Popular Or Eclectic, The First Dance Should Be All About You Two

By John Voket

When it comes to making memories on your wedding day, all of your event support service people — from the florist and the caterer to the photographer, videographer and the disc jockey — have an important job to do. For your or DJ (or bandleader), each semi-choreographed activity during the reception, from the grand introductions, to the toast, to the bouquet toss, to the first dance as husband and wife, serves as an opportunity for that “entertainment host” to ensure your memories of that fleeting day last a lifetime.

While every DJ (or band leader) has his or her own specific style of handling the many traditional aspects of the reception based on your specific wishes, one area you as a couple should make all your own is the selection of your first dance.

Speaking from a perspective of both a DJ and musician, I can attest to the fact that there are arguably thousands of wedding bands that have the ability to perform the first dance song you both choose adequately. But what if the original arrangement and/or the original artist make that song special enough to elevate to this prestigious level?

In order to get the true arrangement live you’re really going to have to splurge, and keep your fingers crossed that Celine Dion is actually available to sing at your wedding.

The simple answer is this: If you have chosen a live band for entertainment, you might still want to explore the option of playing your first dance on CD or tape, through the band’s sound system. This is the only certain way of getting the song you love – and quite possibly fell in love to – presented in the way you would want everyone to remember it during your first dance.

In addition, your recording can also be supplied on CD later to use in your wedding video – a service you will probably not get from a band.

…and what if it’s a really complicated or eclectic arrangement? Of course, if your choice of entertainment is a disc jockey, you’re all set.

As a professional entertainment consultant, having provided music at hundreds of weddings during the past 25 years (performed and pre-recorded), I can assure you that virtually no first dance song is off limits. Let’s face it, whether you two fell in love to Alice Cooper’s “School’s Out” on the last day of high school in 1977, or to “I Like the Way She Moves,” when you met on the dance floor of your favorite nightclub last summer, then that should be your first dance.

There’s no shame in choosing whatever song you want as your first dance, no matter how much your mother-in-law-to-be may be lobbying for “Wind Beneath My Wings.”

If you’re one of those many couples whose first golf game, or cup of coffee, or art lesson together provided the venue for love to bloom, and you’re really not sure what song you may want to choose as your first dance, there is plenty of assistance available.

I’m a long-time reader and subscriber to the disc jockey publication of choice, Mobile Beat, and I put a lot of stock into their annual list of the Top 200 most requested songs, compiled from a survey of wedding, club and party entertainers across the globe.

Looking through last year’s list, some of the most popular and tireless love songs, which may be perfect first dance songs, include titles like “Unchained Melody” by The Righteous Brothers, “Amazed” by Lonestar, “The Dance” by Garth Brooks, “Beautiful” by Christina Aguilera, and “You’re Still the One” by Shania Twain.

Besides these staple selections, any worthy professional DJ worth having for your wedding should also be able to suggest his or her own ideas to help the process along.

Ultimately, you both should focus on the artist or song that speaks directly to you as a couple, whether it is because the lyrics say something particularly meaningful to you, the melody conjures up memories of those passionate early days of your relationship, or because the sound of Luther Vandross makes you want to skip the reception altogether and head right off to the honeymoon suite!

During the more than 30 years I’ve been a music consumer and more than 25 years working in the business, I’ve adopted my own handful of favorite suggested first dance songs; some very popular, and others off the mainstream track. They include:

é“Grow Old With Me” – Mary Chapin Carpenter (the John Lennon version is nice, too!)

é“True Companion” – Marc Cohn

é“I Love You” – Climax Blues Band

é“Color My World” – Chicago (nice and short, if you want to get on and off the floor quickly)

é“No Ordinary Love” – Sade

é“Angel Eyes” – Jeff Healy Band (the original artist, John Hiatt’s version, is a bit too fast)

é“Could I Have This Dance” – Anne Murray (a true waltz…1, 2, 3…)

é“In Your Eyes” – Peter Gabriel (a quicker tempo, but a nice song that you can fade out after a couple of verses if necessary)

é“Wonderful Tonight” – Eric Clapton (there’s a nice slow live version edit of this available from 24 Nights, otherwise you may want to fade the nine-minute version from this album)

é“Because of You” – Tony Bennett (if it was good enough for my mom and dad…actually a really nice classic, one of Tony B’s greatest!)

é“Always and Forever” – Heatwave (the Luther Vandross version is nearly as good, but the original was my senior prom theme and a great love song)

é“The One” – Elton John (nice and long, if you want the bridal party, parents, guests, etc, to join you on the dance floor partway through)

No matter what song you choose, just remember what I mentioned earlier in the article: the most important thing is that you pick the song the two of you most want to enjoy as your first dance.

For every thousand couples who bend to mother’s wishes — or actually like “Wind Benerath My Wings” — there is a couple who will make their first turns around the dance floor together to the soothing strains of “Crazy Train” by Ozzy Osbourne, Jim Stafford’s “Spiders and Snakes,” or even Vince Gill’s “One More Last Chance.”

Remember, stick to your guns, have fun, and make sure your wedding song is as special for you, as it is memorable for all the guests who stand around the dance floor watching the two of you begin your life together as husband and wife!

John Voket is a writer, broadcaster, entertainer, disc jockey, musician, and the owner of Connecticut-based $99DollarDJ Service.