Wedding Stories

Laurie and John wanted traditional pieces for their wedding. They felt it would be meaningful for their family and friends to have music that everyone recognized. Each beautiful and timeless piece of music evoked wonderful memories for all. Tears were shed, and the wedding was beautiful, as expected.

Patrick and Lynn wanted the elegance of classical music, but did not want to be confined to just the traditional pieces. Instead, they chose other beautiful classical pieces to accompany the beauty, elegance, and grandeur of their special day.

When I met with Thuy and Brian, they did not have any particular music in mind. They wanted something fun, light, and meaningful to them. As we started brainstorming and listening to music, they really liked the music from Beauty and the Beast. As we started talking some more, they decided to ask a friend to sing, Can You Feel the Love Tonight? We started seeing a pattern here! They thought it would be perfect to walk out to A Whole New World. The music put a smile on every guest's face!

Nancy and Julius listened to all the different styles of music and decided that they wanted a more contemporary feel. They loved the idea of having each bridesmaid enter to a different piece of music. So, Alice created a medley of the different pieces so they would flow naturally together, rather than having disjoint pieces. They also wanted to update the traditional bridal entrance, so they asked Alice to blend the traditional Here Comes the Bride piece with O from Cirque du Soleil. Because both of them graduated from USC dental school, and many of their friends would be also from USC, they asked if Alice could somehow incorporate the USC Fight Song into the recessional. With some musical creativity, Alice was able to blend the USC Fight Song with the Trumpet Tune. All their friends loved the surprise piece at the end!

When Jessica was deciding on music, the one piece she connected with was Alice's original piece, Seasons. She loved it so much, she felt the emotional impact as she listened to it again and again before the wedding. Finally, on that beautiful day, as Jessica walked down the aisle with her father, tears of joy were streaming down her face as this moment that she had been waiting for had finally come.

As an accomplished pianist herself, Miranda hand-picked each classical piece for the ceremony, selecting pieces that were both unique and special to her. About six weeks before the wedding, she sent Alice several recordings as well as the sheet music. Alice learned all the pieces especially for the wedding, arranging them as necessary to accommodate a processional, and performend them flawlessly during the ceremony. The last piece was a happy ending for Miranda and Joe as they entered their new life together as a married couple.

When Alice met with Jeannie and Tommy, they knew that they wanted their ceremony to be a unique musical experience for their guests. To them, the music was the most important part of their ceremony; they just needed a musician to implement their ideas. Finding fresh ideas from unique sources, Tommy wanted a piece from a video game, and Jeannie selected music from Cirque du Soleil. Though the sheet music was not readily available, Alice was able to listen to the recording and create her own arrangements. Jeannie and Tommy also loved Alice's original pieces and incorporated it into their ceremony.

Robbyn and Tim knew that they did not want any of the traditional classical pieces for their ceremony. Rather, they wanted something more contemporary and fun. They turned to the classics of popular music. On the wedding day, the bride and bridesmaids were delayed while the groom nervously waited and wondered. He paced back and forth, trying to find out the reason for the delay. (No worries! Alice just extended the prelude music to accommodate the delay.) When the bridal party finally did arrive, the bridal entrance music At Last seemed so appropriate for the emotion of the moment. After the ceremony, they walked...no, danced out to the joyful song, How Sweet It Is to Be Loved By You.

Lisa and Junaid were looking for beautiful music that had a touch of traditional, contemporary, and a bit of drama. Their inter-faith wedding had both Islamic and traditional elements incorporated into the ceremony. The harp, coupled with the live acoustics of the venue, heightened the groom's dramatic entrance with Angel of Music from Phantom. The bride did not want to walk down to the traditional Bridal Chorus, but waited for the musical introduction to finish before entering to the beautiful sounds of Arioso by Bach.

Debbie and Marc wanted contemporary music that they connected deeply with. They specified the arrangements for the songs (the Van Morrison version of Have I Told You Lately, the Ella Fitzgerald version of Georgia on My Mind, etc) that they selected for the ceremony and cocktail hour. The cocktail hour music included heartfelt and soulful music by Norah Jones, Jimmy Buffett, Sarah McLachlan, Tom Waits, Van Morrison, Elton John, classic blues, and others.

Michelle and Randy were school teachers by day, and loved athletics and were avid sports enthusiasts. Randy walked in to music by Wagner, Ride of the Valkyries, a piece used in Superman and other action movies. For the recessional, they gave Alice a list of possible classical pieces, but they also wanted the theme from Star Wars. Alice was able to incorporate all of their classical selections with two of the main Star Wars theme songs.

Saskia and Dixon wanted a fun, light-hearted ceremony that would delight their guests. Because they both loved to watch cartoons and had a cartoon theme for their reception, they wanted to end their ceremony with a musical blend of a classical piece and the theme from Looney Tunes. They knew that Alice was the perfect musician to implement their ideas. Alice was able to come up with an appropriate blend that transitioned from classical elegance to the light-hearted joy of Looney Tunes.

When Jennifer contacted Alice, she was desperate, because she had received so much pushback from other musicians about her choice of music. Numerous musicians had been unwilling to play the music that she had selected, or wanted her to change her genre. Alice was able to connect with what Jennifer wanted for her ceremony and was able to create a seamless transition for the Parent's Seating and the Candlelighting, and came up with an appropriate recessional: a Reprise (in the style of Broadway shows) of Broadway songs, starting with Phantom of the Opera, including songs from the wedding ceremony as well as other show tunes from Cats, Les Miserables, etc. Alice also accompanied a professional singer for many of the musical solos.

Corrine and Alan were in the business of animation. As a couple who identified themselves are non-traditional, unique, and even quirky, they wanted music that reflected their personality and tastes. Finding sources from their background and interests, they came up with music that was beautiful yet distinctive.

Adina and Shafar wanted to include their heritage along with their love for Beatles music. Adina was delighted to discover that Alice had great selection of Jewish music and was willing to learn the Beatles music that the couple so enjoyed together. She walked down to their favorite song as the groom waited for her by the chuppah.

I love working with new ideas! Here are some other songs and musical blends that have been incorporated into a wedding ceremony: