For more information, or to book,
please contact me at
(906) 458-0999 or
gmacg@chartermi.net

Weddings With Bagpipes in Upper Michigan,

Wisconsin, and Mackinac Island

 

I usually begin with a prelude of traditional marches, retreats and waltzes. When the bride enters the sanctuary, I play Mairi’s Wedding. Usually I do not play during the actual service. However, I have a large repertoire of church music, and it is a nice touch to accompany a candle ceremony, or Holy Communion with hymns on the Scottish Small Pipes. When the celebrant announces the newlyweds, I may play Highland Wedding as they leave the church. Then, as a postlude, or during the receiving line I play 10-20 minutes of hornpipes, reels and other festive pieces. Now that is just a typical wedding. If you have any other ideas or if you want other music, I will do whatever you want. I often coordinate with organists, pianists, string quartets, or trumpeters. For the reception, I can play music for listening, country-dance music or highland dancing music. I can play the bride and groom into the hall ... again, whatever you want.

Outdoor weddings are my most common form of ceremony. The Great Highland Bagpipes are particularly apt for outdoor weddings because even though they require no electricity or power (other than my lungs), they can still fill an outdoor ‘chapel’ with sound. In the past year alone I played many weddings at Mackinac Island gazebos and gardens, on the beaches of the U.P. and Northern Michigan, deep in the woods on Drummond Island and near Good Hart, and next to the headworks of the old Cleveland Cliffs mineshafts in Ishpeming.

Northern Michigan, Mackinac Island, Wisconsin