I tried to find an old well-established reason about why June became a month for weddings and the origin of the June Bride. There were not many posted on the Net and those that were, were mostly vague explanations.
One is that June is the end of harvest time in most countries and therefore, a time for celebration. So, why not a wedding. Another one is that June is named after Juno, the Roman goddess of marriage and childbirth. So, it was the belief that those who marry during this month will be blessed with a happy, prosperous marriage.
More recent explanations attribute the tradition to Frances Folsom, the first publicized June Bride. She was a 21-year-old who married the 49-year-old Grover Cleveland, the then president of the United States at the White House on June 2, 1886. It is said that this was what later inspired Florenz Zeigfeld to come up with a June Bride in the parade of Calendar Girls in his Ziegfeld Follies.
February is said to have become the wedding month of choice for most couples. But still starry-eyed girls still dream of one day walking down the aisle gowned in white as a June bride to meet a groom who is the epitome of Prince Charming. And not to forget with a music soundtrack to match.
The marriage vows is the most important part of the wedding ceremony. Still, it is a fact that it is the music that sets the tone of the proceedings. And how nice to know that today’s bride has a lot of beautiful songs on which she can build her memories on.
Acknowledged current leader of the pack today is Perfect by Ed Sheeran. “You are perfect…” sang Sheeran to his bride, his high school sweetheart Cherry Seaborne and he sounds so sincere. It is no wonder then that it has become a wedding favorite for many. The No. 1 selling tune is included in his third album ÷ (Divide) from 2017.
Hereabouts the top choice of hip couples of the moment is Pasilyo by the band Sunkissed Lola. It is a simple song with a light pop melody but that pasilyo means the church aisle. If a bride wants something Filipino but a bit more traditional, she can walk to the tune of Sharon Cuneta’s Ikaw. But if she feels like showing off her happiness from the start, she can enter the church with some dance moves with Pasilyo.
She can also choose from these other promises of undying love. Paraluman by Adie; Ikaw Lang by Nobita; Forevermore by Side A; Ngayon at Kailanman by Basil Valdez; You are My Song by Regine Velasquez; Kahit Kailan by South Border; Panalangin by the Apo Hiking Society; Hanggang by Wency Cornejo; Kahit Maputi Na ang Buhok Ko by Rey Valera; Pangako Sa‘yo, also by Valera; and Here and Now by Jose Mari Chan.
While it would be really nice to have an all-Pinoy soundtrack for a wedding, I have to admit that there are more choices, both pop and classical from among foreign works. Mendelssohn’s Wedding March and Beethoven’s Ode to Joy remain huge favorites for couples who refuse to rock the boat and want to stick to the time-tested. But for those who want more exciting sounds, here are some suggestions.
A Thousand Years by Christina Perri; All of Me by John Legend; I’m Yours by Jason Mraz; Can’t Help Falling in Love by Elvis Presley; The Promise by Barbra Streisand; Looking Through the Eyes of Love by Maureen McGovern; I Do Cherish You by 98 Degrees; Make You Feel My Love by Adele; Marry You by Bruno Mars; Just the Way You Are by Billy Joel; Unchained Melody by the Righteous Brothers; Thinking Out Loud, also by Sheeran; The Prayer by Celine Dion and Andrea Bocelli and many others.
June brides and also those from other months can walk down the aisle to these tunes, or dance to them or simply go about savoring the moment and storing up memories with these songs in the background.