The First Dance.
When it came time to choose a song for the first dance at our wedding, I had more than enough ideas in mind. Considering my daily tunes are songs sung by James Taylor, Michael Buble, Kenny G, Kenny Loggins (I like the Kenny’s), Barry Manilow, Better Midler, Rod Stewart and Luther Vandross, it’s not like the pickings were slim. (I’m a dork.) But we wanted something that wasn’t your typical wedding song, something slightly upbeat; a song that had words that we could actually relate to.
I don’t even remember how I came across it, but the minute I heard Taylor Dayne’s “I’ll Always Love You,” I was sold. Sure, my first though was how I rocked out to it on my pink and purple Pocket Rocker with my permed hair. But I put it on my iPod and plugged it in to Mr. How Sweet’s car that night when he picked me up, and upon hearing it, he teared up a little! Quite humorous, especially if you visualize the video in all of it’s 80’s glory.
There really couldn’t be a better song for us, especially since I was surely born a few decades too late and, well… Mr. How Sweet was born a decade before me. (He’s old.) We had somehow lost the song from our iPod’s, but Mr. How Sweet downloaded it two weeks ago while I was cooking dinner and we danced like we are 70 years old. (Because secretly we are.)
I absolutely love this song and get so excited every time I hear it. What song was playing (or will be, would you like to be) during your first dance?
153 Comments on “The First Dance.”
Aww all of these songs are so cute! My song will be ‘you are the best thing’ by Ray LaMontagne. Such a wicked song.
LOOOOVE that one.
This is so sweet! And I just loved reading everybody’s songs in the comments. We danced to I’m Old Fashioned by Ella Fitzgerald. We had a live band who did a fantastic job.
Ours was I’ve Finally Found Someone by Barbara Streisand and Bryan Adams. Love that song!! Our unity candle song was I Will Be Here by Steven Curtis Chapman. When we were dating, my husband sang this song to me in my hometown park while we sitting on the benches late one night. I have many favorite/funny memories from this night. Oh and another of “our songs” which my husband and his groomsmen(all were in choir together) serenaded me at our wedding dance is Billy Joel’s For the Longest Time. We still break those songs out and dance together in our living room. :)
Ours was Green Eyes by Coldplay. It was on a CD I gave my hubby when we first started dating. I love the lyrics and we both have green eyes. :)
that is so sweet! I love 80’s and Taylor! :)
I LOVE Joshua Radins song “today” (it played at ellen and portias wedding) but ultimately I want my first dance song to be one that has to do with both me and my future hubby :)
Aw, I love this post and you looked absolutely beautiful in that picture. I’m not sure what I will dance too. I love “You and Me” by Kenny Chesney and didn’t even know who kenny was until I started dating my bf (he’s a fan) so that would be a contender.
Keith is 11 years older than me! I love it! :) We actually didn’t dance at our wedding…so we don’t have an official song which makes me sad!
great song, my sister always played taylor dayne when we were kids. my husband and i danced to you really got a hold on me by smokey robinson. its not of course entirely true, since i do like him and love him but we both always loved the sesame street version for some reason. and my hubbie would joke that he was the letter U chasing me around:)
Aww . . . I love this!!
I’ve put a lot of thought into what song I would pick, but now that I no longer have a man, I guess it doesnt count. I’ve always wanted “I Do” by Paul Brandt. Its highly unoriginal, but I just love it so much.
So, the one thing my fiance’ asked was if he could pick the song for our first dance. (I tried suggesting “Wagon Wheel” by Old Show Medicine Crow but his response was, “I tailgate and drink beer to that song, not dance to it!” Haha)
He first suggested “Amazed” by Lonestar, but seeing as how we are from the south I had flashbacks and informed him how I was pretty sure every redneck in the 90s had that as their song (not that it’s a bad song, but you gotta admit, it’s pretty cliche’). He considered this point, and agreed… but he also found a song that he preferred much more. He ended up choosing “Then” by Brad Paisley. I am ok with this. :)
(FTR – everything in the planning is a team effort, he just wanted to make a point to do this on his own… I realized after I posted it sounded a tad controlling that he asked if he could do that :P )
Love this song! Great 80’s tune :-) As of right now, we will be dancing to DMB “You and Me”. Perfect for us because we’re always talking about traveling and going places.
This post (and you) are adorable. I love how you described your personalities.
We danced to ‘Lucky’ by Jason Mraz and Colbie Calait. It was a little more upbeat and we had everyone join us halfway through. I love the feeling when that song comes on and I get to remember the best day of my life- definitely cheaper than having another wedding :)
Awwww LOVE LOVE this song! Such a sweet post (no pun intended :)
Meh, neither of us dances and I don’t want a wedding… but since it’s purely hypothetical, “Delirious Love” by Neil Diamond… it’s such a fun song, and Neil Diamond is my all-time favorite. I’m also an old soul lucky enough to be in a 24 year old’s body :)
I’m not married…but after seeing Michael Buble in concert…it would HAVE to be something by him…maybe Home? I cry almost everytime I hear it.
mine was “tiny dancer” by elton john. one night before we were dating (probably about a year before) we were (probably) drunk and starting writing the lyrics on a cheese puff can, alternating lines. it was really random and weird, but it was such a great night, it’s one of our favorite songs –and one of the best, like, ever — and i couldn’t not have have it be our wedding song.
OMG I had forgotten about this song!!
Ours (in June) will be “Home” by Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeroes. Look it up. It’s beautiful and describes our relationship perfectly. :)
This is top secret, so don’t tell anyone….because then I would have major creeper status (yet I’m still posting it on the internet, go figure). BUT if my boyfriend and I ever get married I’d want to have a Blink 182 song as our first dance. Anything by that band reminds me of him!
My fiance and I get married in 52 days!! May 14. So nervous!! Anyway our first dance song is going to be “swing life away” by Rise Against. One night driving to fh’s moms house late in the evening, I was falling asleep on his shoulder and this song came on. He sung along as I rested my head on his shoulder. Ever since its been “our song” and it seems very fitting for our first dance.
P.s. you look beautiful in that picture!
Good song =) Mine was Feels like home by Chantal somethingorother
Chantal Kreviazuk. Love her. Love that song.
Our first dance song was Lost in This Moment by Big & Rich. I think almost everyone who got married in 2008 had the same song so it wasn’t unique, but the lyrics said it all. I still get goosebumps when I hear it.
Our close contenders were: Wonderful Tonight by Eric Clapton, Cross My Heart by George Strait and Me & You by Kenny Chesney
I forgot about that song. I really like it!
Our song was We Are Man and Wife by Michelle Featherstone. I love it when you share wedding pictures. :)
Ours was Howie Day’s Collide. He actually played guitar and sang that to me while we were dating so we just knew, that was the one.
Rose of my Heart sung by Johnny Cash… Love this song!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w7sD6LSTBwo
Now our recessional song was fun and upbeat… The Ramones covering What a Wonderful World
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fV-kvj7y_pE
Gorgeous pic! We danced to “You’re All I Need To Get By” by Marvin Gaye and Tammi Terrell. Jacob just performed it on American Idol a few minutes ago…brought back lots of memories!
I just saw that!
We just got married in July 2010 and danced to Paul Stookey’s “The Wedding Song”. Love it. We also had a slideshow playing to “Forever and Always Amen” by Randy Travis and cut our cake to the Steven Curtis Chapman song “I will be here”.
We didn’t have a first dance really, our wedding was fairly small and there was almost no time for dancing.
BUT, the song for our wedding and the song that I walked down the aisle to was “Love Song” by 311 (cover of the original Cure song).
I love 311 and so does my husband so it was super appropriate.
Aw, what a cute post. My husband and I danced to “Your Song” by Elton John. It was a song he could play on guitar and serenaded me early in our courtship, so I always knew that would be the song we’d dance to.
HA! I love Taylor Dane! The Husband/man and I danced to “Spend my life with you” by Eric Benet and Tamia. We wanted something that captured the feeling we had of finally being married – we dated long distance. During the reception I sang “For You” by Kenny Latimore to him. It was quite a moment. Aww sniff sniff, I’m tearing up now!
I love hearing the small details of other people’s weddings :)! Ours will be “You and Me” by DMB… I think! It’s so easy to go back and forth on this decision!
Jess, you are SO gorgeous. That picture is stunning, and I love how you can tell how “in the moment” you are. No words.
I am an 80’s child. That was a major flashback!!! This was our song http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2pN8OccsbPA from one of the BEST movies ever When Harry Met Sally
We’ve also made sure that it went and stayed on all our kids ipods. I LOVE listening to my 6 year old walking around singing her version!!!
Too bad he is gone. Barry White was the man that instilled romance in me and my husband. Just listen to that man’s voice. Loved anything by Barry White and his songs were the only songs hubby would dance to. Wow its early but I think I will put on one of his albums. Am I showing just how old I am? Paulette
Awww….I love that picture! We just got married a month ago in Mexico- our song was “History in the Making” by Darius Rucker. I love him.
Congrats to you guys!
‘ Moondance ” by Van Morrison was our first dance. It has always been “our song”
My fiance and I are getting married in a week! Next Sat, April 2! We’re dancing to “Baby I’m Yours” by the Arctic Monkeys. Look it up. Its got a great 50’s vibe to it and the lyrics are so cute!
I’m gonna stay right here by your side,
Do my best to keep you satisfied
Nothin’ in the world can drive me away
‘Cause every day, you’ll hear me say
Baby, I’m yours
‘Til the stars fall from the sky
Baby, I’m yours
‘Til the rivers all run dry
Baby, I’m yours
‘Til the sun no longer shines
Baby, I’m yours
‘Til the poets run out of rhyme
Congrats!!
We are getting married on a beach in Mexico on March 31st (yes, a week from today!). Our song will be “All about loving you – Bon Jovi”. I’m thr biggest Bon Jovi fan and just had to have them playing somewhere at thr wedding. Thank god my fiance deals with my obsession pretty well :)
Congratulations!
He hasn’t proposed yet, but our song is “You Are the Best Thing” by Ray LaMontagne – I can’t imagine dancing to anything else!
My hubs and I danced to Sam Cooke’s ‘Nothing Can Change This Love’. It’s so beautiful and he has so much soul. Thanks for inspiring me to listen to it today…it made me really happy. :-)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d3TkNgdUH8w
I never realized how sweet that song was!!! such a great pick for a first dance!!!!
For our first dance – my husband and I danced to the Eels song “World of Shit” which sounds strange at first …but our favorite lyric in the song is “when I rise I shine I got you on my mind, And the question isn’t if, The question is merely when…” it’s sort of been our little anthem since we first started dating.
We will dance to Ray LaMontagne’s “You Are the Best Thing.” That song describes our relationship and we both loved it the minute we heard it!
Beautiful wedding photo.
I actually miss all the wedding plan details, like picking out songs! I told my husband that we are going to get remarried every ten years so I can plan more weddings for us (albeit smaller)!
We danced to “The Luckiest” by Ben Folds. When we were dating but not yet engaged I heard this on the radio on the way to work and decided it had to be our song. My husband concurred.
Before our wedding, I cried every time I listened to the song my dad and I danced to: “House at Pooh Corner” by Kenny Loggins. He sang it to me when I was little. Amazingly I didn’t choke up during the actual dance. My dad and I sang it the whole time (luckily no one could hear)!
So sweet! I LOVE this song!!! My fiance and I are currently planning our wedding and while we have a few songs in mind, I’m so excited for us to choose one for sure. Now I can’t stop listening to this one :)
“When A Man Loves A Woman” by Percy Sledge (not the Michael Bolton version). My hubby has an ipod filled with a bunch of random songs like oldies, ACDC and opera. I think he’s an old soul. One morning when we were first dating he had the ipod playing and “When a Man Loves a Woman” came on and he pulled me in to dance. It was the first song we ever danced to and I always remembered that morning and knew that would be the perfect first dance song for our wedding.
I really love Cee-Lo’s “Old Fashioned!”
We danced to Ice Cream by Sarah McLachlan.
I had wanted to use Dancing Lessons by Sinead O’Connor, but my husband nixed that idea. I think it would’ve required him to demonstrate more rhythm than what he was willing to offer up in a public place.
I’m getting married in May and our first dance will be Van Morrison’s Someone Like You. (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tIrJK19dADI) I had the same moment that you had where as I was hearing it, I realized how perfect it is for us. And wow, I hope I look as beautiful as you on my wedding day! :-D
Our first dance song was Angel Eyes by the Jeff Healey band. My husband picked it one night when we were driving around listing to songs he had on his ipod…it started playing and we both just knew that it fit us perfectly!! And we also dance around our house like 70 year olds so you’re not alone!!
Our first dance was to “Lets Get it On” by Marvin Gaye. We had a live band at the wedding and they did a great job! My husband and I are very easy-going, light-hearted and fun so we wanted to choose a song that would be a little silly!
I’m getting married in October and our first dance will be a song by my favorite artist – Eric Church – “You Make It Look So Easy”. I played it for my fiance a while back on a road trip and we laughed because it’s totally us – very sweet song, but talks about both people being a little headed! =)