Hymn recommendation - Gathering song for a wedding

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I’m trying to brainstorm ideas for a gathering song at a Catholic wedding. The wedding will be not be a mass, so we don’t have too many opportunities for music. We’re looking for something traditional, but it doesn’t technically have to be a ‘gathering’ hymn.

All suggestions are welcome.

Thanks
 
Honus said:
I’m trying to brainstorm ideas for a gathering song at a Catholic wedding. The wedding will be not be a mass, so we don’t have too many opportunities for music. We’re looking for something traditional, but it doesn’t technically have to be a ‘gathering’ hymn.

All suggestions are welcome.

Thanks
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Do you want something that you’re expecting the congregation/guests to sing, or are you looking for more of a choral piece?
 
I’m looking for something that everyone can join in and sing… so something traditional/familiar.
 
Honus said:
I’m looking for something that everyone can join in and sing… so something traditional/familiar.
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If you are going for congregational singing, Holy God We Praise Thy Name would make a great recessional. Jury’s still out on a good processional.
 
How about…Gather Us In? 😛 I’m kidding. Seriously, don’t pick that one.

How about…
Holy, Holy, Holy
All Creatures of Our God and King
Hail Holy Queen Enthroned Above
Hail Redeemer King Divine
Praise to the Lord, The Almighty
 
Many Catholic weddings in my area use The Wedding Song for gathering hymn. Do a search on Peter Paul and Mary and you will hear it. It is beautiful!
 
The Wedding Song, however, is a secular song and there is a prohibiiton against using secular music for the liturgy.

Ubi Caritas is a most fitting entrance processional, as would Joyful, Joyful We Adore Thee.
 
joclucsylv said:
Many Catholic weddings in my area use The Wedding Song for gathering hymn. Do a search on Peter Paul and Mary and you will hear it. It is beautiful!
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As others have said, secular music is not permitted in the Catholic Church. Those weddings which permitted the use of secular music were not acting the in the Church’s instructions.

Ave Verum Corpus is a nice hymn to sing as a processional.
 
Love_Divine said:
As others have said, secular music is not permitted in the Catholic Church. Those weddings which permitted the use of secular music were not acting the in the Church’s instructions.

Ave Verum Corpus is a nice hymn to sing as a processional.
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A Eucharistic hymn at the processional would be a touch odd, unless it were Corpus Christi or something, and especially the Ave Verum at a wedding (a joyous occasion), since it is about the Passion (a most dolorous occasion) – and doubly so here, where it’s not a Mass at all and there’s going to be no True Body to hail.

I continue to recommend Love Divine, All Loves Excelling; I don’t think you’ll do much better for a wedding. 🙂
 
Love_Divine said:
As others have said, secular music is not permitted in the Catholic Church. Those weddings which permitted the use of secular music were not acting the in the Church’s instructions.

Ave Verum Corpus is a nice hymn to sing as a processional.
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What Mark said. In addition to that, here’s the text of Ave Verum Corpus.

Hail, true Body, born
of the Virgin Mary,
who having truly suffered, was sacrificed
on the cross for mankind,
whose pierced side
flowed with water and blood:
May it be for us a foretaste [of the Heavenly banquet]
in the trial of death.
Oh dear Jesus, Oh merciful Jesus, Oh Jesus, son of Mary,
have mercy on me. Amen.

Not for a wedding, definitely not for a wedding outside of Mass.
 
I love the Wedding Song by PPandM, but yes, that is not allowed. :eek: So…

I would go with something that is joyful and that everybody (if they are Catholic) would know… Loves Divine, Joyful Joyful we adore You, Holy God we praise thy Name, etc. That way most people would sing without having to hold the hymn book right up to their faces!!! 😉
 
  1. I’m a little biased because I used this one for my wedding processional, but I love “O God Beyond All Praising” (Thaxted melody - Holst) We used it as an organ instrumental when we were married, but it can be very beautiful sung. At least in the parishes where I cantor, the congregation sings it well.
During rehearsal at the Basilica of the National Shrine:
youtube.com/watch?v=sgVe68YOj-I&feature=related

In this the singing doesn’t start until about a minute in:
youtube.com/watch?v=SDVMe0boOH4&feature=related

youtube.com/watch?v=leyDxYO0a9k

and here it is used just an instrumental for a Dutch royal wedding
youtube.com/watch?v=wldRaA65aGY&playnext=1&list=PL8ABB84F646EB6957
  1. Another hymn I’ve been asked to cantor for wedding processionals has been the Slane hymn melody either to “Lord of All Hopefulness” or “Be Thou My Vision”. It is also one of my favorites.
A couple recordings of “Lord of All Hopefulness” - one with strings and organ and one with just organ:
youtube.com/watch?v=H9hUoJWlyGY&feature=related
youtube.com/watch?v=GxPzikrr75Q&feature=related

“Be Thou My Vision” hymn text apparently was written during the 8th century. Most of the recordings of the hymn were similar to this one. I’m not crazy about the voices and style of singing, as well as the arrangement of the music for either secular or religious music (and I realize that I’m probably in the minority with that opinion outside of the classical singing community), but you can see text.

youtube.com/watch?v=vROU_N-FYdY&feature=fvsr
  1. “Love Divine, All Loves Excelling” is also a lovely one that people will sing and know. It doesn’t have to be sung at this tempo. We usually take it this tempo if sung during communion, but we take it faster for a recessional or processional.
    youtube.com/watch?v=N3cj5C-pNDs
Here is a different musical setting of it:
youtube.com/watch?v=XAJbMcQRfy0&feature=related
  1. “Dear Lord and Father of Mankind”, but it is in Catholic hymnals as “He Comes to Us As One Unknown” (Repton tune melody - Parry). I like both texts. I’m figuring that you will probably be putting the text in the wedding programs?
Here is the the congregation and choir from Westminster Abbey singing the “Dear Lord and Father of Mankind”. It has all of the text and it gets more beautiful as the hymn goes on.
youtube.com/watch?v=faNij71hh7o&feature=related
  1. “Praise My Soul, the King of Heaven” - We do this a lot in a couple parishes where I cantor and the congregation sing this well. This is also in a few of the Catholic hymnals.
youtube.com/watch?v=4d9RJMOP9Tw&feature=related
 
TheMc said:
If you want, this is a really, really nice arrangement of O God, Beyond all Praising. We use it all the time at diocesan Masses and ordinations:
sheetmusicplus.com/title/O-God-Beyond-All-Praising/4590922

You can also buy instrumental parts for it, if you need.

Here’s this version being played:
youtube.com/watch?v=-SC6Dk2zSZo
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That’s the version we used at my former parish where I got married. They usually used it for choir, organ, timpani and brass. Since we had the choir sing at our wedding, we considered it, but I wanted it more straight-forward and without singing, since the rest of our nuptial mass basically had the choir singing motets, polyphony and chants.
 
When I got married, the priest told us we couldn’t have "We plow the fields and scatter’ - that was his big wedding joke.

I think, if I recall correctly, that we used Jerusalem the Golden. But Come Down O Love Divine I think would be my favorite choice.
 
Bluegoat said:
When I got married, the priest told us we couldn’t have "We plow the fields and scatter’ - that was his big wedding joke.

I think, if I recall correctly, that we used Jerusalem the Golden. But Come Down O Love Divine I think would be my favorite choice.
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What a beautiful hymn!!! I realize that I have a thing for hymnody from the British Isles. 😛
 
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