Most loved Filipino wedding songs

I read somewhere that June has lost the crown. December is now the most popular month for weddings hereabouts. I do not know if there is any truth to that. What I know to be a fact is that it is still with the arrival of the month of June that our thoughts usually turn to weddings. This must be due to that somebody who gave June to a bride when he put together a line-up of calendar girls. After that, girls just started dreaming of becoming a June bride. Or maybe it was because June is the month that rhymes with honeymoon. 

Whatever the reason behind June’s association with weddings, it is now a fact that we have reached June in the 2017 calendar. We are actually halfway through the year, but who is thinking of that. There are still six months to go before the dreaded hustle and bustle of December. As of now, talks and thoughts have turned again to weddings and as everybody surely knows, music plays a big part in the wedding ceremony. 

I grew up with grandmothers and grandfathers who sang in church for weddings. What I remember most as a kid was how strict they were about the choice of songs. The bride enters the church only to the tune of The Bridal Chorus by Wagner from the opera Lohengrin, and the bride and groom will exit with Mendelssohn’s Wedding March from A Midsummer’s Night Dream. There were only a few choices for the in-between songs — Because and O Promise Me. The Lord’s Prayer if performed during Mass had to be by Malotte and the Ave Maria by Bach/Gounod or Schubert. Eyebrows rise if the bride chooses the one by Santiago instead. As for secular tunes like The Way You Look Tonight and All The Things You Are, they only get played at the reception.

I think the first departure from traditional music came with the popularity of the movie Love Story where Ali McGraw married Ryan O’Neal to the tune of Pachelbel’s Canon in D. They were so young and so in love, and everybody loved the movie and the music. It was a most welcome change. And then there was the beautiful theme song by Francis Lai, which truly makes a most fitting wedding song. After that, everything broke loose and brides and grooms began choosing songs that recall their own love stories and express their hopes for the future. It was a major break from tradition but certainly makes the wedding vows more meaningful.

A sweet, refreshing change these past years is the tendency of couples to use Pinoy songs for their weddings. Thanks to the Twilight series, A Thousand Years by Christina Perri and thanks to Judy Ann Santos’ surprising choice, Runaway by The Corrs remain big favorites. Most of the others though are choosing songs by Sharon Cuneta, Regine Velasquez, Basil Valdez and Martin Nievera to say their vows with.

A song common to Sharon, Regine and Basil and the most popular for local weddings is Ikaw, which has a melody composed by Louie Ocampo with lyrics by George Canseco. It was first recorded by Sharon as the theme for a movie of the same title that also starred Ariel Rivera, who also recorded his own version, plus a duet with Sharon. This is a song that never fails to touch listeners but very difficult to sing. If you want it in your wedding but you do not have the vocal chops for it, then leave the singing to the professionals.

The popular wedding songs recorded by Sharon are Sana’y Wala Nang Wakas, Pangako Sa ‘yo, Bituing Walang Ningning and if you want a lighthearted but meaningful touch Kahit Maputi Na Ang Buhok Ko. Regine has You Are My Song, Pangarap Ko Ang Ibigin Ka, Araw Gabi and Pangako. From Basil comes Ngayon At Kailanman, Hanggang Sa Dulo Ng Walang Hanggan and You. If the couple want to go all Filipino, Basil also has his own Ave Maria composed by Vehnee Saturno. As for Martin, he is also known for You Are My Song, Ikaw Ang Aking Pangarap, Each Day With You, Be My Lady and Forever.

Other wedding songs that will surely help make the event memorable are Till I Met You by Kuh Ledesma; Minsan Lang Kitang Iibigin by Ariel Rivera; Forevermore by Side A; Hanggang by Wency Cornejo; Ikaw by Yeng Constantino; So It’s You by Raymond Lauchengco; Pangarap Ko Ang lbigin Ka by Ogie Alcasid; Forever’s Not Enough by Sarah Geronimo; Ikaw Lang Ang Aking Mahal by VST & Co.; and many more.