What Are The Best Wedding First Dance Songs?

The first time any two people step onto the dancefloor for the first time as a married couple is a big moment at any wedding. Surrounded by friends and family, they take to the floor for the first time since it all became official, and celebrate the occasion by dancing together to a pre chosen song. While the tradition is usually a slow dance to a suitable accompaniment, recently some couples have decided to celebrate by surprising guests with more elaborate routines to more non traditional music. We at Finer Things DJs have seen and heard our fair share of first dances throughout the years, and we’d like to present a list of some of our favourites in this article today. While we appreciate that there are couples out there who already have their special song in place well in advance, we also understand that many have no idea what music to choose for the occasion. For that reason, we have chosen to split our picks into categories to make your choice a little easier. Let’s start with the modern section:

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The Best Modern First Dances

Sometimes the best choice for your first dance is a tune that came out in the last decade. At Finer Things DJs, we’ve seen a large number from the list below work perfectly well at weddings we’ve performed at recently. We particularly enjoyed “I Will Wait” “You And I” and “Greatest Lovers.”

• “I Will Wait” – Mumford & Sons
• “You and I” – Tom Walker
• “A Thousand Years” – Christina Perri
• “Better Together” – Jack Johnson
• “Only Love” – Ben Howard
• “Love Me Like You Do” – Ellie Golding
• “The One” – Kodaline
• “Grow Old With Me” – Tom Odell
• “All Of Me” – John Legend
• “Greatest Lovers” – Luke Sital-Singh
• “Thinking Out Loud” – Ed Sheeran
• “Beautiful To Me” – Olly Murs
• “Something I Need” – Ben Haenow
• “Marry Me” – Jason Derulo
• “Beneath Your Beautiful” – Labrinth ft Emeli Sandi
• “The Bones” – Maren Morris
• “When You Wish Upon A Star” – Rod Stewart

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The Best Noughties First Dances

It’s hard to believe that most of these came out over 10-15 years ago, but how time flies! A lot of you will harbour a lot of nostalgic feelings towards some of the selections below, and we in particular like “Gravity” and “If I Aint Got You” – 2 tunes that were brilliant at their respective weddings.

• “Make You Feel My Love” – Adele
• “I Believe In a Thing Called Love” – The Darkness
• “Like a Star” – Corinne Bailey Rae
• “Cupid” – Amy Winehouse
• “If I Ain’t Got You” – Alicia Keys
• “Just The Way You Are” – Bruno Mars
• “Gravity” – John Mayer
• “You Give Me Something” – James Morrison
• “Making Memories Of Us” – Keith Urban
• “I’m Yours” – Jason Mraz
• “Love Story” -Taylor Swift
• “We Belong Together” – Mariah Carey
• “The One I Love” – David Gray

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The Best 90s First Dances

A lot of you readers who grew up in the 90s might be thinking of getting married at the time of writing! The 90s was a great time for music, with such a broad range of genres experiencing chart success, and the list of best 90s first dances is no different. “My Destiny” and “Stars” have been spun to great success at Finer Things weddings in recent times.

• “She’s The One” – Robbie Williams
• “Still The One” – Shania Twain
• “I Knew I Loved You” – Savage Garden
• “K-CI & JoJo” – All My Life
• “When You Say Nothing At All” – Ronan Keating
• “More Than Words” – Extreme
• “Stars” – Simply Red
• “Everything I Do” – Bryan Adams
• “My Destiny” – Lionel Richie
• “Back At One” – Brian McKnight
• “Truly Madly Deeply” – Savage Garden
• “Secret Garden” Bruce Springsteen
• “Nothing Else Matters” – Metallica

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The Best 80s First Dances

Big hair, big ballads and big production! Any from the list below will sound great when you hit the dancefloor for the first time as a married couple, particularly if you’ve decided to go for an 80s themed occasion. At Finer Things, we have performed at weddings where we thought “Is This Love” by Whitesnake, “Everywhere” by Fleetwood Mac and “You Make My Dreams Come True” by Hall & Oates worked particularly well.

• “Is This Love” – Whitesnake
• “The Power of Love” – Frankie Goes to Hollywood
• “Feels Like Heaven” – Fiction Factory
• “You Make My Dreams Come True” – Hall & Oates
• “Time After Time” – Cyndi Lauper
• “Everywhere” – Fleetwood Mac
• “Endless Love” – Lionel Richie Diana Ross
• “Islands In The Stream” – Kenny Rogers & Dolly Parton
• “Up Where We Belong” – Joe Cocker & Jennifer Warnes
• “Heaven” – Bryan Adams
• “She’s Like The Wind” – Patrick Swazye
• “Never Too Much” – Luther Vandross
• “Higher Love” – Steve Winwood
• “Have I Told You Lately” – Van Morrison

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The Best 70s First Dances

Perhaps you prefer some of the more soulful picks from the 1970s below. Guests of all ages will be familiar with any of the choices on this list, meaning your first dance will be all the more memorable for it. Recently, we at Finer Things DJs have seen “Let’s Stay Together” and “You’ve Got The Love” see a rise in popularity amongst newly weds.

• “Songbird” – Christine McVie
• “You’ve Got The Love” – Candi Staton
• “Let’s Stay Together” – Al Green
• “Lovely Day” – Bill Withers
• “Wonderful Tonight” – Eric Clapton
• “Best Of My Love” – The Emotions
• “Tupelo Honey” – Van Morrison
• “I Only Have Eyes For You” – The Flamingos
• “You’re The First The Last My Everything” – Barry White
• “Your Song” – Elton John
• “Love Of My Life” – Queen
• “Thinking Of You” – Sister Sledge

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The Best 60s First Dances

Sometimes, you just can’t go wrong with a timeless classic from the 1960s. “At Last” by Etta James is always a stellar choice, as well as “Brown Eyed Girl” and “L.O.V.E.” Although, you can’t really go wrong with any of the following from the swinging 60s!

• “At Last” – Etta James
• “L.O.V.E” – Nat King Cole
• “Moon River” – Audrey Hepburn
• “Can’t Help Falling In Love” – Elvis Presley
• “Can’t Take My Eyes Off You”- Frankie Valli
• “Brown Eyed Girl” – Van Morrison
• “Something”- The Beatles
• “Unchained Melody” – The Righteous Brothers
• “For Once In My Life” – Stevie Wonder
• “When A Man Loves A Woman” – Percy Sledge

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The Best Classical, Traditional & Jazz First Dances

Not into pop music? No problem! Perhaps a gentle sway to one of these classical or traditional pieces will add a touch of class to your wedding. You may even go down the route of a medieval themed wedding, in which case something like “Greensleeves” would be more appropriate than something currently on the radio. Whatever your tastes, there will be something from this list to get you enthused!

• “Clair de Lune, L.32” – Claude Debussy
• “Greensleeves” – Traditional
• “You’ll Never Walk Alone” – orchestral arrangement by Danny Wright
• “What A Wonderful World” – Louis Armstrong
• “Fly Me To The Moon” – Frank Sinatra
• “Somewhere Over The Rainbow” – Judy Garland
• “Piano Concerto No.21 in C Major K467 “Elvira Madigan” II Andante” – Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
• “Symphony No.9 in D Minor Op.125 “Choral” II. Scherzo. Molto vivace – Presto” – Ludwig van Beethoven
• “So Emotional” – Miles Davis feat Lalah Hathaway
• “Dream A Little Dream Of Me” – Ella Fitzgerald

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Conclusion

So there you have it, there should be enough variety on the list above to suit all tastes and all possible wedding themes. We hope that we’ve given you plenty of ideas in this article, and we’d love it if there are any couples out there who choose a song for their special day from this list. Please let us know your favourite wedding first dance songs in the comments section below, and make sure that you book Finer Things DJs for any wedding, party or event in Colchester and the whole of Essex, Suffolk and Norfolk – we’d love to play your special song for you!

Until next time,

~Finer Things DJs.