A good wedding song sounds like the two of you, and most famous ones do not. Below are the songs couples keep coming back to for the first dance, the aisle and the reception, each with a line on why it earns its spot. If none of them say it quite right, the last section is about having one written from your own story.
First dance classics
These have been first-dance songs for decades because they are slow enough to dance to and plain enough to mean exactly what they say.
- At Last by Etta James (1960). The first dance, full stop. Three minutes and one idea.
- Can't Help Falling in Love by Elvis Presley (1961). Gentle waltz tempo, easy for two nervous people to sway to.
- Stand by Me by Ben E. King (1961). It is a promise, not a love song. So are vows.
- Wonderful Tonight by Eric Clapton (1977). Written about getting ready to go out together. Fits the day.
- Unchained Melody by The Righteous Brothers (1965). Big and slow. The room goes quiet.
- The Way You Look Tonight by Frank Sinatra (1964). For couples who want a foxtrot and a little swagger.
Modern first dance songs
The songs that have replaced the classics at most weddings since about 2010. They are more specific than the classics, and that is the appeal.
- Perfect by Ed Sheeran (2017). Written as a wedding song and it shows. The most requested first dance of the last decade.
- Thinking Out Loud by Ed Sheeran (2014). About growing old together, so it plays well for second marriages too.
- All of Me by John Legend (2013). Piano and one voice. The lyric admits the other person is not perfect, which is rarer than it should be.
- A Thousand Years by Christina Perri (2011). The go-to processional for couples who want strings.
- Make You Feel My Love by Adele (2008). A Bob Dylan song that Adele's version turned into a vow.
- Lover by Taylor Swift (2019). Waltz time and a bridge that reads like a toast.
- Beyond by Leon Bridges (2018). Soul without the wedding-song feel.
- Best Part by Daniel Caesar feat. H.E.R. (2017). A duet, so it works when both of you want a voice in it.
- Until I Found You by Stephen Sanchez (2021). A new song that sounds like a 1950s one. Good if your families span generations.
- Golden Hour by JVKE (2022). Piano-led and cinematic. Popular with couples who met recently.
Country wedding songs
Country is the most-chosen genre for the wedding songs we write (more on that below), and these are the ones couples ask for by name.
- Die a Happy Man by Thomas Rhett (2015). He wrote it for his wife. Couples borrow it anyway.
- Speechless by Dan + Shay (2018). About the moment she walks in. Made for the aisle.
- Bless the Broken Road by Rascal Flatts (2004). For couples whose story took a while to get here.
- Amazed by Lonestar (1999). The country first dance of the early 2000s, and it still holds up.
- Yours by Russell Dickerson (2015). A quieter choice with a big chorus.
Walking down the aisle
Processional songs need a slow, steady pulse and no surprise tempo changes. These deliver that.
- Here Comes the Sun by The Beatles (1969). Bright and hopeful. Works for an outdoor ceremony especially.
- First Day of My Life by Bright Eyes (2005). Small and acoustic. Right for a ceremony of thirty people.
- Ho Hey by The Lumineers (2012). For a barn or a backyard. Guests will clap along whether you ask them to or not.
- Yellow by Coldplay (2000). An unexpected processional that always lands.
Reception songs that fill the floor
After the first dance the job changes. Get everyone up, including the relatives who swear they do not dance.
- Marry You by Bruno Mars (2010). The song to play right after the first dance ends.
- September by Earth, Wind & Fire (1978). No wedding has ever regretted playing this.
- Signed, Sealed, Delivered (I'm Yours) by Stevie Wonder (1970). Doubles as a recessional if you want the ceremony to end on a high.
- I Wanna Dance with Somebody (Who Loves Me) by Whitney Houston (1987). Every generation at the wedding knows every word.
- You Are the Best Thing by Ray LaMontagne (2008). Horns and a shuffle. Good for the moment the floor is half full.
What 500,000 custom songs tell us about wedding songs
We have written more than 500,000 custom songs, and wedding songs come in every day. Here is what those orders look like, aggregated and anonymized.
| Measure | What the orders show |
|---|---|
| Most-chosen genre | Country (46%), then R&B (26%), then acoustic (8%) |
| Who the song is for | Husband 26%, son 20%, wife 16%, fiance 12%, daughter 9% |
| Voice | 54% choose a female voice, 26% male, 20% leave it to us |
| When couples order | A third of wedding songs are ordered on a Friday or Saturday |
| How often it gets played | Median of 12 plays per song after delivery |
Two things stand out. Country beats R&B at weddings by nearly two to one, even though R&B leads everywhere else on our site. And one wedding song in five is written by a mother for her son. That surprised us enough that the mother-son dance got its own list.
None of these quite say it?
Have one writtenRelated reading
- How a custom wedding song works
- 26 Father-Daughter Dance Songs: Classic to Modern
- 28 Mother-Son Dance Songs: Classic, Country, Upbeat
- What 500,000 Custom Songs Taught Us
Questions people ask
What is the most popular wedding song?
For a first dance, "Perfect" by Ed Sheeran has been the most requested song at weddings for most of the last decade, with "At Last" by Etta James the one that never went away. Among the custom wedding songs we write, country is the most-chosen genre at 46%.
How many songs do I need for a wedding?
Plan for about six ceremony songs (guests seated, processional, bride or partner entrance, signing, recessional, exit) and roughly 60 to 70 reception songs for a four-hour party, since most songs run three to four minutes.
Can we have a wedding song written about us?
Yes. You answer questions about how you met, the proposal and what you want to promise each other, and ForeverSongs writes and produces the song in under 24 hours. Playing it at the wedding is included. If your DJ wants an audio file, the Commercial License on your song page unlocks the download.