Selecting Musicians
Before you choose your wedding music, it is a good idea to decide which musicians you would like to hire, as you will choose your music selections according to the type(s) of instruments you will have playing. Included in your wedding fee are the Music Director, Joe Houdek (piano/organ) and one (1) cantor/singer. Any extra musicians hired have the following costs:
- Single Instrument – $125 (trumpet, guitar, violin, flute, harp)
- String Quartet – $500 (2 violins + viola + cello)
ALL musicians must be arranged and secured through the Music Director. This helps to avoid disappointment to the couple and their families since it ensures a desirable continuity with the church and liturgical space. It also helps guarantee that the liturgy will be coordinated in an elegant and reverent manner since the presider, organist, cantor, and instrumentalists are accustomed to working with each other on a regular basis within the liturgical space at Holy Spirit.
Wedding Repertoire List
Click here to download our Music Director’s current wedding repertoire list. Please note that you are not completely limited to choose only the songs on this list (there is no way to list every song possibility); however, only sacred music is permitted at your wedding liturgy. Songs that are chosen for the Liturgy should be appropriate for the celebration and express the faith of the Church. Popular/secular music, even though it may emphasize the love of the spouses for another, is not appropriate for the Sacred Liturgy and should be saved for the wedding reception. If you have a specific song request, please contact the Music Director for approval as soon as possible. To help you get started with your music planning, recordings of many (not all) of the selections on the wedding repertoire list can be found here:
STRING QUARTET EXAMPLES
If you choose to hire a string quartet, in addition to playing throughout the wedding ceremony they will also play prelude music as guests are arriving before the wedding. Here are some examples of what the music will sound like (these were all recorded live at Holy Spirit):
Spring (from the Four Seasons)
Trumpet Tune
Trumpet Voluntary
WEDDING MARCHES
Trumpet Voluntary in D Major (organ with the addition of trumpet)
Trumpet Voluntary in D Major (string quartet)
Trumpet Tune in C Major (organ)
Trumpet Tune in C Major (string quartet)
Jesu, Joy of Man’s Desiring (string quartet)
Canon in D Major (string quartet, live at Holy Spirit)
Canon in D Major (piano)
Ode to Joy (string quartet)
Ode to Joy (organ)
Rondeau (organ)
Rondeau (string quartet)
Allegro Maestoso from ‘Watermusic’ (organ)
‘Spring’ from The Four Seasons (string quartet, live at Holy Spirit)
OTHER WEDDING MUSIC FOR THE CEREMONY
Most of the following pieces can be used during various parts of the wedding ceremony, and many of them were recorded live at Holy Spirit:
When Love Is Found [PDF lyrics]
Wherever You Go [PDF lyrics]
Hear Us Now, Our God and Father [PDF lyrics]
How Beautiful [PDF lyrics]
Love One Another [PDF lyrics]
Where There Is Love [PDF lyrics]
I Have Loved You [PDF lyrics]
In Love We Choose to Live [PDF lyrics]
Today and Tomorrow [PDF lyrics]
A Nuptial Blessing [PDF lyrics]
God, In the Planning [PDF lyrics]
God, In the Planning (with String Quartet)
Ave Maria (Schubert) [PDF lyrics]
Blessed One [PDF lyrics]
Hail Mary: Gentle Woman [PDF lyrics]
Responsorial Psalm Options:
Psalm 34: Taste and see the goodness of the Lord
Psalm 103: The Lord is kind and merciful (Haugen)
Psalm 103: The Lord is kind and merciful (Bolduc)
Psalm 118: This is the day that the Lord has made, let us rejoice and be glad
Psalm 128: Blest are those who love you, happy those who follow you, blest are those who seek you, O God
Psalm 145: I will praise your name, my King and my God
Contemporary Wedding Marches not listed on the Wedding Repertoire List:
A Thousand Years (piano with the addition of string quartet and guitar) (recorded live during a wedding at Holy Spirit)
All of Me (by The Piano Guys)
*PLEASE NOTE: If you choose to hire a string quartet, they will play prelude music before the ceremony, while guests are being seated, using a combination of any of the string quartet repertoire listed above.
MAKE YOUR WEDDING PROGRAM
Our worship screens at Holy Spirit provide a great way to project song titles, lyrics, and congregational responses during your wedding liturgy. As a result of this, many couples choose not to make a wedding program. However, if you do decide to print one, we’ve included sample programs to help aid you in this process: