Do you go for the sweet, acoustic version that means everything to the two of you but nothing to anyone else? Or a #1 nineties floor-filler to get the party started?
The first dance is one of the most awkward, enduring wedding traditions where newlyweds must slow dance – year eight disco style – in front of their grandmas and their cool work mates. Some find it excruciating and approach with a get-in, get-out mentality, while others go all, all in with a (surprise!) choreographed routine that nine times out of ten climaxes in a highly pressured Dirty Dancing style lift.
A good wedding will have a healthy amount of rumour circulating through the crowds about the first dance song and, sometimes, the track is leaked earlier in the day by a pissed member of the wedding party, building serious hype.
Ahead, married couples look back on their first dance songs and what they meant to them. Prepare to feel the love in the room and let the tears of joy flow for 14 couples you've never met. Ladies and gentlemen, please welcome to the floor...
Aimee & Ian
Fleetwood Mac - "Everywhere"
There were a few reasons. Although my husband and I have very different tastes in music, Fleetwood Mac is beloved by both of us. It also reminds us both of our parents and in particular Ian's amazing dad who passed away a few years ago. The message "I wanna be with you everywhere" really resonates in the context of a wedding but also in terms of family or friends who couldn't be there on the day. Plus, it sounds huge on the dance floor; an uptempo song was always going to be important to us – we really wanted our wedding to be focused on FUN and everyone enjoying every minute, so an uptempo song that everyone can dance to was key.
Francesca & Rory
The Cranberries - "Dreams"
We had "Dreams" by The Cranberries because they are an Irish band, it was up beat enough to dance to, the words are lovely without being cheesy, and it's from the '90s!
Tom & Laura
Prince - "Purple Rain"
My husband and I really struggled with choosing our wedding song. We did a little afternoon test run where I wore my wedding shoes and we ballroom danced around the living room to really cheesy '80s songs. Nothing felt right. I had this niggling feeling that we should choose "Purple Rain", because we'd had this pretend wedding ceremony at Bloc festival five years earlier – when, in the early hours of the morning, we were married by a young man named Myles, who we had met that night at the festival. Our first dance at the fake wedding that messy morning was "Purple Rain" and it was such a special memory. I persuaded Tom to pick "Purple Rain" as our real wedding song and we powered through the long and slightly slow intro. We wanted to have something that projected a strong memory of us and meant something to our friends that had been with us at that hilarious time. So we picked it, got a couple of purple glitter cannons and the result was pretty spectacular, if I say so myself.
Kate & Joe
The Ramones - "Baby I Love You"
Because it's always been entirely accurate...
Lara & James
Kath Bloom - “Come Here”
This is the song that plays in the Richard Linklater film Before Sunrise, and it’s this incredibly awkward, hilarious, sweet moment where they clearly really fancy each other but it’s all new so they just stand awkwardly listening to this record in a booth in a shop staring at each other and then nonchalantly looking away. It reminds us of ourselves when we first met and were both too awkward and polite to do anything.
Nicole & Andy
Luther Vandross - "Never Too Much"
Andy and I went for Luther Vandross "Never Too Much" because we started listening to our favourite more current songs and actually realised the lyrics were horrible – about someone in the relationship breaking the other's heart, or being a dick... So then we started looking for classics. We wanted it to be upbeat and fun and something that wouldn't age. We had an evening of drinking wine and listening to music, played this and instantly knew it was the one. Makes me happy and emosh every time I hear it!
Steve & Laura
Shania Twain - "You're Still The One"
I think the message of 'look at us holding on to each other' was very relevant to our relationship. We could have ended things so many times, but one of us held on every time, and we were rewarded for it.
Natalie & Ben
Bill Withers - "Just The Two Of Us"
Ben and I chose "Just The Two Of Us" by Bill Withers because a) we'd totally run out of time to spend deciding the first dance song and b) we walked out to "Lovely Day" so thought it was an easy/seamless option. So, uh... not romantic.
Jenny & Tej
Simon & Garfunkel - “Bridge Over Troubled Water”
It was the second time for both of us (we’re over 50!) and we’d both been through a lot with previous marriages and personal circumstances. Then we met each other and found peace. So the lyrics “like a bridge over troubled water” are very fitting.
Emma & Tom
Sleeping At Last - "I'm Gonna Be (500 Miles)"
Chosen because lyrics are beautiful and because of the Scottish connection. And it kicks in to a great party song!
Lauren & Rob
Coasts - "Oceans"
Our first trip together was to South America because Rob was playing for England in Argentina [he's a rugby player]. We then flew to Brazil where we stayed on an island called Ilha Grande and as cheesy as it sounds, it was where we fell in love. The song's lyrics "we fell in love down by the ocean" summed it up.
Gemma & Coxee
KC & The Sunshine Band - "Give It Up"
We chose the song because we didn't want anything slow like your typical wedding. We wanted the wedding to be a big party and our first dance song reflected that. It was an upbeat song that everyone knows and that gets people on the dance floor. We're just fans of disco classics so what more could we ask for than a bit of KC and the Sunshine Band!
Emily & Chris
Lauren Platt - "Happy"
It was special to us because we were on our first weekend away together, drunk/totally shit-faced having had a nine course tasting menu with matching wine, sitting in fluffy robes on the bed drinking a bottle of Muscat and watching The X Factor. This was in it and we both downloaded it. Classy.
Hannah & Ben
Frank Sinatra - "Fly Me To The Moon"
We chose a classic from Frank Sinatra because it’s not a bullshit love song – but it’s nice and we looked so funny trying to dance to it.
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