How Instrument Choice Will Ensure Your Wedding Is Unique

Everyone wants their wedding to be the most memorable event of the social season. We get it—not only is it one of the most important days of your life, you’re also investing your time and money into making it unforgettable for your guests.

One sure-fire way to make your wedding stand out is by hand-selecting the instruments and performers at your ceremony. Here’s how to make it happen.

Turn a classic into a new song with an unusual instrument choice

Have you turned your nose up a much-loved wedding song, simply because it’s overplayed? Maybe the issue isn’t the song, but the arrangement or the instrument it’s played on. Take, for example, the Carpenters’ song, “We’ve Only Just Begun,” which is typically performed on the piano or organ.

“[It] sounds noticeably different than when that same melody is soulfully teased from the depths of an alto saxophone, nurtured from the bell of a French horn, plucked from the strings of a harp, or breathed to life through the reeds of a harmonica,” writes Tricia Spencer on the Huffington Post.

Switching up the musical instruments on a classic love song can make for a beautiful and unexpected choice. We find this is often the case with acoustic wedding music. If you want to make a song fresh again, you might ask for your wedding music to be played on harp, by a string trio, or by a string quartet instead of on piano. Of course, dependent on the song, simply having live guitar music for your wedding ceremony might be enough to make it stand out.

Choose a national instrument that reflects your heritage

A friend once told me about one of the most beautiful wedding music performances that she ever witnessed. At a wedding in Canada, the couple had hired their favorite live band for the after-dinner party. However, it was the ceremony music that moved her to tears—an indigenous woman performed traditional drums, significant because the groom had grown up in a First Nations community.

Choosing a national instrument that reflects your personal or family history can be powerful—but do it with care. While bagpipe music for weddings bring a tear to many eyes (for both positive and negative reasons!) and can make for a memorable performance, consider their heritage and meaning in your own life. If you have a connection to Scotland, bagpipes make perfect sense. Otherwise, you might want to give them a pass.

Same goes for didgeridoos, guzhengs, and all other sorts of national instruments. Even if it’s trendy or has a wow factor, your guests might raise their eyebrows at an unusual instrument if it’s out of context.

Get your guests to play homemade instruments

Part of the beauty of a wedding ceremony is the marriage of two families, two sets of friends, and two lives. If you want a moment that’s truly symbolic of this, why not get guests to participate in the music-making memories?

Hand out egg shakers or homemade noisemakers at the beginning of the ceremony. Once the deal is sealed, invite your guests to join the band in celebrating your new life together.

Live music is the most unique choice of all

Brass is bold, strings are serene, and harps are harmonious. But you don’t need to reinvent the wheel, have an over-the-top performance, or even learn to play the nose flute—just choosing to have live music at your wedding will make it unique! Ultimately, choosing performers that are suited to your atmosphere, venue and who you are as a couple will make a more powerful statement than any individual instrument ever could.