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Mendelssohn's Wedding March popularised at a royal wedding

When
1847
Where
St Peter's Church, Tiverton, England
Episodes
1

Felix Mendelssohn's Wedding March gained widespread popularity after being selected for the marriage of Princess Victoria to Prince Frederick William of Prussia on 25 January 1858. Although the piece was written in 1842 and used earlier in 1847, this royal wedding established its status as a standard wedding march.

Episodes

  1. 2 June 1847 · St Peter's Church, Tiverton, EnglandFirst Known Wedding Usage

    The first known instance of the Wedding March being used at a wedding occurred on 2 June 1847 at St Peter's Church, Tiverton, England.

Background and detail

Background. Mendelssohn's Wedding March, composed in 1842 as part of his incidental music for A Midsummer Night's Dream, is widely recognized as a standard wedding piece. It is frequently played on church pipe organs during wedding recessions in Western countries, often stripped of its original episodes.

Prior Usage. The first known instance of the piece being used at a wedding occurred on 2 June 1847 at St Peter's Church, Tiverton, England. Organist Samuel Reay performed the march for the marriage of Dorothy Carew and Tom Daniel, establishing an early precedent for its ceremonial use.

Royal Adoption. The piece became popular at weddings when it was selected by Victoria, The Princess Royal, for her marriage to Prince Frederick William of Prussia on 25 January 1858. This royal endorsement significantly elevated the march's status in ceremonial contexts.

People involved

Sources

  1. Wedding March (Mendelssohn) Wikipedia, revision of 2026-10-01

Machine-drafted from the cited Wikipedia passages and checked by a reviewing model, not by a human editor. Every passage cites the revision it was written from; dates and places follow those passages.