Top Traditional Wedding Prelude Music

Before we talk specifically about wedding prelude music, let’s imagine your wedding for a moment........

It’s about 20 to 30 minutes before your processional begins, and you and your bridal party are excitedly making your final preparations. Your wedding guests will be arriving at any moment, so your wedding prelude music starts now!

This music serves more than one purpose:

• It sets the mood and tone for the entire wedding itself.

• It affords you the opportunity to share music–be it vocal or instrumental--that holds special meaning for you.

• It provides a pleasant atmosphere for your guests while they await your arrival. (As a bonus, it can be helpful in holding down the noise factor of your guests! They can get pretty chatty!)

So let’s get down to the “nitty-gritty” of planning your wedding prelude music.

It is generally 15 to 30 minutes long. How long depends on such things as your personal preference, the wedding size, and the degree of formality.

Tip: As a rough guideline, allow 3 to 3 ˝ minutes per piece of music. Obviously then, the length of your wedding prelude music and the length of each song will determine how many songs are performed. Using this rule of thumb will quickly give you an approximate idea of how many songs will be played during your prelude.

Tip: Just because a song may be listed as wedding prelude music does not mean that it can't instead be used as a processional, recessional, or even as special music within the wedding ceremony itself. Many pieces are quite interchangeable in that regard, so as long as it is okay with the officiant, you have quite a bit of flexibility!

The list below is of traditional wedding prelude music. If you're thinking contemporary instead, go to Contemporary Wedding Prelude Music.

Please note: A CD link will take you directly to the CD--–not to the song itself. After you arrive at the CD, just go to the disc and song number (or just the song # if there is just one disc to the CD) provided next to the song title, then click on the song and..................voila!

TRADITIONAL PRELUDE MUSIC

• A Time For Us (Love Theme from Romeo & Juliet)
• Air (from Water Music--Handel)
• Air On A G String (Bach)
  • Please note: If you'd like to hear a sample of this song played on the piano, go to The Gift of Love: Wedding Piano---disc 1, song #7
• Arabesque No. 1 (Debussy)
• Arioso (Bach)
• Ave Maria (Bach/Gounod)---disc 2, song #15
• Ave Maria (Schubert)
• Be Thou With Me (aka Bist du Bei Mir) (Bach)---disc 2, song #11
• Brandenburg Concerto No. 4: Allegro (Bach)
• Canon In D (Pachelbel)
• Clair De Lune (Debussy)
• Edelweiss---song #15
• From This Moment On
• Fur Elise (Beethoven)
• Greensleeves---song #32
• Gymnopedie No. 1 (Satie)
• Hallelujah Chorus (Handel)---song #12
• Hawaiian Wedding Song
• Hornpipe (Allegro Maestoso from Water Music) (Handel)---song #10
• Humoresque (Dvorak)---disc 1, song #2
• Jesu, Joy Of Man's Desiring (Bach)
• La Rejouissance (The Rejoicing from The Royal Fireworks) (Handel)---song #3
• Largo (Ombra Mai Fu) (Handel)---song #29
• Liebestraume: Love Song No. 3 (Dream Of Love) (Liszt)
• Love Is All Around---disc 2, song #9
• Meditation (from Thais) (Massenet)
• Melody In F (Rubinstein)
• Minuet (from Berenice) (Handel)
• Moonlight Sonata: Adagio Sostenuto (aka Piano Sonata No. 14 in C# Minor) (Beethoven)
• Nocturne No. 2 in E-Flat Major (Chopin)
• O Mio Babbino Caro (Schicci)
• Ode To Joy (Beethoven)
• On Wings Of Song (Mendelssohn)
• One Hand, One Heart
• Panis Angelicus (Franck)
• Pastoral Symphony (from The Messiah) (Handel)
• Pathetique Sonata No. 8 in C Minor: Adagio Cantabile (Beethoven)---disc 2, song #13
• Priere A Notre Dame (Boellman)
• Rigaudon (Campra)
• Rondeau (Theme from Masterpiece Theater) (Mouret)
• Salut D'Amour (Elgar)
• Sheep May Safely Graze (Bach)
• Sleepers, Awake (Cantata No. 140) (Bach)
• Sunrise, Sunset
• Swan Lake (Tchaikovsky)
• Te Deum: Prelude (Charpentier)
• The Four Seasons: Autumn (Vivaldi)---song #1
• The Four Seasons: Spring (Vivaldi)---song #30
• The Four Seasons: Summer (Vivaldi)
• The Four Seasons: Winter (Vivaldi)---disc 1, song #2
• The Maid With The Flaxen Hair (La Fille Aux Cheveux de Lin) (Debussy)
• The Swan (Saint-Saens)
• To A Wild Rose (Macdowell)
• Traumerei (Schumann)
• Variation On A Theme of Paganini (Rachmaninoff)
• True Love---song #9
• Unchained Melody
• Unforgettable
• When I Fall In Love---song #24
• Waltz In A Flat (Brahms)
• Wedding Day At Troldhaugen (Grieg)---disc 4, song #22

Before moving on, though, let's once again imagine your wedding day for a moment............................

All of the important people in your lives have been seated, and your wedding prelude music has just ended. There is the briefest of pauses and the air nearly crackles with anticipation and excitement. Your heart is happily “a-thumpin” and the butterflies are alive and well!

Suddenly, you hear music again and you realize that it’s time for your magical walk down the aisle.............................

Well, unless you're planning to walk down the aisle in silence, the next order of business is your wedding processional !

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