APO's Rowan Newton looks into the history of music at weddings and what makes those specific works so perfect for the big day.
Weddings are a great celebration of coming together, of both a couple and their communities. Music and celebration go hand-in-hand – despite how much weddings can vary across cultures and religions.
As with many aspects of the wedding day, personal choice and cultural traditions will have a big role to play in determining the music played, but in Western-style weddings, classical music remains the most popular choice for the walk down the aisle.
Like many such wedding traditions, the popularity of certain pieces of music would begin with the royal family of the era, who would set the trend for the current must-have wedding song of the period. Wagner’s Lohengrin, Jeremiah Clarke’s Prince of Denmark’s March (also called Trumpet Voluntary), Mendelssohn’s Wedding March from A Midsummer Night’s Dream and Pachelbel’s Canon in D are examples of this.