The wedding reference, since 1999
Music for the ceremony and the reception, moment by moment.
Music marks every transition in a wedding: guests arriving, the wedding party walking in, the entrance everyone stands for, the moment you leave as a married couple, and later the first dance, the parent dances, the cake and the last song of the night. Choose for those moments rather than for a playlist — a processional needs a steady tempo and a natural ending point, and a first dance is easier to enjoy when it runs under three minutes or is faded early.
Talk to your musicians or DJ about timing, and to your officiant before you choose ceremony music: many churches and synagogues have rules about secular songs during a religious service. The libraries below list hundreds of tried selections for each moment.
The prelude, the processional, the entrance, the unity candle and the recessional — what each piece of music is for, how long it needs to run, and hundreds of suggestions from the Today’s Weddings library.
How to find the song, how long to dance to it, whether to take lessons — and the list of first dances Today’s Weddings readers have chosen since 1999.
The grand entrance, the parent dances, the cake, the bouquet and the last song of the night — what each moment needs, and the song lists Today’s Weddings readers have built since 1999.