Music & Rituals - Weddings

    Throughout my short lifetime, I have sang at many rituals. Merriam Webster defines Ritual as "a ceremonial act or action. : an act or series of acts regularly repeated in a set precise manner." Some of these rituals I have taken part in include: weddings, funerals, Opening Convocation and Founders Day at Converse, churches, festivals, Christmas celebrations, and many others. It has meant so much to me to be able to take part in all of these types of important rituals and make some of them a part of my own personal culture.

    One of my favorite rituals to take part in definitely has to be weddings. The union of two lovers, professing their commitment to always love and care for each other in front of all of their family and friends - it is always such a beautiful moment to witness, and especially take part in. A song I have sang countless of times is "The Prayer" by David W. Foster and Carole Bayer Sager, specifically the version done by Celine Dion and Andrea Bocelli. Growing up it was my most requested song for weddings and I can understand why. The lyrics and the message of the song are quite remarkable when it is matched with the marriage of two people. It is a hope and prayer to God for Him to guide the newly wed couple in His grace and light:

I pray you'll be our eyes

And watch us where we go

And help us to be wise

In times when we don't know

Let this be our prayer

When we lose our way

Lead us to a place

Guide us with your grace

To a place where we'll be safe

Celine and Andrea performed "The Prayer" live at Central Park in New York in 2011:

    This involves another ritual I did in the past but it does involve this same song! A few years back during Covid, I did "Cover Thursdays". I would record and upload a cover every Thursday on my social media and YouTube channel, and one song that was requested a lot was "The Prayer". Here was my cover of "The Prayer" I did two years ago, where I did a duet with myself! I was kind of proud of that haha! :)

    "The Prayer" and weddings have a huge amount of significance to me. The first time I sang this song was at my family friend's Jessie's wedding years ago. I was little, probably around 8 years old and I was also the flower girl in the wedding. My mom still tells me how beautiful it was in the ceremony for me to sing that song in this grand old church - and how it made almost everyone cry. Feeling the love in the room during weddings, having the opportunity to move the couple and the audience into a place of grace through song, and getting to experience the importance of music in a life-changing moment like a wedding... there is no other experience like it. <3