Walking up the Aisle….
In most cases when the string quartet are booked for weddings, we are asked to play a well loved piece of music as the bride walks up the aisle. This can be anything from a traditional bridal processional piece such as the Wedding March or Pachelbel’s Canon, to an arrangement of a favourite song, a folk tune or a piece of music from a film or musical.
When choosing a piece to enter to, it’s always worth bearing in mind that the time taken for the bride (and possibly bridesmaids) to reach the registrar or minister is actually quite short, so the most ideal choices are pieces that are recognisable from the very beginning, or that can be rounded off quite easily within a few seconds of the bridal party arriving at the front. Sometimes couples request a favourite piece that has quite a long introduction and if we were to play that piece from the beginning, the main melody would not even have started by the time the bride reached the front and we’d be left with two options - either to finish it very early so that nobody actually gets to hear the main tune, or to continue playing - leaving the bride standing there for several minutes whilst we finish (potentially embarrassing and awkward for all concerned!).
For this reason, we usually recommend having any particularly meaningful pieces played during the signing of the register so that everyone will get to hear them in their entirety - without cutting anything short, or leaving people standing around waiting. It’s easy to see why pieces such as the Bridal Chorus (Here Comes the Bride) or other wedding marches are so frequently chosen as they are recognised instantly from the first few notes and we can round them off gently at the end of a phrase - without stopping suddenly and creating a jarring effect.
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