The Best First Dance Songs - A Playlist for You

Choosing a first dance song for a wedding is a deeply personal decision, as it often reflects any couple's relationship, memories, and individual tastes. It is important to remember to choose a song that resonates for you as a couple and will be a cherished memory for years to come. Think about times driving in the car, being at a coffee shop or out for dinner and that song comes on - it will forever be a symbol of your love for each other!

There are so many reasons why a first dance song is so important, and some of them include:

  1. Symbolizes you as a couple and your relationship:

    • A first dance song is often some representation of a couple’s love or commitment to each other and reflects the emotion and journey they have shared. Lyrics could have an important meaning, or event the artist themselves!

    • It also shows off your personality! It shows your style, your uniqueness and is an opportunity for the couple to express themselves!

  2. Sets the tone for the reception:

    • The first dance typically kicks off the dancing portion of the reception! Though, some couples also choose to do their first dance after they are announced into the reception to really kick off the dinner in a romantic way.

  3. Creates a memorable moment:

    • A first dance speaks for itself - it is always something to remember! Whether you do a choreographed dance, or the song hits on the heart strings, a first dance brings out emotion and can be a lasting memory for all of your guests.

    • It is also a focal point of a wedding reception, and brings all of the guest together to celebrate and share their joy. It is one of the few moments that unites everyone at a reception, creating community and connection!

And, don’t forget, your first dance song can be played by both a wedding band or a DJ depending on the vibe of your wedding, and how you want the music to be portrayed!

Whether it's a classic ballad, a romantic contemporary hit, or something unique to you, the most important thing is that it holds special meaning for both of you. See below for some songs our past clients have used for their first dance for some inspiration!

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APPLE MUSIC

THE ULTIMATE FIRST DANCE SONG LIST

"Without You" by Boyce Avenue (David Guetta cover)

"From the Ground Up" by Dan and Shay

“Steady Heart (Wedding Version)" by Kameron Marlowe

“The Wonder of You" by Villagers

“Tian Mi Mi” by Teresa Teng

“Until I Found You" by Steven Sanchez and Em Behold

"You Are The Best Thing" by Ray LaMontagne

“Unchained Melody” by The Righteous Brothers

"I'll Quit Lovin You" by Hardy

"In My Life" by The Beatles

"Maybe I'm Amazed" by Paul McCartney

“Young And Beautiful" by Lana Del Rey

"Biblical" by Calum Scott (there’s an acoustic version, too!)

“Always Remember Us This Way" by Lady Gaga

"Don't Go Home Without Me” (Acoustic) by Lights

"Lover" by Taylor Swift

"Your Song" by Elton John (or Ellie Goulding)

"Stand By Me" by Ben E King

"Baby I Love You" by The Ramones

"Every Side of You" by Vance Joy

“A Sunday Kind Of Love” by Etta James

"Nobody Gets Me Like You" by Arkells

"Worship You" by Kane Brown

"Then" by Brad Paisley (piano version)

“Best Part (feat. H.E.R.) by Daniel Caesar

“I Remember” by Forest Blakk

“Nervous (Piano Version) by John Legend

“What A Wonderful World" by Louis Armstrong

"Lover Come Back" by City and Colour

“Into the Mystic" by Van Morrison

“When I’m With You” by Sheriff

“Beyond” by Leon Bridges

"Fall on Me" by Andrea Bocelli and Matteo Bocelli

"You're The One That I Want" by John Travolta and Olivia Newton-John

“You’re Still the One” by Teddy Swims (Shania Twain Cover)

“Love Love Love" by Say Hi

"Lifetime" by Justin Bieber

“At Last” by Etta James

“All Your'n” by Tyler Childers

"How Long Will I Love You" by Canyon City

"Sweetest Love" by Robin Thicke

"Can’t Help Falling in Love" by Elvis Presley (or Kina Grannis)

“The Way You Look Tonight" by Frank Sinatra

"Wonderful" by Chris Malinchak

“Latch" by Sam Smith (Acoustic)

“Lovely Day" by Bill Withers

“Good Woman” by Maren Morris

"Forever Like That" by Ben Rector

“Amazing Day" by Cold Play

"Truly Madly Deeply" by Savage Garden

“Just You and I” (Acoustic) by Tom Walker

“Wild Love” (Acoustic) by James Bay

“Proof” by Luca Fogale

Late Summer Wedding at The Ancaster Mill in the Governor's Room

This Ancaster Mill wedding from August 2023 was one of the dreamiest late summer weddings we’ve done. Jess and Greg got ready at The Barracks Inn, a beautiful hotel in Ancaster which in itself was a lovely setting both inside and out. Their ceremony took place in the Miller’s Chapel and reception in the Governor’s Room of the Ancaster Mill.

Jess’ bridesmaids wore satin dresses in the loveliest shade of vintage rose, each with a different cut for the top to suit them best, which in my opinion is a timeless wedding trend. Greg and his guys were dressed in classic black suits with ties and bowties. Hair and makeup were done by one of our favourite and best Toronto wedding beauty teams, ES Bridal.

The team at Forever Wildfield did the most wonderful job of the floral elements which really were the star of the show at the reception and more than a gorgeous topper to complement the linens and tabletop rentals from Simply Beautiful Decor.

All photography was captured by Jeff Shuh and stationery was by All That’s Lovely.

We truly feel so lucky to have been a part of this incredible wedding that bride, Jess, so carefully planned and trusted us in executing!

Service: Event Management

A Colourful Summer Tent Wedding in Copetown, Ontario

By now you probably know that tent weddings are our jam and a challenge we embrace with open arms. There’s something about building a beautiful space where nothing exists that will never get old. And this particular wedding is a great example of a wedding that oozes class but with a casual edge. I think that also sums up so much of what we try to do with all of the weddings we plan so this feels like a great example of what we strive to build.

Not only that, this was something we fully planned in just four months. The family’s property is stunning, with the home being over 150 years old. It was standing in 1867 when the Dominion of Canada was created. How neat is that?!

Guests were greeted by a champagne table with the sounds of a New Orleans-style band playing, and it felt like a true celebration! The ceremony was set under a huge old tree, offering shade for guests and an incredible backdrop for the exchanging of vows and a reception following, catered by the incomparable Treadwell Catering and bartended by our favourite mobile bar truck, The Sway Bar. Guelph Tent Rentals pole tent was a showstopper with its Father of the Bride lighting, making a lovely glow all night long. Kendon Design Co. was tasked with the responsibility of filling the space with colourful florals including a round ceiling installation hanging above the head table, set directly in the middle of guests for a less formal feel. Simply Beautiful Decor’s fresh new line of Hampton Plaid linens and Florina Tan dinnerware helped to feed that casual chic design vibe. Once dinner was complete, The St. Royals, our favourite Toronto wedding band, kicked off the dance party with a short break that somehow so perfectly timed the launch of a firework show! It was all so serendipitous.

Oh, and I can’t forget to mention what is probably my favourite wedding cake that I think I’ve ever had for a client. A huge thank you to The Dessert Room for making this one just so perfect!

Kayla Potter Photography outdid herself capturing all of the details we all worked so tirelessly on for and we, and I am sure our clients, will be forever grateful! I still cannot get over the incredible flat lay she did of the invitation suite so carefully designed by Statue Rue, along with all of the other wedding stationery pieces.

We wanted this to feel fun, bright, joyful, and elegant and I think we accomplished just that. Enjoy scrolling through this beautiful colourful summer tent wedding in Copetown, Ontario. You’ll find the links to all of our wonderful vendors at the bottom of this post.

A Colourful, Private Estate Tent Wedding in Millgrove, Ontario

Kathryn and Evan’s colourful, pattern-filled wedding took place on her parent’s private estate in Millgrove, Ontario on October 2, 2022.

If you’ve followed along for a while, you know we love the challenges of planning tent weddings on private estates. The best part is that you can start from scratch with the design as there’s not much that controls the aesthetic like you would have in a traditional venue with its own style.

We started with a colour palette that pretty much included the rainbow and got started on the custom colour-blocked wedding invitations with Paper and Poste and a stunning lush floral design by Forever Wildfield. We then got the tent secured which was a gorgeous sailcloth tent from Guelph Tent Rentals. From there, we worked with Simply Beautiful Decor and Plate Occasions to select linens and tabletop pieces to carry through the navy and teals from our colour palette in a way that felt refined and elegant but still very in line with a more relaxed setting of home.

When it came time to food and beverage options, Kathryn had a specific vision in mind and there was no question that Saving Thyme Bistro would cater the event as Kathryn’s family has been long-time patrons of the restaurant. The cocktail experience was important to both Kathryn and Evan, and The Sway Bar knocked it out of the park preparing six speciality cocktails while also making sure everyone had their favourite wine and beer at the ready. To satisfy the sweet-tooth post-dinner, Sweet Celebrations created an epic cookie bar!

Additional lovely vendors include Radford Beauty, Signal Hill Band, 586 Event Group, and Wellington Music

Captured by Will Reid Photo.

Service: Full Planning and Design

THE FLOORPLAN

Tent wedding floorplan layouts can be tricky since you’re starting from scratch. Below is the floorplan we created in case it helps inspire your own tent wedding reception floorplan layout.

Taylor Swift Love Story Inspired Wedding at Elora Mill

All this talk about Taylor Swift and Travis Kelce’s love story has come at the perfect time to share this gorgeous Elora Mill wedding. I’ve you’ve ever wondered what Taylor Swift’s wedding might look like, we’ve got a good idea for you. This wedding has garnered a lot of attention on florist, Forever Wildfield’s social media and we are thrilled to finally be sharing it ourselves today.

We begin with the romantic setting of the Elora Mill, a top destination wedding venue in Ontario. Elora is a picturesque town just an hour from Toronto and it makes for the perfect weekend getaway with a quaint downtown area, fantastic restaurants, and options for exploring the gorgeous scenery.

The Elora Mill is full of beautiful design details and furniture inclusions that give it a natural effortless romantic vibe, so it’s not difficult to have a beautiful result, but the challenge comes from making it not feel like every other wedding there each weekend. Allie’s dream wedding vision was full of romance, candlelight, and soft textures, something we’re always on board for so we jumped at the opportunity to create a design that met all of these goals in a way that felt fresh.

Soft, warm hues of pink, creams, and sandy taupes made for the perfect romantic palette. Lots of candlelight and florals galore were the goal and my goodness did Forever Wilfield take it and run with it! Red Bicycle Paper Co. created a timeless invitation suite with flowing fonts and wax seal details and we worked with Simply Beautiful Decor to provide the most elegant table accent details from charger plates, napkins, and runners.

We can’t forget Allie’s gorgeous wedding gown feels like a modern take on the gown from the Love Story video. We’re still dying over this Taylor Swift Love Story Inspired Wedding at Elora Mill. Scroll to see the photos and the vendor list below!

The Floorplan

We’ve also included the floorplan we made for the Grand Room as some inspiration for your own wedding layout at Elora Mill.

A Colourful Wedding Reception at The Arlington Estate

We have been incredibly lucky to work with exceptionally kind, thoughtful and caring clients and Georgia and Kyle top the list of couples whose planning journey and wedding days we want to relive over and over again. Their plans were greatly affected by the pandemic so we just held on until the timing felt right which allowed them to also start a family! They were married May 28, 2023 in a traditional Greek Orthodox wedding ceremony with their almost one year old son, Leo, by their side followed by a wedding reception at The Arlington Estate.

We had a colour palette of pinks, caramels, yellows, and deep rust-reds paired with a soft cool-blue.

Toronto wedding invitation designer, Paper Palette, designed an impeccable wedding invitation suite with a watercolor floral pattern atop a cool blue envelope, accompanied by rust-coloured ink for the copy and a soft pink reply card envelope. Wild North Flowers, a Toronto wedding floral studio, took our palette and hit a home run embracing those warm caramels and rust-toned reds softened by whites and pinks for a bridal bouquet fitting for a late-spring wedding. Simply Beautiful Decor’s tabletop pieces carried the design through to the tactile details with which the guests would interact. Oh, and we can’t forget the acrylic arch behind the head table from Exquisite Occasions that Wild North Flowers decked out in florals for a floating effect.

One of my favourite details has to be the custom mosaic tile-inspired dance floor vinyl by Designer Dance Floors. We also included some lounge furniture from Detailz Couture in the front lobby of The Arlington Estate to offer some soft seating for a casual cocktail hour period and some large 13’ ficus trees from Event Rent in the West Wing to play with the scale of the room being so large. The party portion of the evening was kicked off with fireworks from Firemaster Productions followed by an epic performance by The Dave Murphy Band.

Purple Tree Photography beautifully captured the day in its full splendor.

The other Toronto-based wedding vendors included Cocoa Cakery, Hotshotz Photobooth, Wild and Free Films, Nadia and Co., Erin Nicole Makeup Artistry, and Eryn Shannon Bridal.

Service: Design and Management

The Floorplans

We’ve also included the Arlington Estate wedding floorplan we designed for the West Wing and lobby as some inspiration for your own wedding layout at Arlington Estate.