Ceremony Music- Selection Guide

Before submitting the catholic ceremony selection form or the Church of Ireland selection form, please take note of the following.

It is always a good idea to keep the music as religious as possible for the church ceremony. As the ceremony is offically over at the signing of the register, it is more appropriate to have modern songs or pop songs at this point, rather than say, at the communion or the offertory. However, it is essentially up to the couple what music is performed, so long as the priest or celebrant of the mass is in agreement.

As instrumental pieces don't obviously have any words, and therefore can't be considered non-religious, they can be performed at any stage during the wedding ceremony. However, the instrumental versions of well known songs mightn't be considered appropriate - for instance, 'Molly Malone'. Whereas something like 'Carrickfergus' would be fine. Common sense should prevail here.

A variety of pieces/songs will ensure that the wedding ceremony music doesn't become too stale or repetitive i.e. a mixture between classical, Irish, and modern hymns or songs. More important would be a music programme that doesn't just have hymns or songs, but instrumental pieces too.

The candle ceremonies only last a short period of time, and so a typical piece of music lasting 2 to 3 minutes is too long, and disturbs the flow of the mass. Therefore, as indicated in the selection form, the Avoca Duet/the Newbridge Duet advise that an Irish instrumental piece is performed here, because they can easily be adapted on the day to last the length of time it takes to actually light the candles.

One piece of music is generally sufficient for the processional/the entrance of both the bridesmaids and the bride herself into the church. However, the Avoca Duet are open to suggestions if there is a requirement for two seperate pieces of music.

Two pieces of music at the communion are sufficient in length to cover the duration of the communion. If there is an unusally large congregation receiving communion, the group will perform a third piece, but will defer making a decision on that until the day itself.

If any piece of music is entered into the alternative box on the selection form, please indicate the composer and or/singer most commonly associated with it. This will aid the Avoca Duet in locating the sheet music for the piece in question. Sheet music is available for most pieces of music. However, if it is an obscure piece of music that is little known, this may not be the case. In these circumstances, the Avoca Duet will not be able to perform it. An audio recording of the music is not sufficient for the group to learn it.

Please contact the Avoca Duet, by email or phone, if you have any queries or request more guidance on choosing the wedding ceremony music.