Another Day to Remember

Wedding Music Experts Offer Tips for Music Selection;
Release Follow-Up Collection of Ceremony and Reception Favorites

 

Another Day to Remember
Wedding Music Experts Offer Tips for Music Selection; Release Follow-Up Collection of Ceremony and Reception Favorites

 

NEW PRAGUE, MN (July 1, 2005) - With a bestselling CD and performances at more than 200 weddings under their belts, professional pianists Tim and Ryan O'Neill have been helping couples make the perfect wedding music choices for years. As a follow-up to their first popular album of wedding classics, The O'Neill Brothers have released A Day to Remember, Volume II - a collection of traditional and contemporary wedding favorites.

"After we released our first collection of wedding music, we received a lot of input from brides who loved the songs, but didn't find all of their favorites. We started keeping track of their most-requested tunes and quickly compiled the song list for Volume II," says Tim O'Neill. Their first CD, A Day to Remember: Volume I, has become the best selling wedding CD on weddingchannel.com and theknot.com.

The O'Neill Brothers have organized the tracks on their wedding-themed CDs into the various parts of a typical wedding day to help couples with their music selections. Prelude and processional tracks on A Day to Remember, Volume II include Kenny G's "The Wedding Song," Vangelis's "Hymne," and Wagner's "Bridal Chorus (Here Comes the Bride)." Ceremony suggestions include Twila Paris's "How Beautiful," and an instrumental version of "The Prayer" (as recorded by Celine Dion and Andrea Bocelli). Recessional favorites are "Finale" from Handel's Water Music and "Trumpet Tune" by Purcell. Popular standards "It Had to Be You" and "Unforgettable" are the suggested reception selections. Tim and Ryan have also included an original composition that they hope will become a new wedding standard, "Canon in F."

For brides and grooms still working to narrow their music choices for the big day, Tim and Ryan offer the following tips:

Consider the theme or style of your wedding for help in selecting the type of music you'd like to use and musicians you'd like to have play. Is your setting very classic? Consider a string quartet. Romantic? How about a harp? Traditional? Hire a pianist or organist.

Check with the contact person at your venue. Many venues, particularly churches, have rules about the type of music that's allowed. Also, some venues may have a list of pre- approved ceremony musicians from which to choose.

Check in with your spouse-to-be. It'll be more memorable for both of you if you make the selections together, and you might be surprised to find out that they have some specific ideas about the music for the wedding.

Bend a friend's ear. Talk to a friend who's recently gotten married about their experiences. Ask for helpful tips about what they did that they liked or what they would've done differently. They may even be able to refer to you musicians, or recommend some song selections.

Provide the necessary tools. When you've finalized the song list and booked your wedding musicians, don't forget to provide the sheet music for the pieces you've chosen. Work with the contact person at your venue to arrange for a practice session in the space prior to the event.

Budget tips: Consider hiring musicians who multi-task. Select an instrumentalist who can also accompany your soloist. If you're on a really tight budget, consider hiring a pianist or guitarist who can play and sing, or use prerecorded music.

Music fans' interest in A Day to Remember (and the O'Neill Brothers' 20 other CDs) has helped Tim and Ryan sell more than one million CDs - without being associated with a major record label. Along the way, the brothers have written and performed music for HBO (including music for "Sex and the City"), NBC and ESPN; and performed for President George H.W. Bush. In February and May of 2005, their 3-CD set of romantic songs, From the Heart, hit Billboard magazine's Top Pop Catalog Album chart.

For more information, visit www.pianobrothers.com.