July 11, 2018

When you begin selecting songs for your wedding day, there are two songs you should get approval on. This is the mother/son and father/daughter dances. This is a nice opportunity to reach out to your parents to see what they would enjoy dancing to. It tends to be a more meaningful and emotional moment for your parents while they dance because it’s their ‘last’ (but not really last) big moment with you before you’re handed off to your fiancé.

That being said, it’s important to pick a song that embraces both of your styles and personalities. We’ve put together a list of songs we’ve enjoyed watching our grooms dance with their mothers to.

Before we share this list, we want to share one tip we give to all of our clients. You may choose a song that’s 2 minutes, or you may choose a song that’s 5 minutes. If the song your mom wants to dance to is on the longer side, consider cutting out a few verses. If you have a DJ, let them know in advance that you want to have the song smoothly fade out after a few minutes. If you have a band, they will know how to cut the song to finish on a strong note.

The reason we like to recommend shortening the parent dances is because swaying back and fourth can get repetitive. The worst thing that could happen is having both mom and son glaring at the DJ/Band leader to cut the song short, it leads to a very awkward moment. We have seen it MANY times and that’s the very reason we bring this situation up. Guests also tend to get bored after watching 3 dances (first dance, father/daughter and mother son) in a row and we like to keep things moving. We promise shortening the songs won’t take away from the special moment between the mother and son. They can always share another dance later on in the evening!

Songs we love below!

Organized by genre and song length.

Soul

“Summer Wind” by Frank Sinatra  2:22 – video
“My Girl” by The Temptations  2:43 – video     **Favorite
“Stand By Me” by Ben. E King  2:57 – video
“How Sweet It I (To Be Loved By You)” by Marvin Gaye  2:57 – video

Country

“I Loved Her First” by Heartland  3:32 – video
“Just To See You Smile” by Tim McGraw  3:35 – video
“You’re Gonna Be” by Reba McEntire  3:52 – video
“My Wish” by Rascall Flatts  4:08 – video
“You’ve Got A Friend” by James Taylor 5:09 – video
“I’ll Be Your Man” by Zac Brown Band  5:49 – video

Rock

“In My Life” by the Beatles  2:28 – video     **Favorite
“Days Like This” by Van Morrison  3:13 – video
“Wonderful Tonight” by Eric Clapton  3:43 – video
“Sweet Child O’ Mine” by Sheryl Crow  3:49 – video
“Daughters” by John Mayer  3:59 – video     **Favorite

Jazz

“What A Wonderful World” by Louis Armstrong 2:21 – video
“The Way You Look Tonight” by Frank Sinatra 3:20 – video

Pop

“Landslide” by Fleetwood Mac 3:19 – video   **Favorite
“93 Million Miles” by Jason Mraz 3:36 – video
“All You Need Is Love” by the Beatles 3:57 – video
“Forever Young” by Rod Stewart 4:06 – video
“Somewhere Over The Rainbow” by Isreal Kamakawiwo’Ole  4:50 – video

If you want another list of great songs, check out the BRIDES list.

You can always fade from a slower song into a fun/up-beat song like our bride, Kristen and her father did. They started of dancing to “In My Life” and faded into “Staylin’ Alive”, it was fabulous in every way!

–Ohana Events