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Friday, May 24, 2013
 
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Matt Mazzoni
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Weddings and Funerals

Music for weddings and funerals at Mary Queen of Peace is coordinated through the music director, who is also the primary musician for these liturgies. We have the musical resources to create unique and liturgically appropriate celebrations that appropriately reflect your desired tastes and wishes. We have male and female vocal soloists who also serve as cantors for these events available for hire, and a diversity of instruments including organ, piano, flute, violin, and trumpet, as well as the possibility for others.

Planning is crucial for the success of these events. Once an event is scheduled with the church, contact the music director immediately to begin consultation for planning music. The music director may be contact by phone… or by email at …. Typically, at least one meeting either in person or over the phone is needed to properly plan these liturgies, often with the need for some additional follow-up.

Because of the sacred and spiritual nature of these liturgies, Mary Queen of Peace has a strict policy enforcing the use of sacred and appropriate classical selections for these liturgical events. Non-sacred music is not allowed during any part of the liturgical celebration, including preludes, postludes, and other portions not strictly within the Mass. All music for any wedding or funeral must be approved by the music director prior to the event. Should an inappropriate selection occur, the music director will suggest a suitable alternative.

Learn More About Weddings and Funerals

For help with planning your wedding or funeral, please follow the links below:

Click here to expand contentClick here to collapse content  Weddings

Congratulations on your engagement! Music can play an important role in your wedding, helping create an atmosphere and celebration that truly reflects both the sanctity of the occasion as well as desired mood of the occasion. Weddings at MQP attempt to give the bride and groom “what they want” while remaining within the established boundaries of the Church. Weddings are joyful events, but planning a wedding can often be stressful with a seemingly endless parade of decisions to be made over seemingly minor details. Understanding that, we suggest a sequence to follow to help plan the music for your wedding with ease.

1. The Date:
Once you have scheduled the wedding with the parish office, contact the music director to begin the musical arrangements. You will schedule a meeting with the music director to start to plan the music of the liturgy, and if you know that you want some additional musicians, mention them at this time so they can be contracted.

2. Homework
Before the meeting, download the “Wedding Music Planning Guide” and “Suggested Musical Selections” below. Take some time to browse this material and begin to think about your “must have” and “no way” selections. Try also to consider the mood of the liturgy- are you more formal or casual? Moving liturgy can be created either way.

3. The Meeting
When you meet the music director, you will attempt to settle on as much of the music as possible. The music director will be happy to demonstrate some musical selections in the church so long as it is available. Keep an open mind-you might find you like something you didn’t even know existed. It is also possible to use combinations of instruments at different times in the service- you can have organ in some places, piano in others, guitar in others, so long as we can get the people!

4. Follow up
It may be necessary to follow up or even have a second meeting to make the final musical selections for the wedding. Once the final music list has been selected, the music director must approve that all of the selections are appropriate for use in the wedding liturgy.

5. The Program
After the final song list is approved, feel free to have any programs printed. Some programs are very general with only a rough outline of the wedding liturgy, while others are quite detailed. If desired, the music director can help make suggestions regarding how to list music in the program.

6. The Rehearsal
It is seldom necessary to have the musicians present at the wedding rehearsal, and requesting it may incur an additional fee. Musicians may need to rehearse on their own time away from the wedding rehearsal, though experienced musicians probably only need to come approximately one hour prior to the wedding to rehearse.

7. The Big Day
This is the time to just enjoy the fruits of all of the planning that went into your wedding. Make sure that you have a “coordinator” who can let the musicians know when it is time to begin the processional, and have a blessed marriage!

Click here to expand contentClick here to collapse content  Funerals

Please know that you have our prayers and sympathy in this time of loss. Funerals are often highly stressful times, due to the complexity of the arrangements and short time-frame involved. We offer you these materials so that the music can be planned as easily as possible.

Once you schedule your funeral with the church, please contact the music director to confirm his availability for your funeral date and time, or allow him the opportunity to find a substitute. A meeting is generally necessary to plan the funeral, which can be done over the phone or in-person. Should you come in to meet with a priest to select readings, etc., you can also plan to meet at the same time with the music director to select music.

Take a minute to consider if there are any songs you “must have” in the funeral. So long as they are appropriate liturgical music selections, we will do our best to accommodate you. You may also download the “Funeral Music Planner” and “Funeral Music Suggestion Guide” to help.