Hiring A Bagpiper To Play At Your Wedding
Author: Yorkshire Bagpiper Bagpipers are becoming more and more popular at both English and Indian weddings.
For an English wedding a solo piper is most commonly booked to pipe guests into the wedding ceremony and then play them out again. The music performed will generally include traditional Scottish marches such as Scotland The Brave, Maries Wedding, Bonnie Lass of Fife, Barren Rocks of Aden and Bonnie Soldier, Highland Wedding etc. Sometimes the bride will request the piper to lead her down the aisle, and then pipe the newly wed couple out after the ceremony. It is also not uncommon for the piper to be asked to play during the signing of the register. If this is the case the piper is usually expected to play tunes that most guests are likely to know or a tune that means a lot to the bride and groom. Generally these tunes include Amazing Grace, Skye Boat Song, The Flower of Scotland, or Highland Cathedral.
After the ceremony the piper is generally requested to play in the background while photos are being taken and also to pose in one or two photos (usually just with the bride and groom, but also any photo of all the men wearing kilts). The music the piper plays is generally left to his discretion at this point and he may play a mixture of slow airs, marches, strathspeys, jigs and reels, etc.
In many cases this is all that is required of a piper but it is also traditional for the piper to pipe guests into the reception and then the bride and groom to the top table. The piper is generally asked to play a tune that will get the guests clapping their hands. Scotland The Brave always accomplishes this, as does The Black Bear, and Cock Of The North.
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