Wedding Tips: First Dance

One of the more fun, but definitely still challenging things about planning a wedding is picking the songs you’ll dance to. No I don’t mean the ones the DJ will play all night, I mean you and your partner’s first dance, the dance with you and your dad, and the dance with him and his mom (if you choose to do all of these).

If you and your partner have “a song” then hopefully this is a no brainer and is what you go with. If you don’t have a song, or one that you’d want to dance to in front of your friends and family, luckily the internet has plenty of lists with all of the most popular “First Dance” Songs. If you’re anything like B and I, you want something a little different that really is about you both. Finding this song can be a little bit of a headache, but the way you “research” is just by listening to music, so how bad is that? Haha We of course wanted something off the beaten path. And since we’ve been together for a while now, we’ve actually had a few different songs as “our song”, so we figured let’s pick a new one! B is really into music so he spent a lot of time listening to different bands and artists that he thought I’d like. Then one day, he suggested “More of You” by Chris Stapleton and I knew that was the song. It has such a beautiful message and music, I’m really happy that’s what we chose.

Picking a song for you and your Dad can be equally as challenging but fun. At first we wanted a song that was a little faster than the norm, because we wanted to do something fun. But then I realized I can’t really dance, and we don’t live close enough to work out some kind of choreography. So back to square one! Frank Sinatra has always reminded me of my dad. Growing up, my dad was always playing in the background. I have a real love of the crooners because of it, and Frank by far is my favorite (thanks Dad). So I knew when we started talking about the types of songs we want, I wanted it to be a Frank Sinatra song. This did end up being a little bit of a challenge because he has a lot of love songs, which would have been a little weird to dance with my Dad to. Luckily we found the perfect song (thanks to my Mom!): Just the Way You Look Tonight.

B and his Mom also wanted to do a faster song to make things more interesting. Growing up they were always dancing around the house together, so they wanted to use one of those songs. There were many good options, but after hearing that my Dad and I were going with a slower song, they decided to go with something a little slower too. In the end they chose “Tonight You Belong to Me” by Eddie Vedder.

Ultimately the songs you choose can be very personal or just be one that you both love. So long as you have a great time during that dance, that’s all that really matters! Happy Planning!