PIPES FOR WEDDINGS

There are many ways the pipes can be used at weddings and ultimately it is up to the couple getting married to determine what is right for them. There are no hard and fast rules, so no one should worry about any type of faux pas per se. There is a general tradition however, for those who might want to build around it in order to have a starting place. I will start by giving a general plan for what I would call a full piper ceremony.

The piper can play outside the church or building in a place offset from the entrance as guests arrive. It’s a good idea to keep this performance time under 15 minutes in order not to wear out the uniqueness of the pipe music or the piper. If you want more playing than that at this point in the event it would be a good idea to have more than one piper. The tunes played here should generally be 4/4 marches or waltzes that are not overly upbeat, but not too slow or downbeat either. "Regal" might be a good word here.

Some of the tunes I play at this point might be:

When inside finding a place for the piper will obviously be dictated by the layout of the space. It would be a good idea to put the piper wherever the pipes sound their best acoustically even if it means he can’t be seen. Also, it may depend on what you do with the piper in the next step.

Some really good tunes for this would be:

Note: Trumpet Voluntary veers a little bit from piping tradition, but it works.

Bride’s Entrance

This is probably one of the two most important places for the pipes to play. I would pick this tune first and build around it. The piper can either remain where he was for the party procession or lead the bride and father in. However, I would suggest the former, so the piper won’t end up in an awkward position at the altar or distract from the bride’s presence in the aisle.

Some good tunes for this would be:

Note: Although Wagner’s The Bridal March and Mendelssohn’s The Wedding March are playable on the pipes they were not written for the pipes and I personally don’t like the way they sound on the pipes. For me, using either of them misses the point of having pipes at a wedding as they are outside the tradition of both the instrument and culture from which it represents. If you want this tune played hire an organist--of course this is just my opinion.

Using the pipes here is highly optional. Traditionally most people have Amazing Grace played here. There’s no inherent problem with that, but I will remind people that Amazing Grace is largely a funeral tune. However, people really love it and often feel they haven’t really heard the pipes if they haven’t heard this one played. Again there nothing inappropriate about using it here, just be mindful of the level of solemnity it evokes.

Here is the other equally important tune of the ceremony. You want this tune to be triumphant of course and probably the most widely used tune here is Scotland the Brave. As a suggestion, a really nice way to execute this part of the ceremony would be to have the piper come down the aisle to meet the couple playing a slow march like Highland Cathedral or Girl from Dungannon and then stop and turn to face the audience. Then when the slow air is finished hold a note for a second and go into Scotland the Brave and lead them out. This of course is just a suggestion--the piper can just as well remain where he’s been for the ceremony and play them out from there.

Some good choices are:

At this point the piper can play just a couple of more upbeat tunes or retreats as people begin to file out. If the piper is to go to reception I would keep this to a minimum so he can get to the next location in order to pipe in the couple when they arrive. If the piper is to entertain at the party some quick marches, strathspeys, reels, jigs or hornpipes would be good. If there is a Haggis the traditional tune to pipe it in is usually A Man’s a Man for A’ That, but any other tune will do. A decent tune to pipe in the couple might be High Road to Gairloch.

Here’s a list of some tunes I would play:

Finally

When all is said and done it’s really up to the bride and groom as to what and how things should be done. The above outline is merely a general structure to work from. You can take as much or as little of the information here as you desire. Sometimes people only want to have the piper play the bride in and play the couple out. It’s all fine.

One last note: The tunes in this outline are all tunes in my repertoire. If there is a tune request outside of these I will have to look at it and see how much it would take to have it ready by the wedding.