How to Commission 
Music for Your Wedding

The music you heard in the clickable sample above was "commissioned" in 1986 by a bride's mother as a surprise gift for the bride and groom. When someone contracts with a composer to create a new musical work, the process is called "commissioning." A price for the work is agreed upon along with the specifics of the work such as instrumentation, length, style, etc. The finished work usually bears an inscription crediting the sponsor of the work. In this way, music lovers, who are not themselves creators, can help bring a new original piece of music into the world. It is customary for the rights in a commissioned musical work to remain with the composer. 

There is not a lot of mystery about commissioning music. But since most folks don't do it often, they don't know what's involved and thus may be reticent about approaching a composer. I hope this page will help alleviate some of that and leave you the reader more ready to consider it.

In the case of Wedding Processional, I was called by the bride's mother well in advance of the wedding. She was taking quite a chance as this project was to be a secret -- the gift of a wedding march would be unveiled at the wedding rehearsal!! I wouldn't recommend that in most cases, but here it worked out fabulously and others have used this wedding march in their weddings as years passed. The bride has kept in touch over the years and in a few years her daughter will march down the aisle to Wedding Processional. But I'm getting ahead of myself.

There was no internet in those days, so the mother couldn't hear my work as you the reader do now. The mother and daughter had heard my music in various church choir and small ensemble situations and knew that I was also a performing musician in her community. The mother called to local musicians union for a referral and a contact phone number for me.

The wedding was to be in a medium sized Episcopal church as a formal wedding service. The organist was alerted to the plan of new music. The bride had played in school band, had an appreciation of music and family friends who played in semi-professional ensembles. We arranged for me to also consult with the organist. Since church organs are often very individual, their capacities and sounds (called "registrations") are all different. So if I were to write an organ piece, I needed to know the capacity of the particular organ and the background of the organist. I also asked the mother such questions as how many bridesmaids would be involved as this would give me an indication of how long the piece needed to be. We settled on the idea of a piece with optional repeatable sections so that the piece would sound well now matter how long or short a time was used for the processional. We settled on a price, signed a contract and I began composing something "regal, majestic and fairly traditional."

As the wedding date neared, there was a slight change. The bride had two friends who played trumpet and would be invited to the wedding. Would it be possible for me to write in some trumpet parts that could be played by them during the wedding march? Secret, of course. So I contacted the trumpet players. Our conspiracy laid out plans as to exactly when they would play and I would send them the music. The mother made a slight adjustment in the fee to cover my extra work and we proceded.

As part of the conspiracy and because I lived close by, I attended the wedding rehearsal. Naturally, the bride and groom thought I was "one of the musicians" at first. As the organist began playing Wedding Processional (instead of "Here Comes the Bride," we could see the look of surprise in the bride's eyes. Her mother then quickly introduced me as the composer of her wedding march while the bridesmaids were walking down the aisle. Our bride was now preparing for her entry when she was again surprised by the trumpets announcing the bridal entry. Halfway down the aisle, she turned to see her trumpet player friends up in the second story organ loft. This was one happy bride who has the long memory of a special piece of music written just for her and her groom. Both heartily approved the piece and were happy to see it published. 

This is just one example of how commissioning music for a wedding -- or any special event for that matter -- can work. Sometimes a couple have a poem written by a friend and would like it set to music so their wedding singer can sing it. Or perhaps they have a favorite song they would like arranged for a string quartet. 

Ken Davies can provide you with custom written original music or arrangements of your favorite songs for almost any vocal or instrumental group. Email me to discuss your ideas and budget.

To hear more of my music work, visit my publications pages and listen to a variety of audio files of both classical and pop music.