Wedding music

[ricola_pak]

Hi all, my cousin is getting married in Hong Kong this December and she asked me to play piano for her at the dinner banquet!

Now I am not familiar with ANY wedding songs at all, so I was hoping some of you music lovers here can give me some suggestions!

Here's the background info:

1. I play the piano and play a bit of jazz. So I know some of the more complicated chords like b13, b9, etc. In other words, I just need a fakebook of some sort with chords and the melody line then I can play.

2. My cousin told ME to pick songs. She's Hong Konger but I doubt she wants any Chinese oldies, probably wants the more "classic" Western songs.


Any suggestions? Thanks a lot

 

[Asr]

Wait, the dinner banquet? So why can't you just play something more like jazz than traditional wedding music? I'd think you'd want to set a relaxing atmosphere, right?

 

[1117]

http://www.ocremix.org/remix/OCR01025/

(click on download tab)

Yeah yeah yeah, it's videogame music remixed, but just LISTEN to it, will you? Done in piano and everything! I'm not suggesting you use this (

) but someone actually did in a wedding, and no one was the wiser.

Of course, some classic gamers attending the wedding had a huge grin on their face.

 

[ricola_pak]

What I am really asking is - are there any MUST DO's for weddings?

 

[K2Grey]

Uh, there's always the overplayed stuff like an arrangement of Pachelbel's Canon (forget the Gigue) for piano and Clair de Lune?

Or the first movement of the Moonlight Sonata

 

[GlendaleViper]

One song in particular that translates very well to solo piano (and even gets played a lot at western weddings for the first dance) is Color My World, by Chicago.

 

[eyeresist]

If what they want is basically "lounge music" then you'll HAVE to play "As time goes by". Try looking for a music book of "Golden Oldies" for further material in that line. For jazzier music, I'm sure there must be compilations of "Great American songbook"-type stuff.

Edit:
This is what you want, I think!
Great Songs from The Great American Songbook: 52 Songs Arranged for Voice, Piano and Guitar
Including: As time goes by, Over the rainbow, [I was going to include more titles, until I realised I was just typing a list of Frank Sinatra songs].

 

[episiarch]

At our wedding we had a pianist play a number of songs by Suzanne Ciani - they are not standards, but are appropriately sentimental for a wedding and are, if I'm any judge, relatively simple material for a pianist.

Two of the songs I remember were She Said Yes, from her Pianissimo album and Go Gently, from her Pianissimo II album, both available in a sheet music compilation with a fair number of other songs that might well be serviceable in a wedding setting.

 

[Bunnyears]

Whatever you decide to play, in whatever style or fashion, please remember to play "For All We Know" which was originally from the all time best wedding movie, Lovers and Other Strangers(1970). If you don't recognize the title, get the Carpenter's cover of it and I'm sure you'll recognize it.

It's the most romantic and happiest wedding song ever written. Some may want more "tasteful" music, but it's a wedding for goodness sake! Sentimental is the only way to go.