First Dance Wedding Songs
Over 100 first dance song ideas across every genre — from jazz standards to modern pop. Find the song that tells your story.
Choosing your first dance song is one of the most personal decisions of your entire wedding. It's the song that will forever be linked to the image of the two of you together on that dance floor — the song your guests will remember, and the one you'll hear on the radio years later and immediately be transported back to that moment.
Most couples choose a song that has genuine meaning — the track playing when they first met, a song one of them dedicated to the other early in the relationship, or simply the song that best captures how they feel about each other right now. There's no wrong answer, but there is a wrong approach: don't choose by committee or pick what you think you're supposed to pick. Choose the song that's actually yours.
How to Choose Your First Dance Song
- Start with meaning. Is there a song already associated with your relationship? The one from your first date, a road trip playlist, something one of you sang or dedicated to the other? That song will always be better than a technically perfect but personally meaningless choice.
- Consider the danceability. If you're not taking lessons, choose something with a clear, steady rhythm you can sway to. If you are taking lessons, coordinate with your instructor on tempo — different dances require different BPMs.
- Think about the length. Three to four minutes is ideal. Anything over five minutes starts to feel long under the spotlight. Many couples ask their DJ to fade the song around the 3-minute mark.
- Listen to it in the room. If possible, visit your venue and play the song. How does it sound in that space? Some songs that feel right at home sound very different at reception volume.
- Don't overthink the lyrics. Many much-loved first dance songs have complicated or even sad lyrics when you read them carefully. Focus on the feeling the song gives you, not a line-by-line analysis.
100+ First Dance Songs
A comprehensive list across genres — soul, pop, jazz, country, R&B and everything in between.
- A Moment Like This — Kelly Clarkson
- All I Need to Know — Kenny Chesney
- Always — Sarah Vaughan & Billy Eckstine
- Amazed — Lonestar
- Angels — Robbie Williams
- Annie's Song — John Denver
- As Time Goes By — from Casablanca
- At Last — Etta James
- Beautiful in My Eyes — Joshua Kadison
- Better Together — Jack Johnson
- Can You Feel the Love Tonight — Elton John
- Can't Help Falling in Love — Elvis Presley
- Chasing Cars — Snow Patrol
- Close to You — The Carpenters
- Come Away With Me — Norah Jones
- Come Rain or Come Shine — Frank Sinatra
- Dance Me to the End of Love — Leonard Cohen
- Don't Know Much — Linda Ronstadt & Aaron Neville
- Dream a Little Dream — Mamas & the Papas
- Embraceable You — Nat King Cole
- Endless Love — Diana Ross & Lionel Richie
- Everything — Michael Bublé
- Everything I Do (I Do It For You) — Bryan Adams
- Everything I Own — Bread
- Fields of Gold — Sting or Eva Cassidy
- Fly Me to the Moon — Frank Sinatra
- Flying Without Wings — Westlife
- For Once in My Life — Michael Bublé
- From This Moment — Shania Twain
- Head Over Feet — Alanis Morissette
- Here and Now — Luther Vandross
- How Sweet It Is to Be Loved by You — James Taylor
- I Cross My Heart — George Strait
- I Don't Want to Miss a Thing — Aerosmith
- I Finally Found Someone — Bryan Adams & Barbra Streisand
- I Got You Babe — Sonny & Cher or UB40
- I Just Fall in Love Again — Anne Murray
- I Knew I Loved You — Savage Garden
- I Swear — All-4-One
- I Will Always Love You — Whitney Houston
- I Will Be Here — Steven Curtis Chapman
- In My Life — The Beatles
- In Your Eyes — Peter Gabriel
- Just the Two of Us — Bill Withers & Grover Washington Jr.
- Just the Way You Are — Billy Joel
- La Vie en Rose — Édith Piaf or Louis Armstrong
- Longer — Dan Fogelberg
- Love of My Life — Queen
- Make You Feel My Love — Adele
- Making Memories of Us — Keith Urban
- More Than Words — Extreme
- My Girl — The Temptations
- Nothing Compares 2 U — Sinéad O'Connor
- Open Arms — Journey
- Perfect — Ed Sheeran
- Ribbon in the Sky — Stevie Wonder
- Save the Last Dance for Me — Michael Bublé
- She — Elvis Costello
- Songbird — Fleetwood Mac / Eva Cassidy
- Stand by Me — Ben E. King
- Still — Lionel Richie
- Summertime — Various
- Sunrise Sunset — Fiddler on the Roof
- Thinking Out Loud — Ed Sheeran
- This Is the Moment — from Jekyll & Hyde
- Through the Years — Kenny Rogers
- True Companion — Marc Cohn
- Truly, Madly, Deeply — Savage Garden
- Unchained Melody — Righteous Brothers
- Unforgettable — Nat King Cole
- Up Where We Belong — Joe Cocker & Jennifer Warnes
- We've Got Tonight — Kenny Rogers & Sheena Easton
- What a Wonderful World — Louis Armstrong
- When a Man Loves a Woman — Percy Sledge or Michael Bolton
- When You Say Nothing at All — Ronan Keating
- With or Without You — U2
- Wonderful Tonight — Eric Clapton
- You Are So Beautiful — Joe Cocker
- You Are the Sunshine of My Life — Stevie Wonder
- You Make It Real — James Morrison
- You Raise Me Up — Josh Groban or Westlife
- You're the First, the Last, My Everything — Barry White
- Your Song — Elton John
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