wedding sets

Whistle
1

The session band I play with has gotten an offer to play at a wedding for a wonderful pocketful of cash, free dinner and all the beer we want. It will be out in the woods, and from my calculations they want us to play about 2 or so hours. Any suggestions on sets that would work as a kind of calm background to the wedding? I have a number of airs, but I know how knowledgable all of you are in this area.

We are also playing an hour long set during the reception, people want to dance to it. Any set suggestions there?

2

I Buried My Wife and Danced on Her Grave must be there, if your musicians can keep a straight face. :slight_smile:

3

An Phish Fluich makes a great recessional.

Tunes we use for weddings include:
Maury’s Wedding
Tripping up the Stair
The Bride’s Favorite
The Joy of My Life
My Darling Asleep
Hewlett

Of course, lots of waltzes
Oh, Give Me Your Hand
Fanny Poer
The South Wind
The Gentle Maiden

4

Lord Inchiquin
Fig for a Kiss
Hornpipes- you pick
Kerfunken Jig
Scots Air
Lament for Limerick
Summertime (Samdhra or something)
Blind Mary

Look at the 110 Ireland’s Best Slow Airs book. Tons of suitable music. They’re not all slow tunes. Look at the Slow Airs and Miscellaneous sections of Clips.
Tony

5

Some of my favorites not mentioned above are:

  • Leon’s Waltz (you can hear it on the Wooden flute Obsession CD).
  • Star of County Down.
  • Hobart’s Transformation
  • Sunset Reel

Books to discover more tunes:
In addition to Mel Bay’s 110 Best Slow Airs mentioned above.
I’d also recommend 2 books:


The Waltz Book & The Waltz Book II.
Both are “collected and edited by Bill Matthiesen… The collection features traditional and modern waltzes that come from all over America – as well as from England, Scotland, Ireland, Wales, Norway, Sweden, France, Cape Breton, and French Canada.”
You can find it House of Music Tradition under Fiddle](http://www.hmtrad.com/catalog/books/fiddletunes.html%3EFiddle) Tunes. or you can get them for Bill Matthiesen. (E-mail me and I send you the address and phone published in the back of the book).

Hope this helps you …

6

And if they ask, you’d better tell 'em that it translates to “The Choice Wife”, and not its, um, racier title!

Seriously.

7

I have a church bulletin with it proudly in the credits (in Gaelage, of course). I gave “The Choice Wife” and “O’Farell’s Welcome to Limerick” as alternate titles, but they preferred the Irish.

I thought it might be very appropriate because the lady’s first name was Molly. :smiling_imp: When she phoned, I said, “So you’re an Irish Molly, huh?” before I even thought of what that meant.

The band got a $200 tip, BTW. :sunglasses:

8

…and to end the evening we always play Fanny Power!

David