Ceremony Ethnography In North American culture, weddings are usually a lavish celebration of joining two families. Recently, at a wedding I attended with my family, I noticed many things about the role of music in the wedding ceremony. Usually weddings are composed of a ceremony, with a reception or celebration afterwards. In this wedding, there was a limited role of music in the actual ceremony (other than the bridal procession/ “Here Comes the Bride” and when the newlyweds exited at the end of the wedding), however the role of music was more substantial in the wedding reception (in which there was celebratory music and dancing). Though the actual wedding ceremony could have taken place without music, it is tradition to have music near the beginning and end of these ceremonies. The ceremony could have been performed without sound in cases where the couple getting married and the wedding officiant could communicate with sign language, although this is an unlikely scenario in most cases. If the music for the bridal procession was different, it would probably set a different tone for the ceremony (more or less serious, etc.). The purpose of music in this wedding was to celebrate the merging of the …show more content…
I believe that the primary purpose of music in wedding ceremonies is for celebration, however I believe that the differing sounds of music heard towards the beginning and end of the ceremony signify a change