if its not in a church whats the problem ?

Bill, despite what the priest or minister approves, I would try to maintain some sense of solemnity for the music. In religious services my usual policy is that once the liturgy begins, the music reflects the theme and solemnity of the service. I have been known to play "One Hand, One Heart" and a few other 'secular' songs, but mostly I try to stay with 'religious' music. For the preludes, processional, recessional and postludes my biases are not so narrow.

ps- back in the early 70's I played the intro to 'Smoke on the Water' as a dare for my best friend's wedding; he heard it! Anyway, I just don't care for or think the chosen songs for your wedding are appropriate or good enough for any wedding service. They seem hokey or cheesy (IMO) and don't seem to do the idea of a 'wedding' justice.

Hey, I'm an old goat anyway, so who cares what I think.

[This message has been edited by cassp (edited 03-09-2005).]

To address your other question - my band has played for my parish's annual dinner dance and festival for many years. At first, people were surprised to hear me playing rock n' roll, but now they look forward to hearing the band.

Not to say that you didn't, but I played different music in church than I ever would at a dance. It sounds to me like the congregation wouldn't have supported a Sunday dance no matter who played. You just happened to be the unfortunate party.