Home | The Wedding March Around the World | Wedding Marches for Destination Weddings | Other Popular Wedding March Songs
Other Popular Wedding March Songs
Wedding marches are songs, hymns or music that proclaim the bride is on her way to the altar. Or another way to describe a wedding march is the music that is sung or played as the bride walks down the aisle. This is called the processional hymn or song. As the bride and groom leave the church, or directly after having been married, another piece of music is played. It is called the recessional. The music can be expressed in any form. Live musicians, instrumental pieces, songs with words, and even CDs. Whatever the bride and groom choose as their special music can be considered a wedding march.
Indeed, many modern brides are opting for Jonathan Cain's rendition of "Here Comes the Bride". But, his piece is called "Bridal March". As a two-time BMI winner, singer, recorder and song writer, Cain might be better known as a long-time member of the band Journey.
Plenty of wedding guests are entertained with music from Kenny G. Instrumental and beautiful, many of his pieces are used to announce the bride. Also, some women feel that the wedding is about them, and that is one reason they choose "Isn't She Lovely" by Stevie Wonder. Others have chosen Lionel Ritchie songs, as many of them speak about everlasting love. In fact, one of the songs is called "Endless Love", and is performed as a duet with Lionel and Diana Ross.
Two of the most popular songs next to The Wedding March is "Somewhere Over the Rainbow" by Israel Kamakawiwo'ole and "What a Wonderful World" by Louis Armstrong. Another song made popular by Elvis in Blue Hawaii is "The Hawaiian Wedding Song (Ke Kali Nei Au)". Many couples who hold weddings in Hawaii or other islands choose this melody.
Finally, the most popular and most traditional piece of music played as often as The Wedding March is "Canon in D major", written by Johann Pachelbel, the famous German Baroque composer. Having died in the early 1700s, Baroque music went out of style after his death. In fact, all but two of his pieces of music were lost. But in the 1970s, one of the two, "Canon", made a resurgence and is now equally as popular as a wedding march. Most likely, with none of the negative connotations of Wagner's or Mendelssohn's pieces, and also music that is said to be more enjoyable, Pachelbel's Canon is a tight rival to the The Wedding March.