Playlist: Wedding First Dance Songs

Sharing music and listening to new music shared by friends are two favorite pastimes of mine. It’s part of why it was such an important part of our own wedding. In choosing it, we dedicated an entire night to inviting our closest friends over and getting their suggestions for the cocktail hour, for dancing, and for other various playlists.

So last week when we asked all of you to give us your first dance songs, and you delivered in droves, I was basically in music heaven. We pored over your suggestions—I might have listened to every song (though maybe not because more are still coming in!), and pulled together a playlist of our favorites for you to enjoy.

Awesome First Dance Songs from APracticalWedding on 8tracks Radio.

1. “All You Need Is Love” by The Beatles
2. “Love You Madly” by Cake
3. “Grow Old with You” by Adam Sandler
4. “XO” by Beyonce
5. “I and Love and You” by The Avett Brothers
6. “Faithfully” by Journey
7. “By The Way They Dance” by Jump, Little Children
8. “Let’s Do It (Let’s Fall In Love)” by Ella Fitzgerald
9. “You Send Me” by Sam Cooke
10. “In Your Eyes” by Peter Gabriel
11. “I Just Called to Say I Love You” by Stevie Wonder
12. “The Best of Times” by Styx
13. “True Love” by P!nk ft. Lily Allen
14. “She Keeps Me Warm” by Mary Lambert
15. “Only Love” by Ben Howard
16. “Lucky” by Jason Mraz & Colbie Caillat
17. “Ho Hey” by The Lumineers

LOOKING FOR MORE OPTIONS FOR FIRST DANCE SONGS? BROWSE OUR PREVIOUS FIRST DANCE SONGS PLAYLISTS below!

Nontraditional First Dance Songs

1. “You Are the Best Thing” by Ray LaMontagne
2. “That’s How Strong My Love Is” by Otis Redding
3. “The Luckiest” by Ben Folds
4. “Sea of Love” by Cat Power
5. “Can’t Help Falling in Love” as covered by Ingrid Michaelson
6. “Life is Beautiful” by Keb’ Mo’
7. “Stuck on You” by Meiko
8. “The Book of Love” by The Magnetic Fields
9. “This Will Be Our Year” by The Zombies
10. “The Promise” by Tracy Chapman
11. “Tupelo Honey” by Van Morrison
12. “Stay Young, Go Dancing” by Death Cab for Cutie

First Dance Jamz

1. “When I’m Sixty-Four” by The Beatles
2. “You Are The Sunshine of My Life” by Stevie Wonder
3. “Wagon Wheel” by Old Crow Medicine Show
4. “Excuses” by the Morning Benders
5. “Hallelujah (I Just Love Her So)” by Ray Charles
6. “Gold Digger” by Kanye West
7. “I Got You (I Feel Good)” by James Brown
8. “Think I’m In Love” by Beck
9. “I Can’t Take My Eyes Off of You” as covered by Lauryn Hill
10. “Let’s Get it On” by Marvin Gaye
11. “Let’s Stay Together” by Al Green
12. “Feeling Good” by Nina Simone
13. “Let’s Face the Music and Dance” by Nat King Cole
14. “How Does It Feel” by Slade
15. “Nothing Can Change This Love” by Sam Cooke

Slow and Weepy First Dance Songs

1. “Crazy Love” by Van Morrison
2. “I’ll Follow You Into The Dark” by Death Cab for Cutie
3. “Feels Like Home” by Chantal Kreviazuk
4. “Forever” by Ben Harper
5. “Heavenly Day” by Patty Griffin
6. “Blackbird” by The Beatles
7. “In My Life” by The Beatles
8. “Open Arms” by Journey
9. “Hold On” by Michael Bublé
10. “La Vie En Rose” by Louis Armstrong
11. “That’s All” by Nat King Cole
12. “I’m Glad There Is You” by Ella Fitzgerald
13. “Can’t Help Falling In Love” by Elvis
14. “Come Away With Me” by Nora Jones
15. “Into The Mystic” by Van Morrison
16. “Wouldn’t It Be Nice”* by The Beach Boys

Modern Love Songs

1. “First Day Of My Life” by Bright Eyes
2. “I Chose You” by Grace Potter and the Nocturnals
3. “Johnny and June” by Heidi Newfield
4. “Mario Kart Love Song” by Sam Hart
5. “I Won’t Give Up” by Jason Mraz
6. “Naked As We Came” by Iron & Wine
7. “I Wanna Make You Close Your Eyes” by Dierks Bentley
8. “January Wedding” by The Avett Brothers
9. “The Way I Am” by Ingrid Michaelson
10. “Reasons to Love You” by Meiko
11. “The Luckiest” by Ben Folds
12. “Marry Me” by Train
13. “Make You Feel My Love” by Adele
14. “You Ain’t Alone” by Alabama Shakes
15. “I Believe in a Thing Called Love” by Lemar
16. “Just Breathe” by Pearl Jam
17. “Maps” by The Yeah Yeah Yeahs
18. “I Found You” by Alabama Shakes
19. “Closer” by Tegan and Sara
20. “Laugh, Love, Fuck” by The Coup

A Homemade, Rustic Wedding in California

Bristol, Middle School Drama Teacher & John, High School Director of Marketing and Admissions

One sentence sum-up of the wedding vibe: A homemade, local, rustic, spiritual, relaxed celebration that honored our families, our love, and the new life we are creating together.

Soundtrack for reading: “Solace” by Scott Joplin—We used it for the processional, with Bristol walking in time to the beautiful final movement.

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Other Cool Stuff We Should Know About

I didn’t fully realize how much of a DIY wedding this was! I love doing arts and crafts, but rarely make time for personal projects as a middle school drama teacher, so the wedding was an excellent excuse to do things I love—rummaging through antique stores and getting creative. John and I were so happy that it was all done in less than two months without stress. I did the wedding design on my own (invitation, ring jars, curated china from the thrift shop, antique decor, etc.), but there were a ton of little details that I had dreamed up that we were only able to see come to life through the help of friends and family. Some of the coolest things were my mom’s homemade cherry pie sitting next to the wedding cake, my brother’s painted washboard signs, John’s mom’s fans, my dad’s sloppy handwriting on the thank you succulent jars, my Maid of Honor Nena’s handwriting on my vows and on the instructions for our Family Devotional (instead of a guestbook). I could really go on and on listing everyone, but this isn’t my Oscar acceptance speech. Suffice it to say, the vendors kept telling me how relaxed and happy everyone was during the wedding. I think it’s because everyone enjoyed getting together and helping out, and that allowed John and me to stay positive. And as a bride, my advice is to keep the mindset that, at this point, it’s all in motion, and there’s nothing you can do now, so just go with it and trust the people around you to solve any problems that come up!

Favorite Thing About the wedding

In John’s words, “It was all good.” The day was a beautiful representation of our families coming together, of the special spirituality and energy we felt, of the, umm… did I mention I was six months pregnant?! The pregnancy is an important part of the wedding because not only did it speed up the time frame, but also it helped us to understand the significance of the commitment of marriage. We decided to have the wedding during my summer vacation so we could focus on each other and enjoy a honeymoon (the perks of teaching); but now when I look back at our wedding, it has taken on this spiritual representation of life. Like a tree or circle of life, all of the choices we made were informed by our families, reflected our past, and now illuminate our future. Everything was truly perfect because we focused on what mattered—our family and the close friends who will now be supporting us in our next step. With TBD being a part of it, our wedding truly marks the beginning of our family—one that is built on the wisdom and love from those who have nurtured us into two adults prepared to continue the circle of love. (But after all that mushy stuff, our photos come in at an AWESOME second! Thank you Rad + In Love.)