Wedding repertoire

Wedding songs by decade

The best wedding floor-fillers, slow songs, and ceremony picks from every decade since the 1950s, curated by a live wedding band that plays them every Saturday night.

Jump to a decade

  1. 1950s
  2. 1960s
  3. 1970s
  4. 1980s
  5. 1990s
  6. 2000s
  7. 2010s
  8. 2020s

The single best thing about a live wedding band is the ability to move between decades cleanly. Your grandparents recognise a 1950s ballad. Your cousins lose their minds for a 2010s pop hit. The room never empties because the band reads it. Here's the canon, decade by decade.

1950sFoundation

The decade that built modern wedding music: torch songs, rock'n'roll, ballads that grandparents still cry to. Used now mostly for ceremony, signing, and first dances rather than the dance floor.

  1. At Last · Etta James (1960; written 1941)
  2. Can't Help Falling in Love · Elvis Presley
  3. Unchained Melody · The Righteous Brothers
  4. The Way You Look Tonight · Frank Sinatra
  5. Fly Me to the Moon · Frank Sinatra
  6. L-O-V-E · Nat King Cole
  7. Earth Angel · The Penguins
  8. In the Still of the Night · The Five Satins

1960sThe dance floor begins

Motown and the British Invasion, the decade where weddings started having dance floors as a default. Many of these still pack the floor 60 years later.

  1. My Girl · The Temptations
  2. Stand By Me · Ben E. King
  3. Brown Eyed Girl · Van Morrison
  4. Twist and Shout · The Beatles
  5. Build Me Up Buttercup · The Foundations
  6. I Got You (I Feel Good) · James Brown
  7. Wonderful World · Sam Cooke
  8. Stand By Me · Ben E. King
  9. Mustang Sally · Wilson Pickett
  10. Sweet Caroline · Neil Diamond (1969)

1970sSoul, disco, singalongs

Probably the single most-loved wedding decade. Soul, disco, soft rock, and everyone over 35 has a personal connection to at least three of these.

  1. Signed, Sealed, Delivered · Stevie Wonder
  2. Lovely Day · Bill Withers
  3. September · Earth, Wind & Fire
  4. Don't Stop Me Now · Queen
  5. You Make Me Feel · Sylvester
  6. Crazy Love · Van Morrison
  7. Wonderful Tonight · Eric Clapton
  8. You're the One That I Want · Grease
  9. Dancing Queen · ABBA
  10. Le Freak · Chic

1980sThe era of big choruses

The decade Irish weddings genuinely love. Big choruses, anthems, the floor never sits down. If you have to choose one decade to lean into, the 80s usually wins.

  1. You Make My Dreams · Hall & Oates
  2. Don't Stop Believin' · Journey
  3. Livin' on a Prayer · Bon Jovi
  4. Sweet Child o' Mine · Guns N' Roses
  5. Africa · Toto
  6. Take On Me · a-ha
  7. I Wanna Dance With Somebody · Whitney Houston
  8. Footloose · Kenny Loggins
  9. Time After Time · Cyndi Lauper
  10. Walking on Sunshine · Katrina and the Waves

1990sBrit pop & the slow set

Brit pop, R&B slow-jams, and the start of "indie wedding songs". Bridesmaids in their 30s know every word.

  1. Wonderwall · Oasis
  2. Don't Look Back in Anger · Oasis
  3. No Diggity · Blackstreet
  4. Linger · The Cranberries
  5. Iris · Goo Goo Dolls
  6. I Want It That Way · Backstreet Boys
  7. Killing Me Softly · Fugees
  8. Have I Told You Lately · Van Morrison / Rod Stewart
  9. Free Fallin' · Tom Petty
  10. Everybody (Backstreet's Back) · Backstreet Boys

2000sIndie + nostalgia bridge

The decade most of today's couples grew up with, songs they were in love to in their late teens and early 20s. Hugely emotional pulls.

  1. Mr. Brightside · The Killers
  2. Are You Gonna Be My Girl · Jet
  3. Hey Ya! · OutKast
  4. Yellow · Coldplay
  5. Crazy in Love · Beyoncé
  6. Valerie · Mark Ronson & Amy Winehouse
  7. Use Somebody · Kings of Leon
  8. Chasing Cars · Snow Patrol
  9. Bohemian Like You · The Dandy Warhols
  10. Toxic · Britney Spears

2010sThe Ed Sheeran era

The decade that produced the modern wedding canon. If you're getting married in 2026 and met your partner in your early 20s, this is your soundtrack.

  1. Perfect · Ed Sheeran
  2. Thinking Out Loud · Ed Sheeran
  3. All of Me · John Legend
  4. Uptown Funk · Bruno Mars & Mark Ronson
  5. Can't Stop the Feeling · Justin Timberlake
  6. Shake It Off · Taylor Swift
  7. A Thousand Years · Christina Perri
  8. Marry You · Bruno Mars
  9. 24K Magic · Bruno Mars
  10. Galway Girl · Ed Sheeran

2020sThe current canon

Songs from the last five years, the ones your wedding video will sound contemporary to in 20 years time. Not all of these will age well, but right now they land.

  1. Lover · Taylor Swift
  2. As It Was · Harry Styles
  3. Adore You · Harry Styles
  4. From the Start · Laufey
  5. Lovely Day · Joel Corry remix
  6. Espresso · Sabrina Carpenter
  7. Lovers Rock · TV Girl
  8. Falling Like the Stars · James Arthur
  9. Make You Mine · PUBLIC
  10. Cruel Summer · Taylor Swift

Putting your setlist together

You don't need to overthink this. A good wedding band, including all four MusicAngel bands, already knows how to mix decades to keep a floor full. What helps is telling the band:

The rest is the band reading the room, which is the entire reason you book a real live band over a playlist.

For more song-by-song picks: first dance songs · drinks reception music · ceremony music.

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