Song Ideas?

[PGirl26]

Like most bride's, I'm in search of the best wedding songs out there...First dance songs, mother/son dance, cake cutting song...Anyone care to share what they used/or plan on using?

Also, as I've posted in my journal,(sidenote: shameless attempt to get new visitors, lol) I'm thinking of having a choir to sing at the end of the ceremony. Has anyone ever seen this done? I'd love to have "Oh happy day" be performed as we're walking out.

One last thing, do you always have to have someone sing during the ceremony? And what do they sing? Religious songs? Love songs? I've been to very few weddings where they had someone sing during the ceremony!

A few of the song's we're thinking of using for our first dance:

-Everytime I close my eyes--Babyface
- When you say nothing at all--Allison Krauss
- The way you look tonight--(Various artists sing this song)
-Bless the broken road--Rascal Flatts

[chiffani]

Well I can tell you what we're using for the few special dances we're having :)

Our first dance will be to "When I Look Into Your Eyes" by Firehouse
Father/daughter dance will be "Wind Beneath My Wings" by Bette Midler

We're not having a wedding party dance or a mother/son dance (he doesn't want it).

[PookiePrincess]

I've never seen a choir at a marriage ceremony, but I think it would be really neat!

As far as songs for the ceremony, you don't have to have someone sing. We are having a husband/wife sing two songs for our ceremony. One during the lighting of the unity candle - The song: When God Made You by Newsong and Natalie Grant. They are also singing another song...I can't remember the name of it now though (it's either by Michael W. Smith or Steven Curtis Chapman). My mom picked those songs because she listens to Christian music. The first one is perfect for a wedding...I haven't heard the second one.

As far as types of songs, that depends on the church. Most of the churches that I looked at around here would not let you play secular music at the ceremony (or if it was secular, it had to be approved). It all depends on the church.

Our other songs we've decided on:
First dance: Glory of Love by Peter Cetera
Father/Daughter: You Raise Me Up by Josh Groban
Mother/Son: I Cross My Heart by George Strait
Anniversary Dance: Wonderful Tonight by Eric Clapton

BTW: I love Bless the Broken Road...I think it's a perfect wedding song! :)

[Twylla]

Talk to the person performing your marriage about what song during the ceremony. We had my aunt and uncle sing during the signing of the register. I forget the name of the song, I think it was originally by Twila Sharp.

These are the songs we used at the reception:
I Will Be Here-Jamie Lawrence-1st Dance
I Hope You Dance-Leanne Womack-mother/son and father/daughter
Footloose- first dance to get everyone up dancing

Good luck!

[karabear0117]

Hm... The only thing I'm sure of is that I want our first dance to be "All I ask of you."-phantom of the opera. Sorry I wasn't more help, I know there once was a massive list of songs floating somewhere on the net I'll see if I can find the link for you...

[MandyMaloo]

Here are some more ideas for songs:

Ceremony Music: "When You Say You Love Me"- Josh Grobin
First Dance: "I Melt"- Rascal Flatts
We're playing a ton of Frank Sinatra songs--I'm in love with the Rat Pack
Cake Cutting: "That's Amore"--Dean Martin


Hope this helps :)

[kcjaime]

"True Companion" by Marc Cohn is a great song for a first dance!

[Kristy]

Ceremony music
Processional: Canon in D and Bridal March
Recessional: Trumpet Voluntary

Reception music
Cocktail hour: All jazz (DH is a jazz freak)- Miles Davis, Etta James, Wynton Marsellis, Frank Sinatra
Bridal party entrance: Theme from The Blues Brothers
Bride and groom entrance: Music from 2001: A Space Odyssey with some Elvis entrance music thrown in
Cake cutting: L-O-V-E by Natalie Cole
First dance: I've Got You Under My Skin by Frank Sinatra
Garter: Short Skirt/Long Jacket by Cake
Bouquet: Wishin' and Hopin' from My Best Friend's Wedding

[Reenie]

We had a soloist at our ceremony, and she sang "Songbird" by Eva Cassidy.

At the reception:
bridal party entrance was "Everybody Have Fun Tonight" by Wang Chung
our first dance was "I Can't Help Falling in Love With You" by Elvis Presley
father-daughter dance was "Have I Told You Lately" by Kenny Rogers (dad chose)
mother-son was "A Song for My Son" by Mikki Vierick
bridal party dance was "You've Got a Friend" by James Taylor
anniversary dance was "The Vows Go Unbroken"
cake cutting was "Sugar, Sugar"
bouquet toss was "This One's For the Girls" by Martina McBride
garter toss was "You Sexy Thing" by Hot Chocolate
last dance was "Wonderful Tonight" by Eric Clapton

In retrospect, I wish that our first dance had been Kelly Clarkson's "A Moment Like This" but DH wanted something classic and with a male vocalist, so Elvis was what we chose. :) Have Fun!

[LeslieR]

At our wedding, we had 2 acoustic guitarists playing DMB songs. I walked down the aisle to "Crash Into Me".

Entrance songs:
Grandparents and parents-The James Bond theme
Bridal party-"Two Step" by DMB
bride and groom-"Ants" by DMB

Our first dance was also to "Crash Into Me" (notice a theme here? lol)
Groom/Mother dance-"Because You Loved Me" by Celine Dion
Cake cutting-"I Wanna Grow Old With You" by Adam Sandler
last song of the night-"I'm Taking You Home" by Don Henley

[tgray99]

Wedding party intro music: "The Muppet Show" Theme
First dance: "Crazy" by Pat Green
Father-Daughter Dance: "Amarillo by Morning" by George Strait
Mother-Son Dance: "I Hope You Dance" by LeeAnn Womack
Cake Cutting: "Recipe for Love" by Harry Connick, Jr.
Bouquet Toss: "Wishing and Hoping" from My Best Friend's Wedding
Garter Toss: "Mission Impossible Theme" by U2
Last Dance: "Love Will Keep Us Alive" by Eagles

[Cohl]

We had a duet at our wedding who sang "The Gift of Love" which is a hymn, I believe. It sounded amazing,

I think "Oh Happy Day" would sound AWESOME sung by a choir as you left the church!!

1st dance-"Home to You"-John Michael Montgomery
father/daughter-"Because You Loved Me"

oh yeah, and the wedding party came in to "start the commotion" the one from the old Mitsubishi commercials..LOL

[sublime311]

We're playing a ton of Frank Sinatra songs--I'm in love with the Rat Pack
Cake Cutting: "That's Amore"--Dean Martin
We also played a ton of standards during dinner and for dancing! "That's Amore" was ALSO our song for the cake cutting! How cool is that!?

These are the the instructions given to our DJ (we didn't have live musicians):

I. Ceremony

Prelude
1. "Spring – I Allegro” by Vivaldi (skip song if time does not permit - go to # 2 below.)
2. "Clair de Lune” by Debussey

Processional
“Canon in D” by Pachebel

Unity Candle Ceremony
“The Prayer” by Celine Dion & Andrea Bocelli

Recessional
“Happy Together” by The Turtles

II. Dinner

Standards by artists such as Frank Sinatra, Michael Buble, Harry Connick Jr., etc. and jazzy stuff like Norah Jones and Diana Krall.

III. Reception (after dinner dancing)

First Dance
“The Nearness of You” by Norah Jones

Last Dance
“Moondance” by Michael Buble

Cake Cutting
"That's Amore" by Dean Martin

Silly Songs
1. OK – “Chicken Dance”, “YMCA”, “Hokey Pokey”, & “Pennsylvania Polka”.
2. NOT OK – “Macerena” or “Electric Slide” (or any variation thereof)

Boogie Music - OK music types
1. Standards
2. Mainstream Top 40 type stuff (from whichever decade)
3. Alternative rock (the danceable stuff, I guess)
4. Mexican “cumbias” (whatever our guests seem to like)
5. 80’s music (to include “new wave” like Depeche Mode, The Cure, New Order, etc)
6. Reggae
7. Anything else not listed on the “NOT OK” list below and will make people shake their booties!

Boogie Music - NOT OK music types (no offense intended)
1. Country (or any variation thereof unless it’s SUPER mainstream like TOP 40 Faith Hill or someone similar, but I prefer not to have it).
2. Rap (unless it’s super mainstream)
3. Hip Hop (unless it’s super mainstream)

[Rico'sAlice]

CEREMONY: All music will be sung congregationally.
Prelude- Sanctuary (traditional)
Processional: Be Thou my Vision (traditional)
Praise & Worship Time:
Beautiful One- Chris Tomlin
Grace Like Rain- Todd Agnew
I Believe- Third Day

Conclusion/Recessional: All Things New- Steven Curtis Chapman

----
COCKTAIL HOUR:
American standards, classical, whatever keyboardist feels like.
BEFORE DINNER
Ceremonial Foot Washing: I Will Be Here - Steven Curtis Chapman

And for Grace we will sing the Doxology.
DURING DINNER:
DJ to play contemporary Christian music.

AFTER DINNER:
1st Dance: It is you (I have loved) Dana Glover- from Shrek
Dance w/ parents: You Never Can Tell - Chuck Berry
Our last slow dance will be: Doubled Up- Heather Nova.

Our do Not play list is basically anything overtly sexual, or that encourages bump & grind, bad language, etc.

[PGirl26]

Thanks so much for your input girls!!!!!! You all have helped me so much! Keep them coming :D

[Sarah6690]

Unity candle-"Because you loved me" - don't remember who that version was by.

Bridal Party Entrance -"get the party started" pink
Cake cutting- "How sweet it is" by wow can't remember that one either
Bouquet toss- "wishin and hopin" from my best friends wedding
garter toss-"another one bites the dust"
first dance-"your still the one" Shania Twain
Father/Daughter-"Isn't she lovely" stevie wonder
Mother/Son- no idea, DH decided at the last minute to do one, and just had the dj pick a song.

[ruby]

My favorite topic, just loved picking the music for my wedding and my husband is a DJ so I had lots of ideas. It really sets the mood of the day. Wasn't much into the ceremony but for the reception:

Wedding party intro-Start the Commotion, Let's get it started, Strike it up

First Dance-More today than Yesterday by Spiral Staircase
Have you ever been in Love? Celine Dion
Nobody loves me like you do-Jermaine Jackson and Whitney Houston
The Only one-Lionel Richie (my personal fave!)
Give me Forever (I do)-John Tesh and James Ingraham

Father/Daughter-Gown of White by Pat Roper, My Girl, Isn't SHe lovely

Son/Mother- The wonder of You by Elvis, Song for Mama by Boyz II Men

Cake Cutting- Sugar Pie Honey Bunch, Betcha by Golly Wow

Last Dance-Could not ask for more by Edwin Mccain
This will be an Everlasting Love-Natalie Coleman
With This Ring-the Platters (so fun and upbeat!)

[tbell]

For the ceremony, we had a harpist/vocalist.

Pre-ceremony --"The Lord's Prayer" (played and sung)
Seating of the Grandmothers/Mothers--"Canon in D"
Wedding Party--"Jesu, Joy of Man's Desiring"
"Bridal Chorus"
Unity Candle-- "Wedding Song (There is Love)" (played and sung)

First dance--"Come Away With Me" Norah Jones
Father/Daughter--"The Way You Look Tonight"
Mother/Son--"Moon River"
Cake Cutting song--was SUPPOSED to be a Phish song that DH likes, but instead the DJ decided to play "Going to the Chapel" (DH and I were :confused: )

We were also supposed to have instrumental jazz/big band songs played during dinner, but instead he played most of our preferred song list (songs we had wanted to DANCE to, not eat to) and some random songs by Journey, Maroon 5, etc. Needless to say, our DJ sucked.

[Doobiedoo56]

Our reception music:
Bridal Party entrance: Get this party started - Pink
First Dance: I Could Not Ask For More - Sara Evans
Father/Daughter Dance: If I Could - Barbra Streisand (My dad picked this & I was really blown away by it)
Mother/Son Dance: Thank You for Loving Me - Bon Jovi (A little weird, but DH picked it and I guess it was better than some of the stuff his mom wanted)

[j.d.l.102205]

This is a good thread to get input on.
I don't know all of my music yet, but here is what I do know.

-Unity Candle: One Hand One Heart...West Side Story sung by a husband and wife duet at our church
-Remembrance and Reflection: You Raise Me Up...Josh Groban

-First Dance: Bless the Broken Road...Rascal Flats
-Father/Daugher Dance: I Hope You Dance...LeeAnn Womak
-Mother/Son: Probably won't do, his mom doesn't dance, if she decides to they will dance with my dad and I (there's enough room to spread out on the dance floor.)

We haven't made definate decisions on the rest.
For the wedding party, I think we may choose a little bit of a faster song so we can all just dance in a big group (some of the wedding party are single and don't have dates.)

[*Jen*]

Since our wedding is so far away we really haven't even talked about it. Since we're getting married outside I want a string quartet so here are my votes:

Wedding Party: "Canon in D" This always brings me to tears.
"Bridal Chorus"
Not sure for recessional

Not sure for bridal party entrance
First Dance: "Could Not Ask for More" - Edwin McCain
Father/Daughter Dance: "Butterfly Kisses" - Bob Carlisle...my dad and I gave butterfly kisses growing up and we danced to this at my Sweet 16 party. If I cried then I know I'll cry at my wedding.
Not sure for Mother/Son
Last Dance: "Wonderful Tonight" - Eric Clapton, I had another one but I forgot it.

[Mrs.Pfeiffer]

**just bumping for future reference :)

[Kinetic]

First Dance: L-O-V-E by Nat King Cole
Father/Daugther Dance: Father-Daughter by Paul Simon
Mother/Son: I Hope you Dance by Leanne Womack
Cake Cutting: Sugar, Sugar by the Archies
Last Dance: The Best is Yet to Come by Frank Sinatra

[Sashi]

Just bumping again............. any more suggestions for Ceremony?

[nicole]

I tried starting a master music thread awhile ago, but I don't know that it went anywhere.

All our ceremony music came from the O'Neill Brothers (http://pianobrothers.com/). We couldn't afford live music, so having all the music by the same people seemed to 'homogenize' things a bit. The songs were $1 each and were played by the DJ. It worked out really well.

Prelude
"Reminiscent Joy" - O'Neill Brothers
"The Wedding Song" - O'Neill Brothers
"Arioso" - O'Neill Brothers
"Somewhere Out There" - O'Neill Brothers (fitting because we had a LD relationship for awhile)

Processional
"Hymne" - O'Neill Brothers.

Recessional
"Finale" from Water Music - O'Neill Brothers. We considered "Walking on Sunshine" (Katrina and the Waves) also, but we kind of had an instrumental theme going)

Entrance
It was just us, so we actually used the theme song from Boston Legal. It was only about 30 seconds, so it worked perfectly for our purposes. We also seriously considered "Let's Get it Started" by the Black Eyed Peas. I think the instrumental part from "Walk This Way" would be cool too.

First Dance
"My Baby You" - Marc Anthony - This is the only song I got from message board suggestions (I can't remember if it was here or the WC). I'd never heard it before, but it worked very well.

Cake Cutting
"My Blue Heaven" - Smashing Pumpkins. One of my favorite bands and the song is very upbeat and happy.

Last Dance
"Wonderful Tonight" by Eric Clapton. This is sort of "our" song and was playing while we got engaged, so I thought it brought things full circle. It's also a good end of the night song. I also considered "I've Had the Time of my Life" from Dirty Dancing or "Last Dance" by Donna Summers. I love "Last Dance" but DH wasn't feeling it. He liked "Closing Time" but you can't really dance to it.

One thing I did that I don't think I would recommend - A couple of the songs we chose for the prelude were actually songs I liked for the processional. I liked them so much that I didn't want to get rid of them completely, so I put them in the prelude. I heard one and freaked out slightly that they were playing the processional! When DH started freaking out too, it was rather funny. :)

[Natasha]

I need ideas for a father-daughter dance. Preferably country. I have listend to "My Little Girl" by Tim McGraw, and "I Held Her First" by Heartland. Any other suggestions?