Top 10 Wedding Songs for the First Dance

If you got married in the late ‘80s, this song may have been the one you selected for that special day. ‘I’ll Still Be Loving You’ by Restless Heart dominated country radio as a power ballad in 1987. The romantic song, still performed by the band on tour today, also crossed over to the Top 5 of the Adult Contemporary charts before making our list of top wedding songs.

This 1992 George Strait classic easily makes our list of first dance wedding songs.The song, featured in the movie 'Pure Country,' was composed by Steve Dorff. Dorff has a long list of songwriting credits, including ‘Through the Years’ by Kenny Rogers and ‘Don’t Underestimate My Love For You’ by Lee Greenwood. In addition to writing great love songs, Dorff also composed the theme songs for 'Reba,' 'Murphy Brown' and 'Murder, She Wrote.'

In 1993, John Michael Montgomery released the perfect first dance wedding song. Not only did the song have beautiful lyrics, its melody made it easy to sing along with and the rhythm made it easy to sway along with on the dance floor. ‘I Swear’ hit No. 1 on the country charts and was later covered for pop radio by the R&B group All 4 One.

This classic, performed in three-quarter time, became a wedding favorite after it was used in the wedding scene in the movie 'Urban Cowboy.' John Travolta and Debra Winger starred in this 1980 film that inspired several country-themed night clubs to open nationwide. Not only did the film give us great music and inspire people to learn the two-step, it gave Anne Murray another No. 1 Country hit with ‘Could I Have This Dance.’

Kenny Chesney has a catalog of love songs that could have made our list of the Top 10 Wedding Songs for the First Dance. ‘You Had Me From Hello,’ ‘You Save Me’ and ‘I Lost It’ are all great selections. However, 1996’s ‘Me and You’ just seems to have that something special to make the cut. A combination of a simple sweet piano, Chesney’s emotional delivery and the lyric suited perfectly for eternity, this song is a great way to start forever together.

Keith Urban and Nicole Kidman married in 2006, one year after ‘Making Memories of Us’ topped the country charts. The celebrity couple selected ‘At Last’ by Etta James for their first dance, and surprised the crowd by breaking into an upbeat dance to ‘You Just Like Me ‘Cause I’m Good In Bed’ by the Skyhooks halfway through the first dance. However, the highlight of the reception was when Urban decided to sing our No. 5 song -- which would be perfect for the first dance, too -- to his lovely bride.

There was no bigger song in country or pop radio in 1999 than Lonestar’s ‘Amazed.' The song, powered by the vocals of Richie McDonald, made history as it became the first country crossover record to stay at No. 1 for two weeks on the pop charts since Kenny Rogers and Dolly Parton’s ‘Islands In the Stream’ in 1983. Plus, it stayed at the top of the country charts for eight weeks -- a rare feat in the fast-paced music industry -- and now it sits on our list of the top wedding songs for the first dance.

Tim McGraw and Faith Hill were newlyweds when this duet was released in 1997. ‘It’s Your Love’ climbed to No. 1, and the video featured a pregnant Faith Hill. The song inspired many young lovers, especially as they watched the romance of Hill and McGraw grow in the media. The song, which topped the charts for six weeks, is a shoe-in for one of our favorite first dance wedding songs.

This 2009 hit takes the listener through the stages of a couple getting to know each other. From the first kiss on the front porch to the big wedding day, ‘Then’ captures the growing feelings between two people falling in love. In 2003, Brad Paisley married actress Kimberly Williams, and since then, he’s written several love songs, like ‘She’s Everything,’ ‘Waiting on a Woman,’ ‘We Danced’ and the song we rank at No. 2 on our list of the Top 10 Wedding Songs for the First Dance.

This song first came to life in the early ‘90s, when it was recorded by the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band. The song was actually co-written by one of its band members, Jeff Hanna. In 2004, Rascal Flatts realized the song's potential and landed a five-week chart topper. Gary Levox’s powerful delivery and the common story of one’s journey to find love made this recording one of the most played country records of the first decade of the 2000s. Since then, ‘Bless the Broken Road’ has become a popular request for many bride and grooms to share that first step together.