Contemporary Wedding Processional Ideas

In recent years, weddings have broken out of the old fashioned mold of the past to include more contemporary elements. Rather than just having a handful of music choices, today's bride has an endless list of music to choose from. If you are a bride looking for the perfect contemporary wedding processional for your upcoming ceremony, I have some great ideas and guidelines to help you choose the right song.

A processional is played as you walk down the isle, so you want it to be a song that represents you and your feelings. Whether your wedding is going to take place in a church or on the beach or in your parents backyard, you can make any contemporary song you choose work for the occasion. Here are some guidelines to follow when picking your contemporary wedding processional.

Choose a song that means something to you. It can be the song you first danced with him to or it can be a song that reminds you of him every time you hear it, but you want to make sure that it is a song that touches your heart and holds a deep meaning for you.

Don't be afraid to rewrite the song to match the occasion. If you love a rock and roll song but the lyrics in some places just don't fit a wedding theme, feel free to sit down and rewrite the words to your purpose. For example, the song “You're Beautiful” by James Blunt is one of the sweetest and most gorgeous contemporary songs to come out on the radio in recent years. However, some of the lyrics like “And I'll never be with you” don't exactly work for a wedding. Change them to “And I'll always be with you.” If you love a song, don't let lyrics or tempo stop you from using it. Simply slow it down and change it to make it work for you.

Use instruments that match the mood of the ceremony. Blasting a CD through the speakers in a gorgeous Catholic Cathedral might not be the best choice, and in some cases, it might not even be allowed. When choosing a contemporary processional for your wedding, make sure to take location, mood and the rules of the venue into consideration. If you have your heart set on “At Last” by Eta James, but the church where you're getting married doesn't allow recorded music played through the sound system, don't worry! Find a piano arrangement or have a string quartet play the song. On the other hand, a string quartet out on the beach might not be the best idea both because they won't want to get sand in their instruments and it will be difficult to hear them, so a beach wedding might do better with a sound system and a recorded song. Take these factors seriously when thinking about your processional choice.

Here are some ideas of songs to use for a contemporary wedding processional:

“You're Beautiful” by James Blunt
“Something In the Way She Moves” by The Beatles
“At Last” by Eta James
“The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face” by Roberta Flack
“When A Man Loves A Woman” by Percy Sledge
“Endless Love” by Diana Ross and Lionel Richie
“All My Life” by KC and JoJo
“From this Moment On” by Shania Twain
Almost any love song by Celine Dion like “Power of Love”
“Bless the Broken Road” by Rascal Flatts
“Your Song” by Elton John