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wedding music - Duo, Trio, or Quartet

The parts of the ceremony for which we usually play music are:

Prelude - 30 minutes while the guests arrive
Processional - Entrance: any/all bride's attendants, including any/all ring bearers and
         flower girls, then the bride
Register Signing - bride, groom, two witnesses, and officiant sign the 
         NS Marriage Registration Form, and if applicable, religious marriage record.
Recessional - Joyous exit: guests applaude as bride & groom, bridal party 
         and immidiate family exit the ceremony site
Postlude - a few short selections after the Recessional, while the guests leave. 

For ceremonies which contain a mass, we will usually play during the Communion. For any ceremony we can play a special selection as a feature (as opposed to background music) in your ceremony, provided this is okay with your officiant. The pieces which most brides and/or grooms select are the Processional, Register Signing and Recessional music. We will choose a mix of other classical music selections while guests arrive and leave, but let us know if you have favorites from our repertoire, so we can play them while the guests arrive.

Always check with your ceremony's officiant (Minister, Priest, Reverend, Justice of the Peace, Rabbi, etc.) to make sure he or she, and their organization, have no objections to your music selections. You can have ANY piece of music played during ANY part of your ceremony (provided your officiant approves). The categories below list the most popular selections (made by our past clients) for that part of the ceremony, BUT the pieces themselves do not belong exclusively to their category. For example, you can have a "processional" played during your register signing. There are two exceptions to this category non-exclusivity: Wagner's Bridal Chorus and The Wedding March, they are strictly processional and recessional, respectively.

Listen to the short clips of The Cortland Quartet (as violin, violin, viola, cello) playing the most popular wedding pieces. The three marked with an asterisk (*) are longer pieces. Yes! These really are Cortland Music musicians playing the music! We have all these pieces arranged for duo and trio, so if you have booked The Cortland Duo or The Cortland Trio, you should select your wedding music here. (Click on "groups" in the menu above to hear sample clips of different size groups). Not all pieces of music are listed here. Be sure to ask if your favorite piece of music is available, or if you would like to make a special request.