You will want to avoid dead spaces in your wedding ceremony, therefore, it is best to have the harp play soft background wedding music for the lighting of the unity candle. This will add a very romantic air to an otherwise awkward moment. The perfect touch!

Brides tell me that songs like the Bridal Chorus and Wedding March sound so much prettier on a harp than they do on a piano or organ. When you have a harp for your wedding ceremony, you really don't need an organist or pianist. The grand concert harp stands alone as a solo instrument. The harp can provide the same rich, full sound you get with an organ and the bonus is that it won't sound like funeral music.

No matter what you read about it in the bridal magazines, your guests do not like being dismissed row by row. I don't care what the article says. I know because I sit front and center at every wedding, not behind the scenes, and I see the expressions on guests faces. If they are close enough to the front, I also hear their comments!

They hate it, absolutely hate it. They don't like to wait, and they don't like being put on the spot. Many, many times guests will simply get up and leave if they see they are going to have to go through that. Dismissing row by row cheats your wedding party out of any complements they would receive from your guests in a receiving line. Lets face it, your wedding party has had to undergo a stressful time also, and they probably have given you a bridal shower, and taken their time to attend a rehearsal. They deserve to be acknowledged for their efforts.

Most importantly, dismissing row by row cheats your parents out of receiving their just rewards for having done such a great job in raising you. They will miss out not only on receiving complements from the guests, but also from hearing the complements you receive. This is simply not fair to them.

It is so much better to have a receiving line outside or at the wedding reception. The reception is a great time to personally acknowledge your guests.

The postlude shouldn't take more than 10-15 minutes at the very most. You want your guests to remember your wedding for it's beauty, not for the long wait at the end. Keep it beautiful, keep it simple.