Have you ever wondered where the infamous ‘Wedding March,” aka the “Here Comes the Bride,” music originated? That specific piece of music is from an opera by Richard Wagner called Lohengrin. The tune was written in 1850 and was first used as a wedding march in 1858 for the royal wedding between Princess Victoria and Prince Frederick William of Prussia. You may be surprised to find out how other wedding music traditions started.
The First Ceremonies
The first typical wedding instruments were invented in the late 1500s. Back then, it was customary for a wedding to only feature a vocalist. There would have been no need for renting silent disco headphones since these weddings had minimal noise.
The idea of the bride and groom opening up the dance floor also comes from these old days. The hosts of these fancy balls would also share the first dance with the newlywed couple. Afterward, the rest of the guests would be permitted to enter the dance floor and start dancing. This tradition is still used today, minus the hosts joining in the first dance.
Wedding Singers
Nowadays, you are most likely to see a DJ or someone using a digitalized playlist for music at a wedding. However, before we had the technology, it was common for engaged couples to hire a band with wedding singers. A good example to view how this worked is to check out the Adam Sandler film, the Wedding Singer.
What would wedding singers perform? Well, it depends on the year and what songs were popular at the time. In 1960, a top contender for a song performed at a wedding could have been “At Last” by Etta James. Just a year later, in 1961, people had the monster Elvis hit “Can’t Help Falling in Love.”
The Technology of Today
Here in 2023, we are able to do amazing things with technology. A trend that started in the 1990s and is gaining steam today is silent wedding discos. The idea behind a silent disco is that everyone in attendance at the wedding is wearing special headphones that ensure only the people at the wedding can hear the music. Transmitters in the headphones allow the guests to listen to the music in real time without disturbing anyone living close to the venue.
The other popular options for modern weddings are usually hiring DJs or just using a digitalized playlist. It may cost more to get a silent disco going, but it keeps the music in the venue. That’s something that DJs and playlists can’t do. Silent discos would make for a unique wedding idea as well.
Whatever you decide to have for your wedding, the most important thing is that you have a good time. Life moves pretty fast. You’ll blink, and the next thing you know, the wedding ends, and you’re searching Google for parenting tips. The bright side of the situation is that you can share your wedding memories with your children.
This post was supplied to Surrey WeddingShow247 and written by Milli Beamer
