Traditional Church Ceremony Music

Both Mendelssohn's Wedding March and Wagner's Bridal Chorus were popularized for use in weddings by the marriage of Victoria, Princess Royal to Prince Frederick William of Prussia in 1858. So neither is actually terribly traditional. In addition, not all churches consider them to be appropriate. The Catholic Church strongly discourages them and some parishes forbid them. Some Lutheran communities also forbid them.

Canon in D is common. I think most places allow this. Jesu Joy of Man's Desiring is also common and would almost certainly be permitted. Are there any hymns your church sings that you like? Those would be church appropriate and the church pianist would already be familiar with them.

We used Jesu Joy of Man's Desiring for the seating of the mothers, Cannon in D for the bridal party and then the flutist joined in when the doors opened for my entrance, and for the exit we used Hornpipe from Water Music. Here is our program that lists all of the songs used during our ceremony and mass.