Songs cement memories of your wedding day for you — as the wedding couple — and your guests. Here are the greatest wedding songs of all time. How do you choose the best one? We have some tips for you.
What Are The Most Popular Wedding Songs Now?
We have scoured the Earth reviewing DJ wedding playlists, music charts, and popular streaming songs to bring you our list of the greatest wedding songs of all-time. This list incorporates all aspects of a wedding including the processional, recessional, grand entrance, first dance, parent dances, and party songs. There’s a lot of opportunities to use music at a wedding.
What Makes a Song a Great Wedding Song?
A great wedding song captures the joy of love, excitement of the wedding day, and faith in the relationship. The greatest wedding song may be a love song or a song that fills the dance floor with guests partying and dancing the night away.
Quite a debate can be had while deciding the best wedding songs. Many songs are played over and over and over. That doesn’t mean they’re necessarily the greatest wedding song.
Today’s wedding couples want a different experience than every other bride. What gives? If you want to be different, do not select a song below as these are the most popular songs ever to be played at weddings. If, however, you’d like to work for the crowd, choose from our list of the greatest wedding songs of all time. These songs will be known by every guest and will give you and them goosebumps.
We reviewed wedding songs through the years that are both in current circulation and stand the test of time. We also looked at songs that were recently released. We predict that will be played for years to come. Our list of the greatest wedding songs of all time represents an array of music genres and eras.
What Is Best Wedding Song Ever?
Ed Sheeran’s “Thinking Out Loud” is the greatest wedding song ever -or- is it Etta James’ “At Last”? Even though it was released in 2014, many couples relate to the emotion of “Thinking Out Loud” and will have everyone dancing to this great love ballad. The song stayed on the Billboard charts for 118 weeks (more than 2 years!). That’s tough to beat. “At Last” is a timeless classic of finding your forever love.
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Here are our top 10 wedding songs of all-time
1. At Last – Etta James 1960, At Last!
The soulful Etta James captures the emotion of finding your forever love in song. “At Last” has stood the test of time. It’s amazing to think that this song came from her very first album.
2. Thinking Out Loud – Ed Sheeran 2015, X
Although this song is the newest song on the list, we believe it will be played for years to come. Sheeran is a global superstar and this song has the perfect video and love story.
3. Marry Me – Train 2010, Save Me, San Francisco
Train has the perfect message for the processional walk. Did you choose your groom’s processional song yet?
4. Bless The Broken Road – Rascal Flatts 1995, All in Good Time
Although the song was originally produced by Nitty Gritty Dirt Band, Rascal Flats turned it into a mega-wedding-hit. This song captures the gratitude for past relationships as the path for meeting one another through God.
5. All Of Me – John Legend 2013, Love in the Future
John Legend will go down as one of the greatest R&B artists of his time. “All of Me” highlights his talent with words. Love isn’t about perfection; it’s about the acceptance for one another’s defaults.
6. Can’t Help Falling In Love – Elvis Presley 1961, Blue Hawaii
Elvis, the king of Rock and Roll, slowed the tempo way down for this sensual love ballad. In 2017, Haley Reinhart’s cover of the song became extremely popular for the wedding circuit.
7. I Don’t Want To Miss A Thing – Aerosmith 1998, Armageddon
Brought from the big screen to the hearts of wedding couples and wedding guests for a love that will last forever.
8. What A Wonderful World – Louis Armstrong 1967, What a Wonderful World
This song, sung by Louis Armstrong, gives a great vibe of happiness and causes us all to smile — unless you say “Good Morning, Vietnam” then all you think of is war. Be aware of this connection if your parents served in the Vietnam Conflict.
9. A Thousand Years – Christina Perri 2011, The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn, Part 1 Soundtrack
A wedding song played during the wedding of Bella Swan and Edward Cullen (Robert Pattinson and Kristen Stewart) in the Twighlight series. A very popular song played during the wedding ceremony as a processional but also as a first dance song too. See other covers of this song too like The Piano Guys.
10. The Way You Look Tonight – Frank Sinatra 1964
The song resurfaced as a wedding song in 1991. It then was featured in “My Best Friend’s Wedding” in 1997. Since then, the song can be played for the father-daughter dance, money dance, or any song shining the spotlight on the bride.
What type of song makes for the best wedding song ever?
It must be the epitome of love. The song must express love for another as that is what a wedding is all about. Getting married was a popular theme recently with Marry Me by Train, Marry You by Bruno Mars, and also not on the list Marry Me by Jason Derulo.
Movies also played a big role in the list of best wedding songs ever. Movies feature mega-hits like Armageddon with I Don’t Want To Miss A Thing and Swing Time with The Way You Look Tonight.
Similar song lists for further reading:
Top Wedding Songs Of All-Time: The List
What are the greatest wedding songs of all time? We have your list. Our disclaimer is that the list is not bound by any specific genre or era either like Rock, R&B, Country, and Jazz. The greatest wedding songs of all time surpass genre and style.
Before you comment about your favorite song not being on our list of top all-time wedding songs, please know that we chose only 101 songs. Yes, there are fantastic wedding songs not on our list. You may be thinking of Anne Murray’s “Could I Have This Dance.” Before you mention Patsy Cline’s “Crazy,” read the lyrics. It’s not the best song for a wedding.
Now that you know a list of the greatest wedding songs, which songs would be at the top of the list? To qualify as one of the greatest wedding songs of all time, it must be widely played now. So, if you suggest a song below, we’d like to know which song you would remove in its place.
Best Wedding Songs of All-time list is curated by Matthew Campbell
Last Updated: January 22, 2021
| Song | Amazon Link | |
|---|---|---|
| 10,000 Hours Dan + Shay, Justin Bieber 2019 |  | |
| 24k Magic Bruno Mars 2016 | | |
| A Thousand Years Christina Perri 2011 | | |
| All My Love George Ezra 2018 | | |
| All Of Me John Legend 2013 | | |
| Always and Forever Heatwave 1976 | | |
| Amazed Lonestar 1999 | | |
| At Last Etta James 1960 | | |
| Because You Loved Me Celine Dion 1996 | | |
| Best Day Of My Life American Authors 2013 | | |
| Best Part Daniel Caesar feat. H.E.R. 2017 | | |
| Better Together Jack Johnson 2006 | | |
| Beyond Leon Bridges 2018 | | |
| Billie Jean Michael Jackson 1982 | | |
| Bless The Broken Road Rascal Flatts 2004 | | |
| Brown Eyed Girl Van Morrison 1967 | | |
| Can't Help Falling in Love Haley Reinhart 2016 | | |
| Can’t Help Falling In Love Elvis Presley 1961 | | |
| Can’t Help Falling in Love Kina Grannis 2017 | | |
| Can’t Stop The Feeling! Justin Timberlake 2016 | | |
| Cha Cha Slide Mr C The Slide Man 2000 | | |
| Chicken Fried Zac Brown Band 2008 | | |
| Come Away With Me Norah Jones 2002 | | |
| Crazy in Love Beyoncé and Jay Z 2003 | | |
| Cupid Shuffle Cupid 2007 | | |
| Despacito Luis Fonsi feat. Daddy Yankee 2017 | | |
| Die A Happy Man Thomas Rhett 2015 | | |
| Don’t Stop Believin’ Journey 1981 | | |
| Endless Love Lionel Richie & Diana Ross 1981 | | |
| Everything Michael Bublé 2007 | | |
| Footloose Kenny Loggins 1984 | | |
| Forever And Ever, Amen Randy Travis 1987 | | |
| Forever Chris Brown 2008 | | |
| Friends In Low Places Garth Brooks 1990 | | |
| From The Ground Up Dan + Shay 2016 | | |
| From This Moment On Shania Twain 1997 | | |
| Gettin' Jiggy Wit It Will Smith 1997 | | |
| God Gave Me You Blake Shelton 2011 | | |
| Happy Pharrell Williams 2013 | | |
| Ho Hey The Lumineers 2012 | | |
| How Sweet It Is (To Be Loved By You) James Taylor 1975 | | |
| I Cross My Heart George Strait 1992 | | |
| I Don’t Want To Miss A Thing Aerosmith 1998 | | |
| I Gotta Feeling Black Eyed Peas 2009 | | |
| I Hope You Dance Lee Ann Womack 2000 | | |
| I Like Me Better Lauv 2017 | | |
| I Loved Her First Heartland 2006 | | |
| I Wanna Dance With Somebody (Who Loves Me) Whitney Houston 1987 | | |
| I'm Yours Jason Mraz 2008 | | |
| In Case You Didn’t Know Brett Young 2017 | | |
| Isn't She Lovely Stevie Wonder 1976 | | |
| Let's Stay Together Al Green 1972 | | |
| Livin’ On A Prayer Bon Jovi 1986 | | |
| Love Shack B-52’s 1989 | | |
| Love Someone Lukas Graham 2018 | | |
| Lover Taylor Swift 2019 | | |
| Lucky Jason Mraz feat. Colbie Caillat 2008 | | |
| Make You Feel My Love Adele 2008 | | |
| Marry Me Train 2009 | | |
| My Girl Temptations 1965 | | |
| My Wish Rascal Flatt 2006 | | |
| No One Alicia Keys 2007 | | |
| One Call Away Charlie Puth 2016 | | |
| Over The Rainbow Israel Kamakawiwo’ole 1990 | | |
| Party Rock Anthem LMFAO feat. Lauren Bennett and GoonRock 2011 | | |
| Perfect Ed Sheeran 2017 | | |
| Pour Some Sugar On Me Def Leppard 1987 | | |
| Same Love Macklemore, Mary Lambert 2017 | | |
| Say You Won’t Let Go James Arthur 2016 | | |
| September Earth, Wind & Fire 1978 | | |
| Shake It Off Taylor Swift 2014 | | |
| Shout Otis Day & The Knights 1978 | | |
| Shut Up And Dance Walk The Moon 2014 | | |
| Signed, Sealed, Delivered I’m Yours Stevie Wonder 1970 | | |
| Single Ladies (Put A Ring On It) Beyonce 2008 | | |
| Speechless Dan + Shay 2018 | | |
| Stand By Me Ben E. King 1961 | | |
| Sugar Maroon 5 2015 | | |
| Sweet Caroline Neil Diamond 1969 | | |
| Tennessee Whiskey Chris Stapleton 2015 | | |
| The Luckiest Ben Folds 2001 | | |
| The Way You Look Tonight Frank Sinatra 1964 | | |
| Thinking Out Loud Ed Sheeran 2014 | | |
| This Is How We Do It Montell Jordan 1995 | | |
| This Will Be (An Everlasting Love) Natalie Cole 1975 | | |
| Twist and Shout The Beatles 1963 | | |
| Unforgettable Nat King Cole & Natalie Cole 1991 | | |
| Uptown Funk Mark Ronson feat. Bruno Mars 2014 | | |
| Wannabe Spice Girls 1996 | | |
| We Are Family Sister Sledge 1979 | | |
| We Found Love Rihanna feat. Calvin Harris 2011 | | |
| What A Wonderful World Louis Armstrong 1967 | | |
| Wobble V.I.C. 2008 | | |
| Wonderful Tonight Eric Clapton 1977 | | |
| Yeah! Usher feat. Ludacris & Lil’ Jon 2004 | | |
| You Are The Best Thing Ray Lamontagne 2008 | | |
| You Are The Reason Calum Scott & Leona Lewis 2018 | | |
| You Make My Dreams Daryl Hall & John Oates 1980 | | |
| You Shook Me All Night Long AC/DC 1980 | | |
| Yours Russell Dickerson 2015 | | |
Wedding Song Ideas Delivered Monthly!
Amazing list thanks for sharing this.
you may want to listen to this piece from “the Everly Brothers” and the song title is “all I want to do is dream….wow..i feel like sharing this site with my paddies in town..wow..what a lucky day on the web…
Hi Wakanda. Yes, it is a great song and on our list of 50s wedding songs above.
I have two favorites that I would like to share (knowing they are not regularly played around the country but…) Buble’s “To love somebody” and a new one “Bigger than us” by Michael Rice. I’d take out Usher’s “Hey” (for graphic content maybe making grandmas heart rate go up and Bruno’s “Uptown funk”… fun song but too club scene for me. I do think your list is great and I thank you :) again this is just a personal thought and y’all made a great list :)
Thank you, Rain for your song suggestions. We will consider a different song for Usher.