How many weddings have you provided music for over the course of your career? I stopped counting at fifty, but I would estimate I have played for over 200 weddings. Over the years, I have compiled a list of my “go to” repertoire, as, I’m sure, every church musician has done. In this post, I list tried and true piano pieces that I play often for wedding ceremonies. Some are easy, while others are more difficult. Consider adding some of these pieces to your own wedding repertoire, if you do not already include them. All of the sacred pieces are available for download through Prelude Music Planner. Most of the classical pieces are in the public domain and are available for free through the International Music Score Library Project (www.imslp.org). Hyperlinks are included to IMSLP webpages where you can print PDF files of the music.*

Sacred Prelude and Postlude Selections

I always like to include some sacred music in a wedding prelude or at other times during the ceremony (candle lighting, Communion, etc.), and hymn tunes from folk sources are especially nice. Playing directly from the hymnal or playing an arrangement are equally effective. A number of fine settings for each tune listed are available through Prelude Music Planner. Search by tune name and filter your results by instrument (piano) to find available downloads:

• Beach Spring (ELW 712)
• Nettleton (ELW 807)
• Nyland, or Kuortane (ELW 313)
• O Waly Waly (ELW 644)
• Schönster Herr Jesu (ELW 838)
• Sicilian Mariners (ELW 545)
• Slane (ELW 793)

Sacred Processional and Recessional Selections

Sometimes a couple chooses “traditional” processional and recessional music (e.g., Pachelbel, Wagner, Mendelssohn, or Handel), but often couples prefer something different or unique. When a couple would like to process or recess to a hymn, here are some tunes I recommend:

• Ellacombe (ELW 521)
• In dir ist Freude (ELW 867)
• Lasst uns erfreuen (ELW 835)
• Lobe den Herren (ELW 858)
• Nun danket alle Gott (ELW 839, 840)
• Wie schön lechtet (ELW 308)

Classical Prelude and Postlude Selections 

Bach, Beethoven, and Brahms. These three great German composers wrote so much beautiful piano music, but here are three selections that I find particularly useful as prelude selections:

• Bach, French Suite no. 4 in E-flat major, BWV 815, mvt. 1, Allemande
• Beethoven, Piano Sonata no. 8 in C minor, Op. 13, mvt. 2, Adagio cantabile
• Brahms, Intermezzo in A major, Op. 118, no. 2, Andante teneramente

Debussy, Satie, and Ravel. I love French piano music from the late-nineteenth and early-twentieth centuries. When I play these pieces in a prelude, I feel as though I am adorning the wedding venue with beauty just as the florist does with flowers. The second movement of Ravel’s Sonatine may be a stretch harmonically (and technically), but this Minuet works so well as a joyful postlude selection.

• Debussy, Arabesque no. 1, Andantino con moto
• Satie, Gymnopédie no. 1
• Ravel, Sonatine, mvt. 2, Mouvement de menuet

Liszt, MacDowell, and Granados. From German and French composers to a Hungarian, an American, and a Spanish composer, here are three additional prelude pieces. Granados’s charming “Melodioso” is a lovely choice for the seating of the parents or grandparents.

• Liszt, Consolations, S. 172, no. 3, Lento placido
• MacDowell, 10 Woodland Sketches, Op. 51, no. 1, “To a Wild Rose”
• Granados, Eight Poetic Waltzes, no. 1, Melodioso

Classical Processional and Recessional Selections

As mentioned above, sometimes a couple prefers an unconventional processional or recessional. In these cases, here are a few classical pieces I like to recommend:

• Mussorgsky, Pictures at an Exhibition, “Promenade”
• Holst/arr. Shaw, “Thaxted” (Jupiter theme), from The Planets (included in My Redeemer Lives: Hymns of Comfort and Praise)
• Poulenc, Novelette in C major (from Three Novelettes)

Do you have a favorite piano piece you include often in wedding ceremonies? Share your repertoire suggestions in the comment section below!

*Please obey the copyright laws of your country. IMSLP does not assume any sort of legal responsibility or liability for the consequences of downloading files that are not in the public domain in your country.