Alternatives abound to the tired but true wedding march

By Roxanne Hawn
The Denver Post

It takes just those first few notes _ ta, dum, dee, dum _ to announce the bride's arrival at many weddings. That's why we love it.

Wedding guests know to stand and face the approaching bride when they hear it.

Yet many wedding musicians quietly celebrate when that piece, which has fallen in and out of favor since the Civil War, gets passed over for something different.

``My personal objection comes from kids singing, `Here comes the bride, big, fat and wide,' '' says Margot Krimmel, a Denver-area harpist. ``When somebody says they don't want that, I'm somewhat relieved.''

The so-called ``Wedding March'' comes from ``Lohengrin'' a three-act opera by Richard Wagner, first staged in the 1850s.

Others, like Krimmel, just can't get that childhood taunt out of their head.

Some churches also object to the most common recessional, which comes from a wedding between the Fairy Queen Titania and Bottom, a man who has been turned into a jackass, in Mendelssohn's ``A Midsummer Night's Dream.''

Whatever the reason, some brides often cast about for other options. These days, two alternative pieces get overused: Pachebel's ``Canon in D'' and Purcell's ``Voluntary,'' which is also attributed as ``The Prince of Denmark's March,'' by Clarke.

Either way, it became wildly popular after Princess Diana used it in her 1981 wedding to Prince Charles.

``You have to have a short theme,'' Krimmel says. ``I have to be able to stop the music in the right place.''

She sometimes suggests ``Eleanor Plunkett,'' by Turlough O'Carolan, paired with ``Skyeboat,'' a traditional Irish piece, as a processional, then ``Hewlitt,'' also by O'Carolan, as a recessional for couples ``who want to dance out of the aisle.''

While most attention gets paid to the aisle music, brides need to be careful with the prelude and postlude so that it doesn't sound funereal, especially with big organs in a church setting.

``The formula for bright and bubbly and happy music to slower music is about three-quarters faster to one-quarter slower,'' says Kathy Brantigan, executive director of the Denver Brass.

``The slower pieces we choose for the purpose of getting guests quiet and thoughtful. We pick pieces in a major key, not a minor one, so it doesn't sound like someone died.''

Some churches also object to the most common recessional, which comes from a wedding between the Fairy Queen Titania and Bottom, a man who has been turned into a jackass, in Mendelssohn's ``A Midsummer Night's Dream.''

Whatever the reason, some brides often cast about for other options. These days, two alternative pieces get overused: Pachebel's ``Canon in D'' and Purcell's ``Voluntary,'' which is also attributed as ``The Prince of Denmark's March,'' by Clarke.

Either way, it became wildly popular after Princess Diana used it in her 1981 wedding to Prince Charles.

``You have to have a short theme,'' Krimmel says. ``I have to be able to stop the music in the right place.''

She sometimes suggests ``Eleanor Plunkett,'' by Turlough O'Carolan, paired with ``Skyeboat,'' a traditional Irish piece, as a processional, then ``Hewlitt,'' also by O'Carolan, as a recessional for couples ``who want to dance out of the aisle.''

While most attention gets paid to the aisle music, brides need to be careful with the prelude and postlude so that it doesn't sound funereal, especially with big organs in a church setting.

``The formula for bright and bubbly and happy music to slower music is about three-quarters faster to one-quarter slower,'' says Kathy Brantigan, executive director of the Denver Brass.

``The slower pieces we choose for the purpose of getting guests quiet and thoughtful. We pick pieces in a major key, not a minor one, so it doesn't sound like someone died.''