Any musical program needs organization, and wedding music programs are no exception. This set of harp wedding music was used in a wedding ceremony in 2019. I have excluded the other 25 minutes of prelude music, which were personal to the bride and groom. Of the remaining music, two are original compositions and four are most definitely not.
This program was influenced by the chosen reception music. Using the variations of the same music for the ceremony and reception helps tie a day together as much as similar themes or colours.
Prelude: Panis Angelicus has many settings, but this is an arrangement for harp is based on the well-known version composed by César Franck.
Seating of the Family: Haste to the Wedding is a traditional Irish/Scottish jig and was simply played as such. Start the wedding on a joyous note and all to contrast with the previous solemnity.
Processional: Our Story Begins Now, which begins as a contemplative, calm thing, is by Sophie Sauveterre. A slower piece to introduce the wedding party after the spectacle of excited relatives hurrying to the event. Besides, who would want to walk at jig-pace in a ballgown?!
Vows: Penelope’s Song is by Loreena McKennitt, a still-living musician in Canada. This harp arrangement was played quietly as the vows were spoken. The version sung by Loreena McKennitt was used for the first dance at the reception. This arrangement is not the official Quinlan Road version, which you can purchase the sheet music for here.
Signing of the Registry: Where We Shall Sit Together is a more traditional-seeming bit of wedding music by Sophie Sauveterre. It says, “achievement”— but not too grandiosely.
Recessional: Bryllupsdag på Troldhaugen, also known as Wedding Day at Troldhaugen, was composed by Edvard Grieg. Presumably, this was as he sat at Troldhaugen reminiscing about his 25th wedding anniversary. This harp version was used for the farewell to the ceremony and a piano version was used for the couple’s entrance to the reception. I do not believe they used the version played by Grieg himself for the reception, because Grieg plays very fast in a recording that is over 100 years old.
Excepting Penelope’s Song, if you are interested in using this existing harp wedding music for your project for free, this music is available to you under the Creative Commons license, where your only obligation is to credit me for the music. For a standard license where attribution is not desired or is otherwise impossible, it will be $25 per song and you will need to message me. To commission new original music, please send a message.