Song Choices

You’ll need a song for the bridal party to enter to the reception, you and the groom to enter the reception, cake cutting, bouquet toss (if you are doing that), and a last song of the night.

I agree with Jacqueline regarding your reception. You can have songs for bridal party to entry into the ceremony as well as your entry walking the aisle and after the ceremony. You can have songs during cocktail hour and once your reception starts you can have a songs for bridal party, you and your groom entrance. Also you can a song for first dance (you and your groom), father/daughter song and mother/groom song.

Also keep in mind that you don’t HAVE to have a song for everything. We didn’t have a song for the cake-cutting or our exit (because we were outside). Think through the different parts of the wedding and what YOU want special music for.


One thing I didn’t think of — consider if you want a song restricted to only the special part. We danced our first dance to Ed Sheeran’s Perfect. We’d just asked for general love songs during the part where guests were being seated. The very last song they played before we started the processional was Perfect. It wasn’t a big deal, but I did wish that I’d kept that reserved so the first time people heard it that day was for the special dance.

Thanks everyone! Do you think it's necessary to have a song for groom and I to enter the reception? We don't have a big bridal party - just a maid of honor and best man. We were planning on having maid of honor/best man enter, followed by parents of groom, then mother and brother of bride, all to one song. Then I figured they would just start playing our first dance song, Etta James At Last, while we walk in, and we go straight into the dance (it has an instrumental opening part before the song really starts). It's not a large venue so we won't really be walking far, so I feel it would seem kind of odd to play a song for two seconds only to then switch to our first dance song.

Also curious for the processional - we just have the maid of honor/best man walking down the aisle, followed by the flower girl, followed by me. I figured one song for the bridal party and flower girl, and then one song for me? And then another song for the recessional.

Thoughts?

View Quoted Comment I think an instrumental intro to your first dance as your entry song makes sense! I would walk through the timing once or twice to make sure there’s enough time and you don’t feel rushed.


Yes, I think one song for all the bridal party to come in on, then a separate one for you. The change of music is the audience’s cue that the bride is about to enter. And yeah, it’s only one song for the recessional. That’s long enough for the whole wedding party and VIPs like parents to exit, then it usually shifts to generic background music for everyone else leaving.