The ceremony
Acoustic guitar for a wedding ceremony.
The processional is the one piece of music at a wedding every guest listens to: the talking has stopped, every head is turned toward the aisle, and they’re all waiting for one person to appear in it. A guitarist watches that aisle instead of a clock, keeps the piece going while the walk takes as long as it takes, and lands the last chord on the arrival.
An acoustic guitarist plays it on steel strings, and a Spanish guitarist plays it on nylon, which is what a lot of couples are picturing when they want something warmer than a string quartet.
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How it works
The four parts of ceremony music, in order.
Ceremony music is the part of a wedding most couples have never planned before, and it's simpler than it looks. There are four parts, and three of them are songs you choose.
- The prelude
- What plays while guests arrive and take their seats, usually twenty to thirty minutes before the start. It has no set list and no cue. It runs continuously at a volume people can greet each other over, and it ends when the officiant is in place. It keeps the wait from feeling like a delay, and it's the part couples most often leave out.
- The processional
- One or two pieces: often one for the wedding party and a second for the entrance everybody stood up for. This is where a live musician makes the difference. An aisle takes as long as it takes, so the piece stretches, the last phrase lands on arrival, and the guests never hear a fade.
- The interlude
- Optional, and only if the ceremony has a still moment in it: a reading, a unity candle or sand, a signing, a communion. Guests are seated with nothing to look at, so a single piece played under it fills the silence. This is also the one place in a ceremony where a sung song works.
- The recessional
- One piece, faster than everything before it, starting the moment the couple turns around. It carries them out and then keeps going while the guest rows empty, which usually means playing a few minutes longer than the song itself.
How many songs, and how long. Three named pieces plus the prelude. Total playing time usually comes to about 45 to 60 minutes: twenty to thirty minutes of prelude, then the ceremony itself, which runs twenty to thirty minutes for a civil or non-denominational service and longer for a religious one. Booking the hour covers all of it.
The instrument
Acoustic guitar, or Spanish guitar.
Both are one musician and one instrument, and they sound less alike than couples expect. Which one suits a ceremony has more to do with the setting than with the songs.
Acoustic guitar. Steel strings, bright and clear, and the sound most people mean when they say guitar. It handles the songs couples actually ask for: the one that was playing when they met, a hymn, a film theme, a pop song arranged so it works without a voice. It’s also the most portable booking on this roster, and it plays a small indoor ceremony without amplification at all. Details of the format are on the solo guitarist page.
Spanish guitar. Nylon strings, warmer and rounder, with a softer start to each note and more body underneath it. It suits a garden, a courtyard, stone, and any ceremony where the couple wants something with an accent to it. The repertoire moves between Spanish pieces and whatever the couple asks for, played on nylon. That booking is Dirty Flamenco, who play real flamenco and bring the quiet end of it to a ceremony.
A ceremony can also be played by more than one person. A duo puts upright bass under the guitar, which gives a processional weight in a large space, and a trio adds drums played with brushes for a ceremony in a hall rather than a garden. Both are on the jazz duo and trio page, and either one walks straight from the ceremony into the cocktail hour on the same contract.
“[He] recently played for my wedding ceremony, and I couldn’t be happier or more grateful. He is extremely talented and so sweet, my guests and I loved him!! He played ‘Bless the Telephone’ by Labi Siffre while I walked down the aisle and it was a dream. I would hire him 1000 times over.”
The whole song list is on the repertoire page, and if the song you want isn't on it, just let us know when you book and we can usually learn it.
Hear it
Spanish guitar for a wedding ceremony.
A Malagueña on solo Spanish guitar. This is the prelude sound: the aisle still empty, the guests gone quiet on their own, one guitar carrying the whole space.
Who plays it
A solo musician, a small ensemble, or the DJ.
Three answers are in common use in Colorado, and all three are legitimate. What separates them is how each one handles a day that doesn't run to the second.
- A solo musician
- A guitarist, a harpist, a violinist or a cellist. The most portable of the four is the guitarist, and the only one that plays outdoors on grass without a deck under it. It's one musician, one van, and a setup that’s out of the way before the ceremony starts. Where the couple wants a voice at the ceremony, René Moffatt sings his own songs and covers to an acoustic guitar and stays for the cocktail hour.
- A small ensemble
- A string duo, trio or quartet, or a guitar and bass duo. Two to four musicians give a processional more weight in a large or a hard-surfaced space, and the same ensemble carries the cocktail hour afterward, which is what most Colorado weddings end up booking.
- The DJ
- Most DJs cover a ceremony, and it’s a sensible choice when the ceremony and the reception are in the same building, with a second speaker at the ceremony site and a microphone for the officiant. Where a wedding wants both, our DJ takes the reception and live musicians take the ceremony, on one contract.
Ceremony music questions
The hour after the ceremony has its own questions on the cocktail hour page, and the whole day is on the weddings page. Mountain sound rules are on the mountain corridor page.
- Should ceremony music be instrumental?
- For the prelude and the processional, yes. A lyric pulls attention to the words at the moment everyone is watching the aisle. An interlude is where a sung song works, because the guests are seated and still and there's nothing else to look at. Signet Artists books ceremony musicians across Denver and the Colorado mountains.
- Can the officiant be heard?
- Yes. Outdoors an unamplified officiant is lost past about the fourth row, so an announcement microphone comes with every size, and the officiant, the readings and the vows carry through the same small system as the guitar.
- Can you play an outdoor ceremony?
- Yes, and most ceremonies here are outside. It takes a covered, level and dry spot for the musician, power run to it, and a plan for moving indoors agreed before the day. Open air has no walls to send the sound back, so the small system carries the same gentle level to the back rows, and the spot is chosen with the wind in mind, because wind puts noise straight into the officiant's microphone. Colorado evenings cool fast after sunset, so for a late-afternoon mountain ceremony we agree the weather call with you ahead of time.
- How much space does a guitarist need?
- A spot of about 6 by 4 feet beside the aisle, level and out of the sun, with power if the small system is used.
- How much to tip ceremony musicians?
- Nothing is expected. The price agreed for your date is the whole cost of the music, so a gratuity is a personal choice. If you'd like to do something, credit the musicians by name to your photographer before the gallery goes out.
Tell us the ceremony site and the guest count, and we'll recommend the musician.
Live music for your event, from a solo musician to a full band, with sound support that’s the right size for the venue and a personal contact for the night.