Top Wedding Tunes

Music serves as an important part of a wedding, especially when it comes time to celebrate at the reception. Choosing wedding tunes is a fun and exciting adventure for couples, as they will help set the mood for their special moment in time. From their first steps as husband and wife to the cutting of their 5-tier double chocolate fudge monstrosity, wedding tunes are there every step of the way.

With flirty, humorous, serious, sentimental, and heartfelt wedding tunes for the picking – jumpstart your brainstorming process by considering some of the more popular selections listed below: 

Ceremony Wedding Tunes 

At the ceremony, prelude music is often played before the walk down the aisle begins. As guests arrive, Moonlight Sonata (Beethoven); Water Music (Handel); Ave Maria (Schubert / Gounod); Rhapsody In Blue (Gershwin); Ode To Joy (Beethoven); or Brandenburg Concerto #2 (Bach) may greet them.

The processional and bridal music is played for the grand entrance of the family, wedding party, and the bride. Typical choices include the infamous Bridal Chorus (Here Comes The Bride) from "Lohengrin" (Wagner); What A Wonderful World (Louis Armstrong); Unforgettable (Nat King Cole); I Can't Help Falling In Love (Elvis Presley); and When A Man Loves A Woman (Percy Sledge).

Recessional music is played when the newlyweds scamper off with one another, usually to the tune of the Wedding March (from "A Midsummer Night's Dream") (Mendelssohn); Ode To Joy (from The Ninth Symphony) (Beethoven); Hallelujah Chorus (from "The Messiah") (Handel); I Got You (I Feel Good) (James Brown); How Sweet It Is (James Taylor); and I Got You Babe (Sonny and Cher).

Father–Daughter Dance

The new bride often saves space in her dance card for her father. The two may tearfully step out to My Girl (The Temptations); Can You Feel The Love Tonight (Elton John); Daddy's Girl (Peter Cetera); Isn't She Lovely (Stevie Wonder); or Thank Heaven For Little Girls (Gigi).

First Dance

While first dance wedding tunes are often chosen based upon sentimental reasons, there are a few classic choices that never lose their touch at the reception, such as The Way You Look Tonight (Frank Sinatra); It Had To Be You (Harry Connick, Jr.); What A Wonderful World (Louis Armstrong); Endless Love (Diana Ross and Lionel Richie); Here And Now (Luther Vandross); and At Last (Etta James).

Additional wedding tunes to mull over include the following:

Cutting of the Cake
• How Sweet It Is (James Taylor)
• Sugar, Sugar (The Archies)
• That's Amore' (Dean Martin)

Tossing the Bouquet and Garter
• Another One Bites The Dust (Queen)
• Theme From Mission Impossible (Danny Elfman)
• Kiss (Prince)
• Miss America Theme
• Girls Just Wanna Have Fun (Cyndi Lauper)

Photos by Leah Lee