Best 30 Wedding Songs of All Time

There’s not much to this smoochy 1986 chart-topper, which Prince nearly gave away to the Minneapolis band Mazarati. It’s mostly just drum-machine thumps and shrieking, pleading vocals, with the Purple One’s tasty guitar licks adding extra spice. And yet that’s more than enough to get folks up and strutting with Dynasty-grade attitude. Listen here.

After three minutes of sweating to this 1959 R&B rave-up, everyone in the reception hall shimmies down to the floor, Animal House style. When the crouching becomes almost unbearable, the track reverses course—“A little bit louder now!”—and the Isleys blow the roof off the joint one more time. Weddings without “Shout” are actually void in some states. Listen here.

YouTube is filled with videos of couples and their wedding parties performing elaborate dance routines to this once-ubiquitous 2009 jam. And for good reason. With its relentless beat and simple, positive message—“Tonight’s gonna be a good night”—“I Gotta Feeling” is a song everyone can get behind, regardless of how they feel about Black Eyed Peas. Listen here.

“Y’all don’t wanna hear me,” sings André 3000 in the second verse of this universally beloved 2003 fusion of hip-hop and indie-rock. “You just wanna dance.” He’s right about that: “Hey Ya!” is a song about couples staying together long past the point they’ve fallen out of love. Lyrically, it’s maybe the worst song you could play at a wedding. Musically, it ranks among the very best. Listen here.

Bouquet tossing got a whole lot more interesting when Beyoncé dropped this 2008 smash. The sassy self-worth anthem and instant wedding staple makes unwed women the belles of the ball for three glorious minutes. At no point in the party will the dancing be fiercer. Listen here.

John Lennon famously blew his voice out recording this 1963 cover of a tune popularized by The Isley Brothers the previous year. His raspy enthusiasm goes a long way toward selling the track, as do Ringo’s sturdy backbeat and Paul and George’s backing whooooos. But “Twist and Shout” ultimately works because virtually everyone, regardless of dancing ability, is capable of doing the two things Lennon commands in the title phrase. Listen here.

Written and produced by Chic founders Nile Rodgers and Bernard Edwards, two of the funkiest people who ever lived, Sister Sledge’s 1979 hit “We Are Family” is a great excuse to put aside petty grievances and boogie alongside aunts, uncles, cousins, grandparents, and anyone else you’re bound to by blood or law. Edwards’ bass is the tie that binds. Listen here.

Saxophonist and arranger Ronald Bell got the idea for this 1980 chart-topper by reading the Quran in a hotel room. He discovered a passage about angels celebrating the creation of man, and he wanted to give the world a joyful song that captured that feeling. Given that “Celebration” gets played at absolutely every wedding and New Year’s Eve party worth attending, it’s safe to say Bell succeeded. Listen here.

The Jackson 5’s 1969 breakthrough is one of the most sampled songs in history, and with all due respect to Michael and his brothers, who exude superhuman levels of sweetness and charm, that’s largely down to the bass groove played by Motown session ace Wilton Felder. This funk-pop plea for reconciliation never fails to light up a room. Listen here.

Originally written by a dude named Robert Hazard and transformed into a feminist New Wave 1983 chart-burner by Cyndi Lauper, “Girls Just Want to Have Fun” is a statement of joy and power that invites all female-identifying persons to walk in the sun. And form conga lines. Listen here.

“Home is where I want to be,” sings David Byrne on this uncommonly earnest 1983 declaration of love from Talking Heads. “But I guess I’m already there.” Although some of the other lyrics are a bit more oblique, this quirky, funky earworm evokes the cozy feeling that comes with finding someone you’re excited to grow old with. Listen here.

The chorus of this pillowy 1989 R&B slow jam reads exactly like wedding vows: “Here and now/ I promise to love faithfully.” Everything about the song suggests flowing curtains and candlelight, and Luther’s voice is pure butter. The funky little break at 3:32 ensures that nobody drifts off into blissful slumber. Listen here.

Never mind the fact that Shania Twain and famed producer Mutt Lange, who co-wrote this gorgeous 1997 country-pop ballad about their own marriage, split up in 2008. The lyrics came from a real place, and “You’re Still the One” remains one of the all-time great odes to fidelity and stability. This one goes out to both newlyweds and old couples still beating the odds. Listen here.

Just when you think this 2005 indie love ballad is getting a little too starry-eyed, Conor Oberst drops some heavy pragmatism: “I’d rather be working for a paycheck than waiting to win the lottery.” In other words, relationships are hard work, but the rewards—the happiness and sense of purpose Oberst warbles about elsewhere in the song—make it worth the effort. Pay attention, newlyweds. Listen here.

With early hits like “Rock Lobster,” The B-52’s became America’s leading dance band for artsy New Wave kids. “Love Shack,” from the 1989 comeback album Cosmic Thing, brought their kitschy, campy rock ‘n’ roll sound mainstream. It’s an audience-participation number, and the bit where everyone yells “Tin roof, rusted!” is usually more fun than any of the wedding speeches. Listen here.

Inspired by the romantic reggae variant known as lovers rock, “By Your Side” is a sensual R&B slow-burner about sticking with your partner no matter what. For all her mysterious allure, Sade Adu sings this ride-or-die anthem with plainspoken sincerity. Even the DJ is bound to get chills. Listen here.

“It’s full force, classical yet vintage, desperate yet triumphant,” Alicia Keys said of this 2007 stunner in a Billboard interview. “I want people to feel my soul.” Mission accomplished. With its head-nodding beat and utterly unforgettable hook, “No One” makes finding true love feel like climbing Mt. Everest. Listen here.

The emotional centerpiece of Kacey Musgraves’ Grammy-winning Golden Hour, “Butterflies” captures the warm glow and nervous excitement of new love. For anyone in the reception hall who’s lost those lovin’ feelings, this twinkling county-soul gem will provide a welcome reminder. Listen here.

Although it was initially performed by big-band titan Glenn Miller in 1941, “At Last” will forever belong to Etta James. On her soaring 1960 rendition, the R&B legend overpowers the stately string arrangement with pure molten exuberance. James is serving up joy and relief, a cocktail more potent than anything the bartender is pouring. Listen here.

As evidenced by its nearly 2 billion Spotify streams, “All of Me” has been played at a lot of weddings. John Legend himself performed the exultant piano ballad in 2013 when he and model Chrissy Teigen—the inspiration behind the lyrics—tied the knot in Italy. It’s the perfect song about embracing imperfections. Listen here.

It supposedly took Al Green a mere 10 minutes to write the lyrics for this chart-topping 1972 soul masterwork. The best part is the third verse, where he tries to understand why the heck people bother breaking up when they’re only going to get back together again. “I just can’t seeeeee,” Green sings, letting his falsetto suggest the sweet alternative every couple is hoping for. Listen here.

There’s no beating the Bob Dylan original, a tender statement of devotion from a guy who sounds like he’s been out in the rain all night. Adele’s brilliant 2008 cover sands off the rough edges and therefore works better for wedding slow dances. That said, Alvin & The Chipmunks could sing it and still bring the house down. Listen here.

This 1987 dance-pop masterpiece describes the search for a soulmate. But thanks to Whitney’s ecstatic delivery and the music’s bubblegum bounce, “I Wanna Dance With Somebody” doubles as a celebration of fleeting pleasures and surrendering to the almighty beat. Everyone can relate; nobody can resist. Listen here. 

The Aretha Franklin and Dionne Warwick recordings of this sophisticated late-’60s Burt Bacharach/Hal David soul-pop delight will class up any wedding. Diana King’s reggae version from the soundtrack to My Best Friend’s Wedding—the film that cemented this song as a wedding standard—is also fantastic. Just make sure you pick one. Listen here.

The best ’80s-funk song of 2015 recalls classics by The Gap Band, Morris Day and The Time, and Zapp, among many others. Still, Mark Ronson and Bruno Mars manage to create a timeless dance-floor destroyer that transcends mere pastiche and earns a permanent place in the wedding canon. Don’t believe it? Just watch. Listen here.

The 1961 Elvis flick Blue Hawaii isn’t exactly Citizen Kane. However, the soundtrack did yield one of the most enduring love songs of the 20th century. “Can’t Help Falling In Love” pairs the King’s luxurious crooning with lyrics that are way more poetic than they needed to be. Some things are meant to be. Listen here.

Natalie Cole’s doozy of a 1975 debut single is nothing short of prophecy. “This will be an ever-lasting love,” she predicts as the piano player and horn section compete to see who can sound giddier. It all comes to a head at the “hugging and squeezing and kissing and pleasing” part, where the track achieves liftoff. Listen here.

Nobody knows more about love than vampires. When they say forever, they mean forever. Pop singer-songwriter Christina Perri skillfully puts herself in the shoes of the undead on this epic ballad from 2011’s ​​The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn – Part 1 soundtrack. As more Twihards get hitched, “A Thousand Years” is bound to become immortal on the wedding scene. Listen here.

September is one of the most popular months to get married, but this frothy 1978 disco-funk mood-elevator is a must-spin for wedding DJs all year long. Lyrically, “September” is all about remembering a perfect evening when everyone was in love and dancing like mad. As it turns out, these types of nights are way more likely to occur when “September” is playing. Listen here.

Effervescent yet vaguely melancholy, with a descending piano line that burrows right into your soul, “Dancing Queen” is an immaculate piece of pop music. The lyrics describe a girl who’s young and beautiful and in the mood to groove. Everyone is that girl when “Dancing Queen” hits. Listen here.