Since I myself once danced Standard and Latin in Bavaria's lowest tournament class (yes, hard to believe, and it was quite a while ago), I'm still pretty good at figuring out which dance goes with which current song, and I always find it funny (to myself) when my guests dance a foxtrot to a cha-cha-cha. But that's just a side note, because at every wedding (99%) there's an opening dance or a wedding waltz.
I always advise my couples that the song for their first dance should have personal meaning for them, a favorite song they share, for example. And if you're afraid of the waltz or feel nauseous after a couple of turns, you can always choose a different dance, because it doesn't necessarily have to be a waltz these days. With a classic Viennese waltz, for instance, you can follow the tradition of the bride dancing a round with her new father-in-law and the groom with his new mother-in-law, and then switching to your own parents. The quieter passages in the Viennese waltz, which are typically used for the so-called "pendulum movement," make it easy to switch partners.
Here are a few musical inspirations for the first dance at a wedding that have accompanied me throughout my time as a wedding DJ and keep coming back…
Wiener Walzer:
- On the Beautiful Blue Danube – Johann Strauss
- False Advertising – Bright Eyes
- And You Don’t Remember – Mariah Carey
- Bed Of Roses – Bon Jovi
- Breathe Easy – Blue
- Nothing else matters – Metallica (or whoever)
- Have You Ever Really Loved A Woman – Bryan Adams
- Hero – Chad Kroeger
- Son of the Moon – Mecano or Moon
- I Got You Babe – Cher & Sonny
- I Have Nothing – Whitney Houston
- Kaiserwalzer – Johann Strauss
- Kiss From A Rose – Seal
- Morning Has Broken – Cat Stevens
- Once upon a December – Becky Jane Taylor
- Waltz of the Flowers – Peter Tchaikovsky
- Piano Man – Billy Joel
- That´s Amore – Dean Martin
- Queen Of My Heart – Westlife
- Jazz Suite, Waltz No. 2 – Dmitri Shostakovich
- Que Sera Sera – Doris Day
- Coffee & Karin – Element of Crime
- You light up my life – Le Ann Rimes
- The Waltz of Amelie – Yann Tiersen
- If One Song Was Enough – Eros Ramazzotti
- Where The Wild Roses Grow – Kylie Minogue feat. Nick Cave
- Viennese Blood – Johann Strauss
Slow Waltz:
- Are You Lonesome Tonight – Elvis Presley
- Can't Help Falling In Love – Elvis Presley or UB40 (for reggae fans)
- Come Away with Me – Norah Jones
- I can´t stop loving you – Ray Charles
- Fascination – Nat King Cole (can also be danced as a slow Viennese waltz)
- Greatest Love Of All – Whitney Houston
- I Choose you – Amanda Jenssen
- If You Don’t Know Me By Now – Simply Red
- I Wonder Why – Curtis Stigers
- What the World needs now is Love sweet Love – Dionne Warwick
- So She Dances – Josh Groban
- There Goes My Everything – Elvis Presley
- So liab hob I di (Acoustic Version – Single or MTV Unplugged) – Andreas Gabalier
- Think Twice – Celine Dion
- Three Times A Lady – The Commodores oder Lionel Richie
- True Love – Elton John feat. Kiki Dee
- When I Need You – Leo Sayer
- Let it rain red roses for me – Hildegard Knef (can also be danced as a slow Viennese waltz)
- When I Say I Do – Matthew West
- Unchained Melody – Righteous Brothers
- When a man loves a woman – Percy Sledge
- You Light Up My Life – Debby Boone or Le Ann Rimes (can also be danced as a slow Viennese waltz)
I've done almost everything as an opening dance, from Rumba, to Tango, to Cha Cha Cha or maybe a Tango, or if you want something completely individual, you can do a so-called "First Dance" in which several music tracks are edited together to open the dance floor with a self-rehearsed choreography.
I will continue to update this list to give my bridal couples further inspiration, so feel free to check back and browse every now and then…
