Wedding songs you'll remember forever - add to the magic of a perfect day.
If music is the food of love, then your wedding is the day to be surrounded by beautiful tunes. Here's how to choose wedding songs to make memories that will last a lifetime.
You're planning your dream wedding and your head is full of lists and choices to be made - from flowers to caterers, bridesmaids and their dresses and more. You also have to make sure that the music playing at your wedding fits the mood and adds to the romance of the day.
Music plays an important part in a wedding and will be in the background throughout the event - from the ceremony, to entertain your guests, to dance to; you may even want to choose music for the last dance or a wedding song to end your special day.
Choosing a wedding song for your walk down the aisle.
The traditional processional (music for the bride's entrance) at Western weddings is the Bridal Chorus from Richard Wagner's Lohengrin, while a traditional recessional (the bridal couple's departure) is the Wedding March from Felix Mendelssohn's A Midsummer Night's Dream.
Some brides however, when being 'given away' by their fathers, choose to walk down the aisle to a wedding song that symbolises the love they share with their dads. Click here for a selection of appropriate songs.
Wedding music for the ceremony.
Whether you plan to marry in a church or on a beach, you will probably want music playing in the background and to form part of your ceremony. If you are getting married in a church, you can choose some gentle soothing music while your guests are being seated, either to be played by the organist or musicians of your own choosing, or just on the PA system.
As part of the ceremony, you may also choose a soloist or choir to sing a romantic hymn or love song that reflects your faith or your feelings for each other. See here for a list of popular wedding songs for the ceremony.
Music for entertaining your guests before the reception.
While your guests are milling around waiting for the bridal couple to arrive and the start of the reception, why not serenade them with a string quartet, a saxophonist or other background music? For some great ideas for wedding songs for the 'cocktail hour', click here.
The wedding song for the first dance.
This is probably the most important choice you'll have to make when selecting your wedding songs. Take a quiet moment to think of a song that means something to both of you - lyrics that touched you, expressed the way you feel about each other or marked a special moment or occasion in your lives or relationship.
The wedding song you choose as the music for your first dance together as a married couple is one you will remember forever. When you're both old and grey and driving across the country to visit your grandchildren, and you hear that song playing on the radio, you will be able to say "That's our song." Click here to get you in the mood to choose.
Wedding songs to get the party started.
Whether you plan to kick off your party with a waltz, a rock track or something slow and schmaltzy, there's an endless list of wedding songs to choose from on the internet. For a complete A-Z library of over 1200 wedding songs (divided into categories), click here.
Click here for tips on how to choose the right kind of music for your wedding.
Read here for what to consider when choosing a DJ.
Select an Article