one. Let’s be realistic, everyone will be focusing on the couple, not the music. But it’s still the soundtrack to a very important moment. Let’s hope you have a top notch wedding singer, with approximately 116 5-star reviews on Google to do all this thinkin’ for you. But just in case you don’t…
How do you want to feel walking in?
How do you want this wedding to begin? Do you want a slow and graceful entrance, regal almost?(songs like Nella Fantasia/I Can’t Help Falling In Love With You/ A Thousand Years) Or do you want something light n’ breezy, fun almost!?(songs like Here Comes The Sun/First Day Of My Life/Friday I’m In Love)
The song will largely set the tone. Picture yourself walking in. Do you want that tear-jerker ballad that means a lot to you both as a couple? It’s a day of high emotions, why the heck not? Happy tears are beautiful!
But what if that sounds a bit much? You’re ‘gonna be scarlet’ walking down the aisle in this white frock with all your family gawking at you. The last thing you need is to greet your love in a mess of mascara & snot. You’ll want something to put smiles on faces and take the pressure off.
Do I need a separate song for the bridesmaids?
The bridesmaids walk in. MUCH faster than they did in rehearsal. The church seemed bigger last time. The song you picked for them has barely got halfway through a verse and the last bridesmaid is up front already.
It’d sound weird for the song to just fade out before the chorus so we’ve got another whole minute (which is an eternity in weddingsville) of everyone standing, twiddling their thumbs. The song finally ends and we’ve got another song for you. You walk in, greet your beloved and the priest. We’re all ready to begin….so do we just fade out that song or go through another thumb twiddling ordeal? In most cases you’re better served having one song played for bride and bridesmaids. In this case nothing needs to run like clockwork and the full weight/beauty of the music has time to work its magic. Lovely. However, sometimes a father walking his daughter up the aisle to that special song is incomparable. There’s always exceptions and the scene I’ve described is admittedly dramatic. Just imagine the whole thing and see what fits for you.
Is your song ‘right’ for a wedding entrance?
“Doug, will you play ‘She’ from Notting Hill? We love that film”
“Of course. BUT”….
One romantic line alone doesn’t make for a great wedding song.
There’s many examples but lets take Elvis Costello’s undoubtedly excellent rendition of ‘She’.
It might not encapsulate your personality the way you thought it did. Here’ she comes everyone….
She may be the face I can't forget The trace of pleasure or regret May be my treasure or the price I have to pay She may be the song that summer sings Maybe the chill that autumn brings
She may be the beauty or the beast May be the famine or the feast May turn each day into a Heaven or a HELL
She may be what? And it goes on like this! I’m happy she float’s Elvis’ boat but it doesn’t exactly say ‘keeper’ to me. Not sure I’d want her pacing up the aisle as I stood there helpless.
This is a long-winded way of saying take a minute or two to check the lyrics of your wedding songs, especially the entrance. Are they the right fit for the occasion?
Also see…
‘She’s Always A Woman To Me’ (Billy Joel) – Yes Billy, but apart from that she’s bad news!
‘This Year’s Love’ (David Gray) – “This year’s love had better last”. That doesn’t sound too hopeful. Is it a threat? Are you sure you want to marry this person? Why did he bang on the table as he said it?
If you’ve read this far you’ll know that I completely overthink this stuff. But that’s kinda my job. Most of the time couples pick great wedding music all by themselves. I just give a few pointers here and there, letting them know the elements at play. A lot of the best songs I’ve played were requests from couples that I never would have thought of.
So best of luck. Hopefully I’ll see you there ;)
