The Anti-Wedding March

When you think of walking down the aisle, you always think of the two iconic pieces of music: "The Wedding March" and "Here Comes The Bride". Although more and more people are choosing different pieces to accompany them down the aisle.

Many people are unaware that neither song was composed for or intended for use in weddings. Felix Mendelssohn, the German composer who wrote "The Wedding March", composed the piece for a performance of Shakespeare's Midsummer Night's Dream in 1842. Richard Wagner wrote "The Bridal Chorus" for his 1850 opera, Lohengrin. Later in the decade, the British royal family cut a piece out of the libretto which later became known as "Here Comes the Bride". In fact, the British royal family was responsible for making both pieces commonplace in western weddings.

In reality, neither song holds much emotional value for brides and grooms. So why should we keep using these songs? The only answer to be found is simply tradition, and tradition is quickly losing traction in modern society. So if you're one who is ready to stray from tradition like so many others, you'll be happy to hear that there are infinite other options with higher emotional meaning to accompany you down the aisle.

The easiest alternative option is if you have a live pianist, you can then talk to your pianist about slowing down a song that is close to your heart. If you plan on simply playing an mp3, then there are thousands of altered versions of different songs that you can find on music platforms such as YouTube or Spotify. A popular current trend is taking the themes from movies or television shows and altering them to fit a romantic walk down the aisle.

In the end, the only thing that truly matters is for you to love the song that you are walking down the aisle to, and if that isn't a traditional song, that's going to be just as beautiful of a moment as any traditional music could make it. Never be afraid to do what you want at your wedding, it's your day and that's all that matters, so choose to follow whatever makes your heart happy.