Music to process by...

(Yup, I just said proCESS.  As in, walking down the aisle.  Try it with a British accent and it sounds even more awesome!)

I am a girl who loves music.  I was in band and orchestra for years (clarinets rule!)  Once I got to college, I got involved in other things, but my love for music remained.

I haven't been able to picture the whole ceremony just yet, but I have known from the beginning that I would like live music for the processional and recessional.  I was leaning toward a string trio or quartet, but I couldn't quite determine what kind of music they should play.  Classical is the traditional route, and I am a fan (see band/orchestra involvement above), but Mr. C is not the band/orchestra kid that I am, so that didn't seem like the right choice as it wouldn't mean that much to him.  I figured I'd just poke around and see what I found, and maybe it would work itself out.  Perhaps there would be some people who would learn some popular songs for our event?

I did some research on string quartets, trios, and duos in Austin, but wasn't really feeling any of them that much.  I found a string group in San Antonio and another one in Houston that both made a point to emphasize their popular music repertoire, but they would have had to travel, and they were pretty costly already.

Then I stumbled on Stephen Bright, who is a classical harp/cathedral guitarist in Austin.

A cathedral guitar has 10 strings:

Image via Cathedral Guitar

Pretty cool, no?  I have always loved acoustic guitar music, and this seemed like fancied-up acoustic guitar, which both Mr. C and I could appreciate and enjoy.

Stephen has a wealth of mp3s on his site, showcasing his range of songs.  Finding Death Cab for Cutie listed right next to Nickel Creek made me think that Stephen was definitely our guy.  After sending him a quick email, he responded that he was available for our date!  He also said he'd be happy to learn whatever songs we would like to have played for our ceremony, as he wholeheartedly believes people should have the music that matters to them at their wedding.

Sold!  Stephen will be providing his gorgeous guitar music for our ceremony.  I've identified the song I'll be walking down the aisle to, but have yet to decide on the other tunes.  I'm sure he'll make them all sound beautiful.

Did you have a preference for live vs. recorded music at your ceremony?   How did you find your ceremony musicians?