Entertainment For Lively Minds
Up the aisle
This has probably been done before, but I was reminded of my own wedding and its preparations.
Not being religious, we weren't about to be married in a church. As with all weddings, however, we were required to meet with someone beforehand to discuss details. In our case, the registrar.
This was always going to be a contentious issue between Julie and myself, but I frankly never expected the amount of trouble we had from the registrar; appropriate music for the occasion.
It turns out there is a list of 'dos and don'ts' for wedding music. I can understand that it's not entirely appropriate for - picking an example at random, here - Slayer to be played in a church. Surely though, a secular wedding shouldn't have nearly so much trouble?
How untrue. At the time of our happy day, we were informed, in no uncertain terms that 'no inappropriate music would be allowed'. When I pushed for details, it seemed that there was a little revenge going on, as they were banning anything that had religious connotations. As it happens, I'd heard something along these lines and said, "That includes Robbie Williams' song 'Angels', doesn't it?"*
"Don't you consider angels to be religious iconography?" came the reply.
After a very quick count to ten, I said, "It's about his mother, though!" Thinks; you jumped-up cow
In any case, we weren't too worried about that song. We were then told we had to choose music that was appropriate for the occasion, to which Julie said, "does that mean we can't have 'Smack My Bitch Up'?"
We were asked to leave at that point.
On the day, we had the following tunes for the ceremony:
Genesis - 'Horizons' (bridal entry - my choice)
Bette Midler - 'The Rose' (signing the register - NOT my choice)
Stereophonics - 'Handbags and Gladrags' (leaving the ceremony - our tune)
* Don't start. I know your prejudices. Leave the Robbie bashing alone for a while, eh?
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Seriously?
I'd never heard of that before. Seems bizarre. As you say, you can understand it in a religious building, but with a secular wedding... why? What could the thinking be?
Were you getting married in a registry office or another venue, out of interest? I wonder if that makes a difference??
It took place
in a hotel, but the registrar has to be there to officiate etc.
What gets me is how inflexible they were willing to be. Mind you, Julie's snide comment may have had something to do with that...
indeed
to be honest, I'd have thought if the wedding was being held in a hotel they'd have even less reason to be arsey.
my thinking was that if it was a registry office, therefore council property, there might be some lame laws about not causing offence to anyone with "religious" music. but in a hotel... I really don't understand why they'd object.
Snide? Hilarious, more like! Very nice reply.
Registrars
are the most perfectly formed, traditional bureaucrats still in existence in the UK. And watching them use IT is a joy - our twins birth certificates took 40 minutes of fiddling with a printer.
And I thought Angels was about his Nan.
Cross threading
here, it seems to me some points could have been scored with a mobile phone and a Prodigy MP3 at an (in)appropriate moment.
Were you tempted?
Seriously, I don't recall any such constraints being quoted to us at our do. We left it to friends who were playing for us to choose something they thought appropriate, and which they would enjoy playing. I didn't expect to hear any Wayne County songs arranged for guitar, mandolin and double bass.
Actually...
...it was later realised that an even better suggestion would have been either Ian Dury's 'Fucking Ada' or Iron Maiden's 'Bring Your Daughter... To The Slaughter'.
I was seriously contemplating getting revenge on my sister for getting me to do a biblical reading at her wedding the year before - and having to bow to the altar, too! Until I realised it would have been daft to ruin our day by pettiness, I was going to have her read the Spike Milligan poem 'On The Ning Nang Nong'.
Pure class.
I got married in a church...
....I'm not religious at all, but my wife was brought up in church and a lot of our family are religious and this particular church and vicar were much nicer and welcoming than most of the non-religious venues it must be said. My wife walked up the aisle to Super Furry Animals 'Fire In My Heart'. Afterwards the vicar - who was in his sixties - asked for a copy of the song. He said: "It makes a change from the usual music. It's quite exciting to have something different!"
The list of songs non-religious places won't allow is huge. Churches leave it to the discretion of the vicar. Who'd have thought religion would have had more freedom?
Aha...
following some research it would appear the ban on religious music in civil ceremonies was actually lifted in 2005 - two months after I got married. After a couple of years preparing for the wedding I guess I blocked everything wedding out of my mind!!!!
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/4443988.stm
................
........bloody gits!
I got married in 2006. I'd love to know where the hell they were coming from then.
Ok, so I wasn't likely to ask for Handel's Messiah chorus, but that's hardly the point. As was pointed out earlier, who'd have thought the church would be more lenient in these things?
No such worries
at my own nuptials. The long-suffering Clare (TM) came down the aisle to an Eels' instrumental, and the guests were, wahey, entertained before her arrival by songs from a CD I burned including: Ryan Adams' The Bar is a Beautiful Place and Stars Go Blue; Auto Rock by Mogwai; Cocteau Twins' Frosty the Snowman and Winter Wonderland; Nouvelle Vague's Teenage Kicks; This Mortal Coil's Song to the Siren; Weller's Broken Stones and jeff Buckley's Hallelujah. Oh and we left to Give Me Sunshine - the Eric 'n Ernie mix, natch. It was so good the hotel never gave me the disc back!
Some of this _ with the benefit of 20.20 hindsight and that old devil retrospect _ may seem a bit, well, gloomy but what the heck, we're still married more than 18 months on....
LOL
I love it, but I really can't see me & Julie doing 'Bring me sunshine'...
Sadly
I bottled out of doing the special dance as we left the room, despite earlier having gulped down champagne, mulled wine and four pints of the blessed St. Ella as Dutch courage
Well.
I suppose I can lay claim to having danced (very badly) to Bad Manners verion of the Can Can at mine
My hat
is duly doffed, Spikey!