Image by Memorybox Photography

Wedding planning can feel like you’re being hit with never-ending questions and making decision after decision. One of those selections is typically more fun than the rest: choosing your first dance song! Whether you’ve had a favorite song since you first got together or you’re determining a theme song for your relationship, your first dance song will hold a special place in your heart—and ears—for the rest of your life. There are plenty of lists of first dance songs to consider for kicking off your reception, but we’ve narrowed down a few from each genre that we bet you haven’t thought of yet.

These unexpected first dance songs will be sure to keep your wedding unique, fresh, and is sure to set the mood. Will you dance beneath the stars to a contemporary folk song or spin under a spotlight to an old-school tune? Only you can decide.

Image by Emily Delamater

Old School First Dance Songs

You’re All I Need to Get By – Marvin Gaye and Tammi Terrell

There’s no, no looking back for us / We got love sure ‘nough, that’s enough / You’re all, You’re All I need to get by. / I all, you’re all I want to strive for and do a little more / All, all the joys under the sun wrapped up into one

When You’re Smiling – Michael Buble

Oh, when you’re smiling, when you’re smiling / The whole world smiles with you, baby / Yes, when you’re laughing, when you’re laughing / Yes, the sun comes shining through

The Very Thought Of You – Nat King Cole

The mere idea of you, the longing here for you / You’ll never know how slow the moments go till I’m near to you / I see your face in every flower / Your eyes in stars above / It’s just the thought of you / The very thought of you, my love

You Send Me – Hailey Reinhart

At first I thought it was infatuation / But, woo, it’s lasted so long / Now I find myself wanting / To marry you and take you home, whoa

Crazy Love – Van Morrison

She got a fine sense of humor when I’m feeling low down / And when I come home to her when the sun goes down / Takes my troubles all away, take away my grief / Take away my heartache, in the night like a thief

How Sweet It Is (To Be Loved By You) – James Taylor

I close my eyes at night / Wondering where would I be without you in my life / Everything I did was just a bore / Everywhere I went it seems I’d been there before

You Belong To Me – Patsy Cline

Fly the ocean in a silver plane / See the jungle when it’s wet with rain / Just remember until you’re home again / You belong to me

Image by Sarah Olivia

Folk First Dance Songs

I Was Born To Love You – Ray Lamontagne

Could make you smile, could make you sing / Just want to give back a little bit of what you give me / I could sing you a song, play you a tune / I know it’s just a little thing, but it’s something I can do

I’m With You – Vance Joy

I saw you standing there / Sandy blonde hair, the way it came tumbling down / Just like a waterfall / And if you need a light / I’ll be the match to your candle / My darling, I’m ready, to burst into flames for you

You & I – SYML

No I don’t need a heavenly home / A place beyond the clouds with everyone we’ve ever known / It don’t matter where we go / If you were born to run, I was made to run with you

Hung The Moon – Drew Holcomb and the Neighbors

I’ll put on that white dress for you, uh-huh / I told the preacher man “Well, yes I do”, uh-huh / And I’ll stay and I’ll grow grey with you, uh-huh / Yeah, I put on that white dress for you, uh-huh

I’m So In Love With You – Jill Andrews (feat. Seth Avett)

‘Cause I’m so, I’m so in love with you / You know I can’t control it / I’m acting like such a fool

Dancing Shoes – Green River Ordinance

Spent all week waiting / Now my mind’s on you / Hold my loving arms / My loving arms are for you / Yeah, yeah

On And On – Thirdstory

If I could write you a love song / It would go on and on and on and on / ‘Cause I see forever in your arms / So keep on holding on and on and on and on and on

Strawberries – Caamp

Be my lake / Summer sail down the strawberry milkshake / Be my pride / Stay under my skin / Don’t let me take what is not mine / Be my house / Strong and sturdy / Far from town, oh / Be my home / Just think of all the places we’ll go

Image by Christian Reyes Photography

Romantic Wedding Music Covers

Harvest Moon – Widowspeak

Because I’m still in love with you / I want to see you dance again / Because I’m still in love with you / On this harvest moon

Can’t Help Falling In Love – Kacey Musgraves

I’m Gonna Be (500 Miles) – Sleeping At Last

And I would roll 500 miles / And I would roll 500 more / Just to be the man who rolls a thousand miles/ To fall down at your door

You Are My Sunshine – Jasmine Thompson

You are my sunshine / My only sunshine / You make me happy / When skies are gray / You’ll never know, dear / How much I love you

At Last – Beyoncé

At last, my love has come along / My lonely days are over / And life is like a song

Your Song – Ellie Goulding

And you can tell everybody this is your song / It may be quite simple, but now that it’s done / I hope you don’t mind, I hope you don’t mind / That I put down in words / How wonderful life is while you’re in the world

How Long Will I Love You – Canyon City

How long will I want you? / As long as you want me to / And longer by far

Stand By Me – Florence + The Machine

When the night has come / And the land is dark / And the moon is the only light we’ll see / No, I won’t be afraid / Oh, I won’t be afraid / Just as long as you stand, stand by me

Don’t Worry Baby – The Brook & The Bluff

She told me “Baby, when you race today / Just take along my love with you / And if you knew how much I loved you / Baby nothing could go wrong with you”

Image by Dawn Photo

Pop Wedding Music

Kiss Me – Dermot Kennedy

Whatever may come, somewhere deep inside / There’s always this version of you and I / So just kiss me the way that you would / If we died tonight, if we died tonight, yeah

Latch (Acoustic) – Sam Smith

You lift my heart up / When the rest of me is down / You, you enchant me, even when you’re not around / If there are boundaries, I will try to knock them down / I’m latching on babe / Now I know what I have found

It’s You – MAX (feat. keshi)

Can we stay like this forever? / White dress or whatever / I keep dreaming there’s a somewhere / That we grow old together

Anyone – Justin Bieber

You are the only one I’ll ever love (I gotta tell ya, gotta tell ya) / Yeah, you, if it’s not you, it’s not anyone (I gotta tell ya, gotta tell ya) / Looking back on my life / You’re the only good I’ve ever done

Best Part of Me – Ed Sheeran

Baby, the best part of me is you / Lately, everything’s makin’ sense, too / Oh, baby, I’m so in love with you

Butterflies – Abe Parker

Am I the only one that’s catchin’ butterflies? / Am I a moth in your flame? / Do you burn the same when I / Look in your eyes / Do you get butterflies?

Alternative/Indie First Dance Songs

For All You Give – Paper Kites

I wanna take you everywhere I go / Have you by my side / Take a walk round in every town / Drive across state lines / Like the sun sends a golden stream / Into our front room / I could be the same old light for you

Fade Into You – Mazzy Star

I want to hold the hand inside you / I want to take the breath that’s true / I look to you, and I see nothing / I look to you to see the truth

Happy Accidents – Saint Motel

Freckles form a line around your face / And I get lost when I try to find my way / And I start to tumble down / Pick me back up off the ground

Real Love Baby – Father John Misty

So tell me what’s wrong with the feeling / I’m a flower, you’re my bee / It’s much older than you and me / I’m in love, I’m alive / I belong to the stars and sky

I Will Follow You Into The Dark – Death Cab for Cutie

If Heaven and Hell decide that they both are satisfied / Illuminate the no’s on their vacancy signs / If there’s no one beside you when your soul embarks / Then I’ll follow you into the dark

The Only Exception – Paramore

Image by Nikki McCrone

Country Wedding Music

Late To The Party – Kacey Musgraves

You’re rolling one for two / And I’m still picking out my shoes / I’m never late to the party / If I’m late to the party with you

When You Say Nothing At All – Alison Krauss

The smile on your face lets me know that you need me / There’s a truth in your eyes saying you’ll never leave me / The touch of your hand says you’ll catch me where ever I fall / You say it best, when you say nothing at all.

Tennessee Whiskey – Chris Stapleton

You’re as smooth as Tennessee whiskey / You’re as sweet as strawberry wine / You’re as warm as a glass of brandy / And honey, I stay stoned on your love all the time

Yours –  Russell Dickerson

But I came to life when I first kissed you / The best me has his arms around you / You make me better than I was before / Thank God I’m yours

Feet Don’t Touch the Ground – Stoney LaRue

We got moonlight, all night / Lord I pray on the next star I see tonight, we’d never lose this thing we found / With you by my side, I can do without the city lights / I fly so high when you’re around / But my feet don’t touch the ground

Growing Old With You – Restless Roads

Girl, you stole my heart and changed it / Took all of my plans and rearranged them / Now I finally know what amazing grace is / When I look into your eyes / Baby, I see my whole life

Forever After All – Luke Combs

They say nothing lasts forever / But they ain’t seen us together / Or the way the moonlight dances in your eyes / Just a t-shirt in the kitchen / With no make-up and a million / Other things that I could look at my whole life

Forever To Go – Chase Rice

Another year down / And baby, somehow / Our song never gets old / The honeymoon phase / And butterflies fade / But I’ll never let you go / We were just kids / Stealin’ a kiss / And it feels like forever ago / But I love you more than yesterday

Then (Piano Mix) – Brad Paisley

And now you’re my whole life / Now you’re my whole world / I just can’t believe the way I feel about you, girl / Like a river meets the sea / Stronger than it’s ever been

All Your’n – Tyler Childers

Image by Sarah Dagenais Photo

R&B and Soul First Dance Songs

A Couple of Forevers – Chrisette Michele

If I Ain’t Got You – Alicia Keys

Some people want diamond rings / Some just want everything / But everything means nothing / If I ain’t got you, yeah

Like a Star – Corinne Bailey Rae

Just like a star across my sky / Just like an angel off the page / You have appeared to my life / Feel like I’ll never be the same

Coming Home – Leon Bridges

Baby, baby, baby / I’m coming home / To your tender sweet loving / You’re my one and only woman

I Do – Aloe Blacc

Never understood why / People always say love chooses you / But now I do / Now I do

Is This Love – Allen Stone

I wanna love you / And treat you right / I wanna love you / Every day and every night

Why I Love You – MAJOR

I found love in you (I did, yeah I do) / And no other love will do / Every moment that you smile chases all of the pain away / Forever and a while in my heart is where you’ll stay

Conversations In The Dark – John Legend

I will never try to change you, change you / I will always want the same you, same you / Swear on everything I pray to / That I won’t break your heart

By Your Side – Sade

When you’re on the outside, baby / And you can’t get in / I will show you / You’re so much better than you know

Image by Livifaith Photography

Solo Singer/Songwriter First Dance Songs

Better Half of Me – Tom Walker

That I’d have all I need / If you were standing right in front of me / I’ll finally see what it means to be complete / Don’t need to spend our lives chasing gold / Anywhere with you, I’ll call my home

Beyond Me (Acoustic) – Leon Bridges

She might just be my everything and beyond (beyond) / Space and time in the afterlife / Will she have my kids? Will she be my wife? / She might just be my everything and beyond

I Guess I’m In Love – Clinton Kane

Oh, I’m obsessed / With the way your head is layin’ on my chest / How you love the things I hate about myself / That no one knows, but with you, I see hope again

Sweet Symphony – Joy Oladokun

Loving you’s a sweet, sweet symphony / That all of heaven and earth join to sing / My heart trembles at the sound / Even if the world that we built falls at our feet / We’re still right where we’re supposed to be

I Got You – Jack Johnson

This weight’s too much alone / Some days I can’t hold it at all / You take it on for me / When tomorrow’s too much / I’ll carry it all / I Got You

Hold You In My Arms – Ray Lamontagne

Grow Old With Me – Tom Odell

Grow old with me / Let us share what we see / And oh the best it could be / Just you and I

Us – Regina Spektor

They made a statue of us / And then put it on a mountain top / Now tourists come and stare at us / Blow bubbles with their gum / Take photographs of fun, have fun

And Then There Was You – Norah Jones

And then there was you / And then there was you, my dear / I thought love was a game one would win or would lose / Until I found you

Found – Jacob Banks

So what do I do with this love I saved for you? / What do I move to the space I held for two? / Can you taste the choir? / Can you feel the whisper? / Oh, the love I found, ohh

The Luckiest – Ben Folds

Forever Like That (Acoustic) – Ben Rector

Well, I wanna love you forever, I do / I wanna spend all of my days with you / I’ll carry your burden and be the wind at your back / I wanna spend my forever / Forever like that

I Am Yours – Andy Grammar

I am yours / Now and always / Wouldn’t dream to be anything more / You take my breath away every night / Still can’t believe it when you say your mine and / I am yours, I am yours, I am yours

Once you’ve chosen your first dance song, you’ll want to get started on the playlist guaranteed to get your guests on the dance floor. Of course, the best wedding DJs can help you determine all of these song choices which is why we’ve rounded up a collection of wedding DJs from around the world.

Image by Christian Reyes Photography