The 100 best first dance songs of all time

Choosing your first dance

The first dance is the one moment of a wedding that is only ever about the two of you. The room goes quiet, the lights come down, and for three minutes nobody is checking the timings. That is why the song matters more than almost any other decision you make about the day, and why so many couples find it harder to pick than the venue.

Start with what the song means, not what it sounds like. The song from the first road trip, the one you sang badly in a kitchen at two in the morning, the one that was playing when you said the thing you had been putting off saying. A first dance built on a real memory survives any amount of teasing from the back of the room. If no song carries that weight yet, pick one for how it makes you feel when it starts, then live with it for a fortnight before you commit.

Then think about the dancing. A slow song in waltz time is the easiest to move to; anything mid tempo asks for a bit of a plan. Most couples use between two and three minutes, so if your song runs long, ask the band to come in late or fade early rather than standing through a four minute outro. If dancing in front of people is your idea of hell, choose something upbeat and invite everyone up after the first chorus. Nobody has ever regretted that.

Finally, decide who plays it. A band that learns your song plays it once, for you, in that room. Every band featured on this site offers live first dances, and they will be the same band keeping the floor full at midnight.