What Songs Are Played At A Wedding?

My mom always told this story about my parent’s wedding: she and my dad were getting married in a church that my dad had only attended for a couple of months (he had only moved to town about a year or two earlier from several states away). As part of their premarital counseling, my parents had to meet with the very straight-laced pastor about what an “appropriate” wedding in this church would look like (this was in 1983, btw). So, during this meeting, the pastor starts telling my folks what kind of music is appropriate for a wedding. Now, my dad had a fantastic sense of humor, and was extremely quick-witted, so when the pastor asked if they had any questions about appropriate music, my dad just says, “So, I guess we can’t play ‘Hit The Road, Jack (Ray Charles)’ while she’s walking in, then?” The pastor and my mom were both mortified, but looking back on it, my mom thinks it’s one of his best jokes.

This brings back wonderful memories of my own wedding! My husband walked out with our pastor and his best friend to Ten Minutes Ago from Cinderella, then I walked down the aisle to A Million Dreams from The Greatest Showman and my husband then carried me back down the aisle to Shut Up and Dance by Walk the Moon. We danced to Ten Minutes Ago (again) for our first dance. I do not regret a single song choice!

Dude there are SO many more. Just to name a few…. Jason Mraz – I’m Yours Shania Twain – You’re still the one Shania Twain – From this moment on A bunch of songs from Savage Garden Ronan Keeting – When you say nothing at all (from the nineties but they played it at my aunt and uncle’s wedding) I’m a believer (the one from Shrek idk who this is by) there are more but I can’t think of more. This was a great article.

Oh my God Dynamite is such a bop yesss. For the record. I walked down the aisle to a classical guitar arrangement of Black Parade by MCR because A) it has the same chord structure as Pachabels canon (so without lyrics the grandparents in the audience will think its that) and B) the Emo kids – Myself, my husband, and our best friends included – got a very incredible moment that none of us will ever forget. My cousin wrote that arrangement just for me too, so it was incredibly special too. He did all the ceremony music, so it was all gorgeous classical guitar. Another bop, the wedding party procession song was”Welcome Horizons” from Animal crossing. One of my friends suggested it as a joke but I was like “no that’s PERFECT!” Because its so sweet and summery and that game got me and that friend through the pandemic for realsies lol. Our exit song was, of course, “Imperial March” (Groom’s Choice), because what else on earth could possibly follow up Black Parade lol? Also we convinced our officiant to start his speech with a couple lines of the “Mawwiage” speech from The Princess Bride. It was fantastic XD

This is where being a musical theatre geek pays off. Our first dance was “Marry Me a Little” from “Company” and my walk-down-the-aisle song was “The Next 10 Minutes” from “The Last 5 Years”. As for the reception, we specified The Time Warp, and punk, ska and most genres of rock, and let the rest of the guests put in requests while the DJ did his mixing magic. As a result, we somehow didn’t get ANY of the overused songs from the last 50 years, and the dance floor never emptied. 😀

Considering that the last wedding I attended was in Dec 2005, I can say with certainty I have not heard ANY of these at a wedding. For my wedding in 1995, we followed the classic wedding mantra: “Something old, Something new, Something borrowed, Something blue” I wrote the song that my friend sang as we came back down the aisle married. (New) My FIL played “Storybook Love” from “Princess Bride”, a favorite of both our families, as the groomsmen & bridesmaids walked down to get us started. (Borrowed) The Wedding March when she came down the aisle. (Old) No dancing at the reception. We split after 45 minutes of pictures & a change of clothes.

Hey Elise! I am ten (Almost eleven)years old and I learned to play ukulele two years ago, I just want to say, I learned most of it from you! And I wanted to ask if you were a Christian, because I hear you talk about church and stuff, so just wondering,😊! …Aand also I want to say I see the bad comments people send and those are all lies from the devil, YOU ARE AWSOME YOU ARE LOVED!!!!! LOVE Jada Collins

Aside from Johann Pachelbel and his One Hit Wonder (the chord sequence of which was pilfered in its entirety for dozens of pop songs, and slight variations for dozens more), two other instrumentals definitely count as overused: the Wedding March from Felix Mendelssohn’s score for a production of “A Midsummer Night’s Dream”, and Richard Wagner’s Bridal Chorus from “Lohengrin”. I wonder if anyone’s dared have BWV 565, or Monty Python’s “Always Look on the Bright Side of Life”? 😁

Don’t forget Can’t Help Falling in Love by Elvis Presley, Amazed by Lonestar, and I Loved Her First for the father daughter dance!! And don’t forget for the Bruno Mars fans: Marry You and Just the Way You Are!! And for the country fans: From the Ground Up, or any cliche song by Luke Combs, George Strait, Lee Brice, Russell Dickerson, or Thomas Rhett.

My take on the songs listed herein: I. They played this at my cousin’s wedding last Friday. II. Haven’t heard this at any wedding that I remember. III. See II. IV. Heard YMCA at a wedding once or twice. V. See III. VI. See V. VII. See VI, but I am thinking of adding this to my wedding (if and when it happens). VIII. See VI. And I can’t forgive the Jonas Brothers for pretending to be rock.

David Friedman, composer of the musical Desperate Measures, says that if people actually knew the words to “I Will Always Love You” they wouldn’t want it sung at weddings, and it partly explains the high numbers of divorces because the verses are really bad energy. Karen Irwin brought her “Karenoke” to a party at my church and was surprised that I knew all the words and music to Oingo Boingo’s “Dead Man’s Party. which she had never heard anyone do well before me. She also said she thought it was a weird song to sing in her church and them said that her church sings “Paradise by the Dashboard Light” at church parties every year. OK….

More songs you shouldn’t play at a wedding: “Shot through the heart, and you’re to blame! Darlin’, you give love a bad name!” – You Give Love a Bad Name by Bon Jovi “A little bit of Monica in my life. A little bit of Erica by my side. A little bit of Rita’s all I need. A little bit of Tina’s what I see! A little bit of Sandra in the sun.” – Mambo No. 5 by Lou Bega “But if I stay here with you, girl, things just couldn’t be the same. ‘Cause I’m as free as a bird now, and this bird you cannot change” – Free Bird by Lynyrd Skynyrd “Baby’s got blue skies up ahead, but in this I’m a rain cloud. You know she likes a dry kind of love. Oh oh oh, the sweetest thing. I’m losing you” – Sweetest Thing by U2

More songs you shouldn’t play (some aren’t as big as others) Whatsername – Green Day “Now I wonder how Whatsername has been” Why are you playing a song about your ex at your wedding? I Miss You- blink 182 “Don’t waste your time on me, you’re already the voice inside my head ✨yEd✨” It’s about NOT being with your lover; you’re at a freaking wedding toxic energy – blackbear ft. The Used “Should’ve known, I should’ve known, you were toxic energy” Self explanatory Mr. Brightside – The Killers I don’t know what lyrics to put as an example 😕 It’s about finding your girl is cheating; don’t play it at a wedding unless she is 😅

A few more: “I used to love her, but I had to kill her” – Guns&Roses “I hate everything about you” – Three Days Grace “I hate everything about you” – Ugly Kid Joe “You don’t love me anymore” – Weird Al “One more minute” – Weird Al “Better without you” – Evanescence “Call me when you’re sober” – Evanescence “Bad Decisions” – The Strokes From the ex: “You belong with me” – Taylor Swift