Wedding reading
Music as people arrive
The venue
“Music as people arrive” by The venue is a piece of music read at weddings and funerals alike. It takes about 8 minutes read aloud, usually by a musician. It is still in copyright, so the words are not reprinted here — the reader brings a printed copy.
Why the words are not printed here
The venue plays this and you say nothing. Its only job on your run-sheet is to hold the clock so the start time is honest — a service that says it starts at eleven starts when the music stops, not when people arrive.
Pieces still in copyright are listed by title and author only — we name them and tell you where to get them, but we do not reproduce the words. Public-domain text is printed in your script in full.
What it is about
You say nothing. It is on the run-sheet so the clock tells the truth.
Read at weddings and funerals alike. Themes: before the service · people finding seats · nothing said · the officiant does nothing.
Questions about reading it aloud
How long does “Music as people arrive” take to read aloud?
“Music as people arrive” takes about 8 minutes read aloud at a ceremony pace, which is slower than conversation — roughly 130 words a minute. That is the figure the run-sheet uses when it works out the timing for the whole service.
Who usually reads “Music as people arrive”?
A musician rather than a reader. “Music as people arrive” runs about 8 minutes, and whoever is running the sound needs the exact cue point agreed in advance.
Can “Music as people arrive” be printed in a ceremony script?
Not by us. It is still in copyright, so we name it and point you at a copy rather than reprinting the words. The venue plays this and you say nothing. Its only job on your run-sheet is to hold the clock so the start time is honest — a service that says it starts at eleven starts when the music stops, not when people arrive.
A reading is two minutes of the hour.
The rest is the welcome, the vows, the ring exchange, the pronouncement — and the timing that holds them together. Answer some questions about the couple and get the whole ceremony, written out, with this reading in its place.