Unique wedding processional songs and “Here Comes the Bride” alternatives

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#Alternative Wedding Ceremony Ideas & Examples#music#playlist#processional#wedding songs
Photo by Velodramatic
Photo by Velodramatic

My fiancee and I are going to be walking into the ceremony together and then meeting in the middle.

As you can imagine, the traditional “Here Comes the Bride” wedding processional song wouldn't really fit us too well.

That being said, does anyone know of any alternatives to that song?

I'm open to anything!

-Shell

Here we go! We've already rounded up AWESOME first dance songs and non-sappy father/daughter dance songs, now it's time to put our Offbeat Bride spin on wedding processional songs.

Here are our favorite “Here Comes the Bride” alternatives, ranging from the classic, the modern, and the totally nerdy (of course).

Classical alternatives

  • Satie's “Gymnopédie No. 1” (hear it)
  • Gustav Holst's “Jupiter, The Bringer Of Jollity” (hear it)
  • “Ode to Joy” from Beethoven's Symphony 9 (hear it)
  • Vivaldi's “Spring Allegro” (hear it)
  • Handel's Air From “Water Music” (hear it)
  • Mussorgsky's “Pictures At An Exhibition: Promenade” (hear it)

Variations on a theme of traditional

  • Queen's wedding march — I had to! (hear it)
  • Canon In D Remix by Ronald Jenkees (hear it)
  • Etta James' At Last (hear it)

Subtle (and sometimes nerdy) alternatives

  • “Concerning Hobbits” (hear it)
  • The Princess Bride's “Storybook Love” (hear it)
  • The Turret Opera from Portal 2 (hear it)
  • “The Shape of Things to Come” from Battlestar Galactica (hear it)
  • Sigur Rós' “Hoppípolla” (hear it)
  • “Romantic Flight” from the movie How to Train Your Dragon (hear it)
  • “Neville's Waltz” from Harry Potter and The Goblet of Fire (hear it)
  • The Skyrim theme (hear it)
  • The theme from Braveheart (hear it)
  • Triumphal March from Aida (hear it)
  • Game of Thrones theme (hear it)

Goth and metal

  • Amhran by Leaves' Eyes — an operatic metal band from Norway (hear it)
  • Apocalyptica's version of “Nothing Else Matters” (hear it)
  • Suite Gothique by Leon Boellmann (hear it)
  • Anything from Gothic Wedding Collection by Vitamin String Quartet (hear it)

Silly

  • The theme from James Bond (hear it)
  • The theme from the Pink Panther (hear it)
  • The theme from Mission impossible (hear it)
  • “A Cadence to Arms” by Dropkick Murphy (hear it)
  • The Jurassic Park theme (hear it)
  • The Throne Room/End Title song from Star Wars (hear it)
  • The Muppets' Somebody's Getting Married/He'll Make Me Happy (hear 'em)
  • Europe's “The Final Countdown” (hear it)

Pop and rock

  • Somewhere Over the Rainbow (hear it)
  • Colbie Caillat's “I Do” (hear it)
  • Adele's “One and only” (hear it)
  • The Beatles' “In My Life” (hear it)
  • Pearl Jam's “Just Breathe” (hear it)
  • Cat Power's version of “Sea of Love” (hear it)
  • Tesla's Love Song (hear it)

Indie

  • Thirteen by Elliot Smith (hear it)
  • Phone Call by Jon Brion from Eternal Sunshine (hear it)
  • Jeff Buckley's Hallelujah (hear it)
  • We Are Going To Be Friends by the White Stripes (hear it)

Want to see more music selections?

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Comments on Unique wedding processional songs and “Here Comes the Bride” alternatives

  2. For a more mysterious, pagan-y, gypsy feel we decided I would walk in during The Mystic’s Dream by Lorena McKennitt http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CIghrxxhQYs right as the music picks up. Before that will be the rest of the procession. I really wanted something that felt magical in a mysterious kind of way and had a bit of a gypsy feel to it. My fiance and I met at a Renaissance faire where I play a dancing gypsy and we’re having the ceremony on the faire grounds so it’s perfect!

  3. I will walk down the aisle to the instrumental from of Layla. Not only is it absolutely beautiful, but the movie montage in Goodfellas it it is just simply the best. 😀

  4. I’m planing on having Dance of the Swans from Swan Lake as the processional; beautiful, nerdy (if you like Princess Tutu or the original Dracula movie), gothy, and classical enough to not freak anyone out.

  5. “Merry-go-round of life” from the soundtrack of “Howl’s Moving Castle” is also a pretty good alternative.

  6. I’ve always wanted “Ride of the Valkyries” for my processional. And my man and I will be leaving to the lilting strains of “The Liberty Bell March” (aka The Monty Python Theme.)

  7. I found what I think is the perfect processional song for us/me 🙂 My FH drove a little remote control Wall-E in to our bedroom that was holding the ring box when he proposed and there is a gorgeous song in the movie when he and Eve are flying around in space- called Define Dancing by Thomas Newman. It’s a really light, airy and romantic instrumental song. 🙂 Now I just have to figure out if I want to share my choice with my FH or surprise him!

  8. I’m walking down the aisle to Flames by VAST. It’s a beautiful song and means something to both of us. I think we’re exiting to the cantina song from star wars. Both very different song choices but they’re very us 🙂

  10. I am having a classical guitarist play Here Comes the Sun by the Beatles. It makes my insides happy.

  11. I would love to have ” give me all your Lovin” By zz tops, but done on the harp like was on the episode of Bones when anglia and hoggins got married the first time.

  12. We’re walking in(down the beach) to “One Love” by Bob Marley sung acapella by a dear friend. I can’t wait!!

    • I’m walking down the Aisle to Such Great Heights too, only i’m walking to the Iron and Wine cover. Such a beautiful song in any version

  14. I walked up the aisle to “Pure Imagination” from Charlie and the Chocolate factory. My girls walked up to “Reverie” by Debussy. It was beautiful!

  15. I will be walking in to “Love song for a vampire” by Annie Lennox from the Dracula OST.Its a really haunting, beautiful piece of music that means a huge amount to us both, and the tempo is perfect.

  16. I have no idea on the processional or recessional but, This : http://petergroenwald.bandcamp.com/track/finally-found-you-feat-isaaca-byrd
    Is my perfect first dance song..
    its actually written and performed as a duet by a friend of mine and her husband. It is a beautiful song and sums up how I feel about my partner so well :).. I also love “Everyone Else but You” and “All I Want is You” as processionals or recessionals so those will probably be in my wedding somewhere!

  18. Ours will be the Final Fantasy theme (as heard in the end credits of FF 8).

  19. The song I am walking down the aisle to is “feels like home” by edwina hayes….amazing and beautiful song!

  21. Considering “Here Comes the Bride” is played when one of the characters from Midsummer runs off with her lover rather than getting married, it is quite the odd choice for a wedding.

    DF and I are getting married in the Catholic Church, so we have only specific songs we can use (which I am totally OK with since we are both VERY traditional when it comes to Mass), so we are saving up all our fun crazy songs for the reception.

    VSQ is rapidly becoming our choice for “cocktail hour”.

  22. Oh, I am super jealous of all of your awesome and unique choices! Some of which I had the balls to use, some of which are awesome but just not right for us.

    Myself and the wedding party will be walking in to “Yellow” by Coldplay. Funny thing is, I am TOTALLY not a Coldplay gal AT ALL. But, I remember when I was a young girl and this song first came out. It felt so magical and theatrical to me, and at the time (in my little girl head) I thought it was the most beautiful love song I had ever heard. However, we will be editing out the verse about “for you I bleed myself dry”…

    Fiance and I will walk out to “And Then He Kissed Me” by The Crystals. We don’t really have “a song” but if we had to pick one, this would be it. We thought it would be perfect to use as a wedding song and for our first kiss as husband and wife!

    When my fiance and I are “announced” at the reception, we will be walking in to “Can’t Get Enough Of You Baby” by Smash Mouth. I’m super excited for this! 🙂

    • You could use the Vitamin String Quartet version of Yellow. It is a beautiful version and you wouldn’t have to worry about that line.

      We’ll be walking into the reception to “Danger! High Voltage!” by Electric Six. 🙂

  23. A Question – Old 97’s.
    “Someday somebody’s gonna ask you
    A question that you should say yes to –
    Once in your life”

  24. I had my big brother play Guns & Roses’ November Rain on the piano for me.

  25. I mentioned in a reply to another comment that I’m probably walking down the aisle to Ingrid Michaelson’s version of “Can’t Help Falling in Love” or Vitamin String Quartet’s version of Stolen. My bridesmaids are walking down to Vitamin String Quartet’s version of “Sunshower” by Chris Cornell. We haven’t decided on what me and my FH will be walking back down to…but I would really like it to be “This Will Be Our Year” by the Zombies. 🙂

  26. I kind of want the main theme from Howl’s Moving Castle (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=owddukdxFv4) for the processional and Arriety’s Song (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=scUyXaWMyAk) for when we walk back out together. We’re huge Miyazaki fans and Arriety’s Song is just so cheerful and triumphant. Seems totally right for “Hey guise look we’re married now WHOO!”

    Plus Howl’s Moving Castle will always be super special to me because my dear heard me listening to it at work a billion times and decided to learn it on the piano so he could play it for me. Much swooning occurred.

  27. Thank you so much for this post! It helped me to pick a piece that was appropriate but fun for my wedding!! and Bonus I got so many way to go’s regarding Concerning Hobbits!!

  28. I’m not 100% yet, but I’m thinking of having the bridal party come in to Vitamin String Quartet’s version of Bruno Mars “Just the Way you Are” (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MpqJjasrD7I)

    And I really want to walk in to the version of “I wanna Hold Your Hand” from the movie Across the Universe (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F7WXRNQT9ko) and I want to have my friend’s daughter sing it!

    The music has definitely been the most fun part of wedding planning for me.

  30. HA – we had Apocalyptica’s version of Nothing Else Matters. Those who ‘got it’ had huge grins on their faces when I got to the top of the aisle and I got comments about it for months after. Our wedding was christian and a lot of our family and guests were quite conservative so it was my (possibly slightly subversive) nod to my love of heavy music. My husband prefers laid-back surfy music and really doesn’t like heavy music, but he found it and suggested it. Funnily enough, he didn’t know it was a Metallica cover until I told him. We had Florence and the Machine playing as the boys entered and then while they were waiting for me. I picked Train’s ‘Marry Me’ for signing the registry (my husband owns a cafe) and my husband picked the recessional, but I don’t remember what it was!

  31. I’m thinking about walking to Colbie Caillat’s “I do”.

    I also love “I Love you So” by Justin Klump. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ivu4Kd9FrYg

    But I’m not sure what is the best place to use it. I feel like its too slow to use as a recessional after entering to “I do”.

  32. In my friend’s wedding she walked down the isle to “You Are My Sunshine”. Her grandmother has dementia and it was her favorite song. She wanted to use it to include her grandmother even if she wasn’t there mentally. It was so touching when it started to play her grandmother turned around and looked right at her and smiled really big. I’m about to bawl just thinking about it.

  33. OH MY GOODNESS How could I have forgotten about Final Fantasy music?? I’ll discuss this with my fiancé TONIGHT, but it’s so US! Thank you so much for the ideas, all! Most anything from FF VI sounds lovely, but I’ve always been partial to http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sT9ReWDV0IU and http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YdNPIw6SEqE&list=PL866653D8AD00A745 (even though I know it’s sad, it’s still just so freakin’ beautiful).

    Good grief, the lights are on now-between Zelda, FF, Metroid, Mario…we can share our childhoods and geekiness! What’s more, our families spent many hours being exposed to this music too (albeit largely subliminally), so maybe it will make them feel comfortable and nostalgic as well!

    This is all getting to be so much more exciting!

  35. My husband and I both walked in with our parents to Queen’s “Somebody to Love,” as sung by one of my oldest friends. It was one of my very favorite parts of our wedding!

  36. I would love us to walk out together to Forever by the Dropkick Murphys. For the processional, if I could find a string quartet to arrange Together In Electric Dreams I would die a happy girl.
    Paper Moon by Nat King Cole is a beautiful song too, not sure where to put it but will think of something 😉

  37. Our processional song was “Ready, Able” by Grizzly Bear. The tempo was perfect, and the timing lined up really well—we had 5 bridesmaids/groomsmen, so the swell (at 1:53) coincided with me and my dad starting down the aisle. I thought it would have been awkward to have a different song play while I was walking, but this was perfect.
    It was an unusual choice, but I STILL get complements from my friends and family who felt like it set the mood really well. Very ethereal and serious, but gentle and graceful.

  39. I’m not sure what our processional will be yet, but our recessional is “Hoppipolla” by Sigur Ros. Our first dance will be either the Iron & Wine cover of “Such Great Heights”, or “Here Comes the Sun Again” by M. Ward (he proposed to me while playing the M. Ward song).

  40. My high school boyfriend’s very cool older sister walked her processional to Punk Rock Girl from the Dead Milkmen and recessional to Give it Away by The Red Hot Chili Peppers! She had the best pink hair to go!

  41. The Skyrim theme? FUCK YEAH. Too bad my groom nixed it 🙁 He also said no to the Game of Thrones theme. 🙁 🙁 🙁 🙁 🙁

    He just finally came around to my entrance song, which is Chongthenomad’s “When Avatars Fall in Love.” It’s a mashuup of the Kataang theme from Avatar: The Last Airbender and the Makorra theme from The Legend of Korra. http://chongthenomad.tumblr.com/post/22407609276/when-avatars-fall-in-love-kataang-makorra-theme

    There will be tearbending at the wedding anyway, might as well have an ATLA/LOK reference. We’re also thinking about a Tobuscus reference, because we love watching his videos together.

  42. My first wedding, I walked down to “Longer” by Dan Fogelberg (it was 1983, and the song was perfect, since I had known my groom since the age of 5). But now, after a long marriage and messy divorce, I’m planning on “The Broken Road” by Rascal Flatts. The lyrics are perfect for me and my sweetie.

  43. Some ideas:
    Genevieve – Jon & Vangelis
    Plainsong – The Cure
    Venus – Air
    Divine – Devin Townsend
    Feather – Devin Townsend
    God only knows – Beach Boys
    The nurse who loved me – A perfect circle
    You’re so cool – Hans Zimmer
    Cupid de Locke – Smashing pumpkins
    Green – Dandy Warhols
    Two weeks – strapping young lad

    Just some ideas…

  45. I am having Moon River from my all time favourite Breakfast at Tiffanys. If anything can make you feel elegant, its anything associated to Audrey!
    x

  46. Sorry for all the comments! I was having trouble figuring out how to embed it. Thanks for continuing to read!

  48. “Music of the Night” from Phantom of the Opera…haunting but beautiful

  49. I know it sounds weird but im walking down the aisle to “Long time ago” From the pans labrynth soundtrack… i love that song 😀

  50. I’m glad I found this thread. My wedding isn’t for quite some time, but I’m hand-picking all of the music with the exception of the dancing music (my tastes are slower/softer), so I wanted to start scheming.

    For awhile, I was set on Flightless Bird American Mouth by Iron and Wine. I love, love, love it. It wasn’t until I looked it up on Youtube for FH that I realized it’s the song used in the wedding scene in Twilight. :-$ Nothing wrong with that… but it leaves me second guessing.

    An alternative was going to be Ennio Morricone’s “Playing Love” from the soundtrack of Legend of 1900. It’s piano, but more modern.

    For the recessional, I’m considering “Boy With a Coin” by Iron and Wine (not very romantic, but perfect for a summer outdoor wedding). Or “June Hymn” by the Decemberists.

    For our main entrance to the reception, we’re hoping for The Final Countdown (we’re huge Arrested Development fans).

    For our first dance, I like Jason Mraz & Colbie Caillat’s “Lucky”

    For our send-off: The Rainbow Connection.

  53. I am going to walk down to “Lego House” by Ed Sheeran (we know it’s a break up song, but the lyrics mean more to us!) and we are walking(dancing!!) away to “Love on Top” by Beyonce….we can’t help but start dancing no matter what when that song comes on!

  54. We’re getting married at home and the “aisle” is pretty short, but, it’s just enough time to walk into the opening of “Wake Up” by Arcade Fire. It’s got such an epic drop!

  55. The songs that we have picked for ours is:
    Me walking down the isle, “Your Hand In Mine (With Violins)” by Explosions in the Sky
    We are lighting the unity candle and giving our mothers a gift/hugging parents to “Forever” by Ben Harper
    Our processional “Hard to Concentrate” by Red Hot Chili Peppers
    Our first dance “Into the Mystic” by Van Morrison. He is sweet enough to take dance lessons with me so that we can dance like we are not in the 7th grade.
    It took a lot of bargaining and a mean game of “Rock, Paper, Scissors, Spock” but I won!
    I hope this helps any of you lovely ladies!

  56. My very close cousin will be playing acoustically “Stand By Me”. The first time my fiancée heard it he got really choked up!

  58. I asked my fiancé to pick the song he wants me to walk down the aisle to and he chose “here comes my girl” by Tom petty and the heartbreakers. Which is actually perfect because we’re gonna have his nephews carry a banner down the aisle that says “uncle Rudy, here comes your girl” right before I walk down. And since we’re having an Up themed wedding, our recessional is gonna be “married life” from the Up soundtrack. 🙂 but I also considered walking down to “love you til the end” by the Pogues. It’s on the P.S. I love you soundtrack and it’s such a beautiful song.

  59. My fella doesn’t know yet, but I’m going to be coming don the aisle to join the joyride..I know its fast, so I may yet only have the first blast, but hopefully…this is it: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u5BwpFQ9j5g

    To come back down the aisle together, we’re having Bring Me Sunshine by Morecambe and Wize…we’re having our reception in Morecambe and both love the song so we had to fit it in somewhere! Here it is: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZedhoqYdfTM

    I’d love to work in concerning hobbits, so maybe for the bridesmaids….?

  61. I walked down the aisle to an acoustic version of “Lovely Day” by Bill Withers (not by these musicians but it sounded similar to this: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ulc1N05UmsI )
    Our recessional was an acoustic-but-spirited version of “Signed, Sealed and Delivered, I’m Yours” by Stevie Wonder.

  62. Our processional song is “Being In Love” by Songs:Ohia. Our entire wedding party, including both of the brides, will be walking in to this song. I’m the one in the big poofy dress, so I’m walking in last, at which point the song repeats, “We are proof that the heart is a risky fuel to burn,” over and over again.

  63. I have 11 different ethnicities in my background, and I want to honor them all in some way during my wedding. I’m a small part Blackfoot Native American (not sure which tribe within the current confederation), so while I was looking into Blackfoot-related things I found a great CD by Blackfoot artists that are a mix of very traditional songs, more contemporary but tradition-inspired songs, and instrumental New Age-y pieces. One of those pieces, “Naaji”, was so striking and dramatic and felt like a herald to something, so we decided to use it as our processional:

    http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000TDFDXM/ref=dm_dp_trk14?ie=UTF8&qid=1372783937&sr=8-3

    For our recessional, both of us are huge fans of the Rurouni Kenshin franchise, and I have always thought “Kenshin’s Theme” would be a great pro- or recessional. Fiancee agreed, so we are using it: http://youtu.be/OCpoO5MyDtI

  64. My fiancé’s and my first dance is “Thank You For Loving Me” by Bon Jovi… he’s a HUGE fan and we both love that song.

    He’s also walking down the aisle to VSQ’s version of “Wanted Dead or Alive.” If it makes him happy… 😛

    I haven’t decided what I want to walk to yet. I’m a huge Jason Mraz fan and I was thinking about “I’m Yours” but I thought it was a bit too fast. I also wanted “I Won’t Give Up” but then my stepsister used it at her wedding. Blah.

    I was also thinking about “Falling Slowly” from Once, “Rainbow Connection,” or the love theme from Princess Bride (because my fiancé bought be the sword of the Dread Pirate Roberts for my birthday!).

  65. Our wedding was at sunset on the beach, and I walked down the aisle to the instrumental version of “Crimson & Clover” by Tommy James and The Shondells. It made the moment soo surreal- the song still gives me chills!

  67. I am going to be walking down the aisle to the Skyrim theme song! I love the theatrical aspect to it! And, not to mention, FH and I are HUGE Skyrim fans! The whole wedding is going to be loosely based on the game!

    Great list of tracks!

  68. Don’t know if anyone has mentioned this group (haven’t read through ALL of the comments yet but definitely a lot of them), but a friend turned me on to the group “Vitamin String Quartet”. They do some great versions of contemporary songs. One night we stayed up Youtubing as much of their stuff as we could find and when he played their version of “Wonderful Tonight” I cried and said “That’s it. That’s the song I want to walk down the aisle to.” Check them out if you are looking for something classical but a bit different. They have covers of almost anyone you can think of. Metallica, Adele, etc.

  69. The Bubble song from Labyrinth, by David Bowie, aka “As the World Falls Down”. 🙂

  70. I was just at a wedding where they used Jason mraz’s I won’t give up. It was really beautiful. It had me tearing up!

  71. I walked down the aisle to “I want to hold your hand” by The Beatles. It was perfect for us.

  72. My husband and I walked down the aisle together, arm in arm, while our guests played Here Comes the Bride on plastic kazoos friends handed out before the procession. It was pretty awesome. Only con? It’s hard not to laugh as people make really funny faces when playing the kazoo.

  73. I’m getting married in 3 weeks(!) and we just chose our ceremony music, which will be played by our friend’s string quartet. I’m walking down the aisle to “Do You Realize??” by The Flaming Lips, and I couldn’t be more excited about it!

  74. We’re having a medieval themed wedding, with extreme artistic license. Our procession is “The Wedding Gift” by Rawlins Cross, it’s beautiful! Then I’m walking down the aisle to Storybook Book Love from Princess Bride. We’re using the song “sleeping at last” from Twilight for our first dance. The movies are crap, but dammit they have great soundtracks!!

  75. We walked down the aisle to the Throne Room theme from Star Wars and I’m so stoked to see it listed (makes me feel a little less insane XD) It was a super big hit – several people commented about it afterwards (and we kept it a surprise until the rehearsal so there were many high-fives to be had when our families first heard it), and I think it really set the tone for our wedding as “only so serious” – but slightly fun and silly and not a big stuffy affair. I totally wanted to do the Jaws theme but Hubby nixed that as being *too* over the top. In retrospect, I think the Throne Room theme was a good choice – just silly and recognizable enough to be fun and tip a hat to our geeky/sci-fi side, but fitting enough that our more traditional and older guests wouldn’t suffer from spontaneous implosion.

  77. I walked down the aisle to Never Forget by Martin O’Donnell & Michael Salvatori from the Halo 3 soundtrack. Hear it here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jZLRqZPorb0
    Not only was it a personal nerdy reference because we’re both gamers who love Halo, but it is a stunningly beautiful song. Another thing that made it perfect for us was that the “aisle” was a long walk and the closer I got to everyone the more beautiful the song got. When I arrived at the alter, we specifically instructed them to let the song play all the way to the end so we could hear the whole song, but most importantly so that we could slow down and enjoy that magical moment without immediately hopping into the ceremony. We just listened to the music, held hands and looked at each other. We really took in the moment. It was one of the most beautiful moments of my life.

  78. Thought I’d share the rest of our music selections for the wedding:
    Bridal Party Processional: “There for You” (Vitamin String Quartet cover of Flyleaf’s song)
    Bride’s Processional: “Never There” on Halo 3 Soundtrack – http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jZLRqZPorb0
    Recessional: Punk version of “Somewhere Over the Rainbow” – http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CM_F83qdB4U
    First Dance: “Always” by Zug Izland – http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Sbl17upni0k
    Father & Daughter Dance: “Learning to Fly” by Pink Floyd – http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eCB_INs2E24
    Mother & Son Dance: “Simple Man” by Shinedown – http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rgFQ6WmxdMs (song chosen by mother of the groom)

  79. I walked down the aisle to the opening of Transiberian Orchestra’s Christmas Canon. When the second guitar comes in with the first is when we burst through the doors and walked down the aisle. It was amazing.

  80. We did “Con Te Partiro”. A song made famous by Andrea Bocelli. Some say it’s translated as “Time to say Goodbye” but the Italian is “With you, I leave.” The Italian translation is mainly about following this person to ends of the earth and saying good bye to all the old things and time gone by and just being with that person where ever they are. I love this and the song is SO beautiful. My husband and I were both musicians so we hired a live trio of acoustic guitar, violin and cello. It was a-maz-ing. We did “Edelweiss” during the ceremony and the recessional was “I’ve got the world on a string.” Out of everything in the wedding, the ceremony music was one of my favorite moments.
    http://youtu.be/FTWmcy_nric

  81. Me and SO are still in pre-planning (hasn’t asked, but know it’s coming) and we’ve talked about precessional & first dance songs. We are still in the process of determining final songs. As cheesy as it might sound, the band fun. has always had a special place in our relationship. We started dating when the song “We Are Young” was popular and it was the first song we bonded over. We’ve seen them live together, and for us the lyrics just say “happy”.
    So – I’ve always loved the instrumental parts of their acoustic version of “Take Your Time (coming home)” and edited them myself. https://soundcloud.com/carreyasaurus/take-your-time-coming-home After reading a couple ideas about using the Vitamin String Quartet, I couldn’t help but look at the song “Carry On.” So, that’s a condender for a processional.
    FH decided on his own that our first dance would be to their song “The Gambler” because its all about spending ones life with their special someone despite anything that comes your way. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rT-5NY83OYI

    To limit the number of fun. songs we have in the list, I’ve considered using this: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jleYj7O2Ghc “Clair de Lune (Instrumental)” by Flight Facilities. Of course, it’s all still a work in progress!

  82. My ego wouldn’t let me post it before the wedding, but Last of the Wilds by Nightwish ( http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GwES9M0isVM [throw into the metal category]) was my processional, played on violin by one of my dearest friends. I bounced up the aisle, and it just really suited how happy I was PERFECTLY. Of course, the unforeseen side effect of that is that it makes me cry now, but they’re happy tears! It just makes my day when this comes on during my drive to work.

  85. We’re still in the process of finalizing songs. A classical guitarist is playing our music and this is what we have thus far:

    Music while guests are being seated:

    Nothing Else Matters, Metallica – http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XuEmEILQwS8&list=UU-kutvv9X61IOkaq35J83mA
    Your Song, Elton John – http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w4DA4OTAH-k
    Here Comes The Sun – http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2WRObT9reqY

    Wedding Party Processional:
    Story Book Love, Princess Bride Theme – http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G4njxT5idas

    My Processional:
    Love Song (Intro), Tesla – http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CguZ2eKj_hA
    OR
    I Can’t Help Falling In Love, Elvis Presley – http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XTDERjt2Dl4&list=UU-kutvv9X61IOkaq35J83mA

    Recessional:
    James Bond Theme – http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kWW_vstJcME
    OR
    You’re My Best Friend, Queen – http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=riEtzmOU8dY

  86. My husband and I are big Burton fans and chose Victors Piano solo to have me walk down the aisle . We wanted our pastors daughter to do it in cello but we having a hard time finding the sheet music. Our co-worker paid for a musician to transcribe it from piano to cello. I don’t have it on line but this guitar is the closest we had found http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FYt58avYw74

  87. I walked down the aisle to “Storybook Love” and as we left the Chapel we played “Coming Home” both are by Mark Knopfler and are beautiful instrumentals, though you can get a version of “Storybook Love” with the lyrics

  88. I walked in to “England” by The National – which is beautiful, but about a band being frustrated with their record label, nothing romantic at all! No one picked up on that though because everyone was still tearful and we said it was a way to pay homage to our ancestry since both of our grandmothers were war brides from England 🙂

  89. I squeed when I saw Holst on this list, but having actually played “Jupiter” I would say do the chorale only as the whole piece is nearly 8 minutes long (unless you have a really long aisle or will have everyone come in to the same song). If you’re going to go with Holst (which would still be awesome), Fugue a la Gigue or the third movement from Second Suite in F are a bit more manageable timewise. Myself, I chose “Exhilaration” from Southern Harmony by Donald Grantham for the processional, although I briefly entertained using “EVE” from the Wall-E soundtrack.

  90. In our original ceremony (which got postponed), we were going to walk the couple of miles to the ceremony site together, so we had a big old playlist for everyone while thy waited. But weird me, I wanted this song to be queued up perfectly for when it was arrival time (no aisle) (which even then I realized was preeettttty unlikely). But there’s something about it that really suits us, and that seems dramatic and edgy enough for the likes of us. Very almost witch house. Maybe freak out our grandmas.

  91. I’m a musicologist, and one of my areas of study is Wagner. If you know the context of the Bridal Chorus within Lohengrin, it’s much less charming. In the opera, it is a vocal piece, sung by the chorus after the wedding ceremony, as they guide the bride, Elsa, to the bridal chamber. The marriage falls apart almost immediately, because Elsa feels she should know her husband’s name, and he leaves her when she asks him.

    • I know all this, but I love the music and the lyrics of the chorus…so I’m willing to forgive the rest of act 3, haha. Besides, most operas (and in Wagner’s case, music dramas) have sad endings. I love Wagner’s music so much (his works and German Romantic opera in general have helped get me through some very tough times–I think they have a unique emotional quality I just haven’t experienced elsewhere), it would be hard to see my wedding day not featuring it.
      …also, I know my groom’s name, so hopefully that helps 😉

  93. I am so excited to walk down the aisle to “Rock Your Soul” by Elisa. I LOVE the way the music swells in the chorus. Our bridal party will walk from the beginning of the song, and I’ll come in at 3:52 (you know, approximately :D)

  94. So I’m not great with the names of processional/recessional etc. But I had a friend that played “Final Countdown” during the bridal parties’ entrance. I thought that was pretty clever/awesome!

  95. I love these–although as big Wagnerian Opera fangirl planning a “Lohengrin” inspired wedding, I hope to walk down the aisle to the full Bridal Chorus from act III (aka where the “Here comes the bride” tune comes from) sung by a full choir. So the traditional song..but maybe a non-traditional execution of it? I’m still in the planning phases, but music is such a huge deal to me (probably will be like, half my budget lol). It makes me happy to hear how others showed their personalities through the processionals they chose, as well as all the suggestions related to music I’ve read so far on Offbeat Bride. I’m trying to absorb as much about music-centered weddings (not just opera, but all sorts) as possible to get more ideas and inspiration. 🙂 <3

  96. For our entrance my husband and I actually used “That Dress Looks Nice On You” by Sufjan Stevens

    http://youtu.be/eTYiz88GmQo

    And for our after ceremony exit we used “The Throne Room” from Star Wars: A New Hope

  98. As a massive nerd, I have always wanted to walk down the aisle to the instrumental version of Ichiban no Takaramono (translation “My Most Precious Treasure”) from Angel Beats.
    It’s so gorgeous, and since it plays during the show’s proposal scene, it’s fitting.

  99. Here bride and groom enter together , we did it on Marry you by Bruno Mars…It’s totally not offbeat, lol, but I just love that song!

    Usually they play Mendelson’s wedding march.

  100. We’re both pretty geeky, and I hate the traditional wedding march. I’ve elected to use the theme from Star Trek: The Next Generation. I figure we are “boldly going” forward with a new step, and it suits me much better.

  101. I will be walking down the aisle to vampire weekends “step”. Actually, the whole group will be. I won’t go into the timing details. Lol.

  102. A few that I’m consider at the moment:

    “A Thousand Years,” The Piano Guys (cover of Christina Perri)

    “Falling Slowly,” Ben Martin (cover of Glen Hansard and Marketa Irglova)

    “Concerning Hobbits,” Fellowship of the Ring Soundtrack

    “Romantic Flight,” How to Train Your Dragon Score

    “Sherwood,” Heather Dale (May be a bit interesting, as Heather Dale will be one of our guests! Squee!)

    “Air,” from “Water Music,” George Frideric Handel

  103. I want The Flower Duet from Lakme, my fiancée wants the theme from Brideshead Revisited, and we both want Davy Jones and Tia Dalma’s theme from the Pirates of the Carribean films, lol. We’re walking in together, because we decided nobody has the right to give me to her, nor her to me. I don’t know which piece we’ll walk in to yet, but we need at least 20 minutes of music while guests are seated or whatever, so I’m sure we’ll get to use it all!

  104. Our plans are:
    Processional – Pazu’s Fanfare (Laputa: Castle in the Sky) – fortunately, I have a short aisle!
    Signing the Register – no idea, possibly some ocarina music or Alicia Keys ‘Not Even the King’
    Recessional – Krobeiniki (otherwise known as the Tetris theme), London Symphony Orchestra version

    (I have no idea of how to put links/videos into comments, sorry)

  105. We used 2 of these for our wedding! I walked down the aisle to Storybook Love from The Princess Bride, and our recessional was The Throne Room from Star Wars! The looks on people’s faces were absolutely amazing. What a great list!

  106. For our processional, my dad (who plays piano) recorded a version of the Jurassic Park theme ahead of time so he could walk down the aisle with me (in lieu of a father/daughter dance, which neither of us were into). We walked out to Man with a Machine Gun from Final Fantasy (which was selected by the husband). It was awesome and fit our weird, goofy vibe that we emanate.

  107. We used the instrumental versions of “Your Song” (after the storm scene) from Moulin Rouge as pre-walk and moved to the other version from the extended soundtrack for my walk we timed it so the violin crescendo was as I took my husband’s arm and we went up the stairs together. I still cry when I hear those songs.

  108. Processional: Cara Mia from Portal 2 (a capella version)
    During vows: Storybook Love from Princess bride (instrumental version)
    Recessional: Concerning Hobbits from LOTR

  109. You should check out Evermore, I Do by Summertime’s End – beautiful wedding song!

    Chorus:
    So see these hands, because they never held any others.
    And feel this heart, because it never belonged to another.
    And hear these words, because I’ve never said anything so true.
    I vow that I will love you now, so evermore, I do.

  110. Ashton Lane’s (Primrose Hill) does have that outdoor cinematic wedding song vibe. Set, near the famous Abby Road Studio and the most romantic place of all, 2 hearts in love.

  111. Hi Ashton Lane ‘s wedding/love song (Primrose Hill) does have that cinematic, stark outdoor vibe that i love, and nobody is using it. It was written near the famous Abbey Road and for lovers everywhere.
    Thanks!

  112. My fiancee wants to walk in to Crazy Train, but we can’t quite figure out how to have that work (will have to see if Vitamin String Quartet has covered it maybe?). We’re not doing a wedding party per se, just flower girls (his niece, my daughter), ring bearer (my daughter) and my oldest daughter is walking me in. I’m thinking of Iz’s version of Over the Rainbow/What a wonderful world, but not sure. Also (and these are totally not offbeat), All of Me https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=450p7goxZqg or maybe Meghan Trainor Marry Me https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AEEoc6SYwE8 (which I find a little strange given that the lyrics talk about not needing a lavish wedding and then of course hers was beautiful, but completely over the top… of course, if I made as much as she does, I’d likely be over the top too… :-D)

    • Ha! 2 weeks out from the wedding and he’s still coming in to Ozzy, but he’s coming in to a recording made by his daughter on the flute, so not quite as in your face perhaps? Our wedding will be smallish (50) and the isle short, so I’m not sure how it will all go. His daughter is walking in to Fireflies by Owl City (her choice). Flowergirls and ring bearer will come in to “Happy” by Pharrell Williams (was thinking of having the ring bearer come in to the Minions version of Uptown Funk, but she nixed that!) and then I’m coming in (escorted by my eldest daughter) to “I choose you” by Sara Bareilles (was going to come in to You see the light in me” by Ingrid Michaelson & Greg Laswell, but our DJ couldn’t find a clear enough recording since they never recorded it in a studio). We’ll likely recess to All of Me by John Legend, but again, isle is so short that I’m not sure because we’re also thinking of having that be our first dance song.

      My eldest is still a bit put out that we aren’t coming in to the Final Countdown, but I decided that I’d rather have something that I’d smile at every time I heard it (I chose you by Sara totally fits), and I LOVE that her official video for the song features both a straight and a lesbian couple.

      My musical selections were completely from the comments section, so thanks y’all! And now I’ve pretty much become a complete fangirl for Sara Bareilles and have tickets for her show near me in October!

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