Wedding Music Guidelines

Congratulations on your engagement! If you are a parishioner, St. Gabriel's is your spiritual home and the perfect place to sanctify your marriage and your new life together. If you are not from the parish, we welcome you to St. Gabriel's Church, which is one of the most beautiful, sacred buildings in the Archdiocese of Newark.

The beauty of your nuptial liturgy will be enhanced by the recent addition of our new Kegg pipe organ, a 31-rank, 3-manual instrument, which made its debut in March of 2009 and is receiving accolades throughout the organ building community as one of the finest in the area. You can view pictures of the organ and its specifications at www.keggorgan.com.

The music that you choose to enhance your wedding Mass or ceremony at St. Gabriel's must be carefully planned in order to make this day be a truly sacred event. Our wedding music worksheet will help you in choosing music which is liturgically appropriate and consistent with the guidelines set forth by the Vatican and the Archdiocese of Newark. Samples of all the wedding music can be found to the right in our Wedding Music resource panel. Because of this guiding objective, the use of any secular, popular or Broadway music (with or without lyrics) is strictly prohibited. If the piece was not composed for use in a liturgical service, it is not appropriate for use at St. Gabriel's. It is the intent of the Music Ministry staff that the music heard at your wedding be professional, appropriate and memorable.

Your wedding day will begin in a truly blessed way if you invest the time and energy in the music selection process. The Wedding Music Guidelines are designed to set out the policies for the use of music for weddings at St. Gabriel's. It explains the choices of music available as well as the fees which are involved. Please read this document carefully. By initialing the pages you are agreeing to be bound by its contents.

If you have any questions, please feel free to get in touch with the Director of Music. We look forward to working with you!