There is no such thing as the ultimate wedding song for a wedding ceremony, every future bridal couple will have their own favorite wedding songs that they want to hear during the wedding ceremony at the town hall, in the church, or at the evening wedding. Almost every couple has their song that both have fond memories of and that they want to hear on their wedding day, the love song on which they first kissed, or the sensitive ballad that the wedding band played during the first meeting. During the wedding ceremony, choose classical wedding music such as Canon in D major by Johann Pachelbel or the well-known Wedding March, the Hochzeitsmarsch, by Mendelssohn, often heard in American TV series or the Bridal Chorus (Here Comes The Bride/ Daar Komt De Bruid by Richard Wagner. Or are you looking for it in pop music: Just Say Yes by Snowpatrol, the yes word in a nutshell? An overview of the possibilities and songs that have something to do with the most beautiful day of life.
- Snowpatrol – Just Say Yes
- Frank Sinatra – Love & Marriage
- U2 – Beautiful Day
- Ten Sharp – You
- Dolly Parton/Whitney Houston – I Will Always Love You
- Percy Sledge – When A Man Loves A Woman
- Shania Twain – From This Moment On (with Bryan White)
- John Denver – Annie’s Song
- Wet Wet Wet – Love is all around
- Rene Froger – This is the moment (uit de musical Jekyll & Hyde)
- Bryan Adams – (Everything I Do) I Do It For You
- Bruiloft Máxima en Willem Alexander, Adiós Nonino – Carel Kraayenhof/ Ástor Piazzolla
- Godley and Creme – Wedding Bells
- Bløf – Alles is liefde
- Mendelssohn Hochzeitsmarsch Wedding March
- The Bridal Chorus (Here Comes The Bride/ Daar Komt De Bruid) – Richard Wagner
- Queen – The Wedding March (Soundtrack Flash Gordon)
- Chicago, Peter Cetera – You’re The Inspiration
- Diana Ross en Lionel Richie – Endless Love
- Van Morrison – Have I Told You Lately
- Johann Pachelbel – Canon in D majeur
- Dixie Cups – Chapel Of Love
- Bruno Mars – Marry you
- BZN – Wedding Bells
Snowpatrol – Just Say Yes
The ultimate words that belong to a wedding are contained in the song title Just Say Yes , by the Scottish band Snowpatrol . Singer Gary Lightbody and friends scored a hit with this song in 2009, their biggest success in the Netherlands, # 1 in the Top 40, # 2 in the Single Top 100. The musical yes comes from their collector Up To Now .
The telling, repetitive chorus:
Just say yes
Just say there’s nothing holding you backIt’s not a test, nor a trick of the mindOnly love
Frank Sinatra – Love & Marriage
Love & Marriage dates back to the 1950s and became a hit again in the Netherlands in 1991, because it was used as the opening tune of the American sitcom Married With Children. Frank Sinatra, often referred to as The Voice, was an American singer and actor. He died in 1998, at the age of 82.
Text fragment:
Love and marriage, love and marriage,
Go together like a horse and carriage.This I tell ya, brother, you can’t have one without the other
U2 – Beautiful Day
The universal lyrics of Beautiful Day , taken from the U2 album All That You Can’t Leave Behind, can be interpreted in various ways. Although this song actually has nothing to do with a wedding, it is still regularly heard on these occasions because of the title and the optimistic character of this first #1 hit by the Irish band in the Netherlands. Bono once said that this song is about a man who has lost everything, but derives his pleasure from the things he still has.
Ten Sharp – You
Ten Sharp, a Dutch act consisting of Marcel Kapteijn and Niels Hermes, scored in 1991 with You not only in the Netherlands but also in Norway, Sweden and Denmark. Taken from the album Under The Water-Line .
Other minor hits from the band: Japanese Lovesong and Ain’t My Beating Heart .
Text fragment:
I was always on the run, finding out what I was looking for and
I was always insecure, just until I foundYou you were always on my mind, you, you’re the one I’m living for
You, you’re my everlasting fire, you’re my always shining star
Dolly Parton/Whitney Houston – I Will Always Love You
Although Whitney Houston scored a monster hit worldwide with this love song in 1992, it belongs to Dolly Parton who wrote both the lyrics and the music and had a hit success with it in 1983. Whitney’s version was used in the soundtrack of the film The Bodyguard. Parton’s version is more subdued, a country song about love for someone that never ends, in Dolly’s case the (platonic) love for Porter Wagoner with whom she had a TV show together. In the late sixties he asked her to perform with him, when Dolly became more popular than Porter she decided to end the collaboration, which inspired her to write I Will Always Love You .
Percy Sledge – When A Man Loves A Woman
The American singer Percy Sledge (Leighton, Alabama, November 25, 1941) is actually only known in the Netherlands for the beautiful soul ballad When A Man Loves A Woman and to a lesser extent My special prayer , both of which can invariably be found every year with a quotation in the Top 2000, at the end of the year on Radio 2.
Originally When A Man Loves A Woman was a hit in 1966, but in 1987, when jeans manufacturer Levi’s picked up the song for a commercial, it reappeared in the charts.
It was the first #1 hit to be recorded in the legendary Muscle Shoals studio in Alabama, where Aretha Franklin, Paul Simon, Rolling Stones and many more famous artists later recorded their classics.
Shania Twain – From This Moment On (with Bryan White)
A very suitable song for a wedding comes from Shania Twain’s third album Come On Over , released in November 1997. This CD also contains You’re Still The One and That Don’t Impress Me Much , both also hits in the Netherlands.
The disc also contains the song From This Moment, which she sings with Bryan White. A very frequently used song during wedding ceremonies, especially in America.
Text fragment:
From this moment as long as I live
I will love you, I promise you thisThere is nothing I wouldn’t giveFrom this momentI will love you as long as I liveFrom this moment on
John Denver – Annie’s Song
John wrote this song out of deep love for his then wife Annie and ended up in the charts with this love song in 1976. In later years he became embroiled in a bitter divorce with her, so serious that one day he visited her with a chainsaw and made short work of what remained of her household goods.
Another ironic fact is the fact that Henry John Deutschendorf, as the American country singer was actually called, crashed in 1997 with a plane he piloted. Ironic in view of another hit of his, Leaving on a jetplane . However, Annie’s Song is and remains a beautiful declaration of love.
Some lines of text:
You fill up my senses
Like a night in a forestLike the mountains in springtimeLike a walk in the rainLike a storm in the desert
Like a sleepy blue oceanYou fill up my sensesCome fill me again
Wet Wet Wet – Love is all around
For the film Four Weddings and a Funeral (four weddings and one funeral), the Scottish band Wet Wet Wet successfully re-recorded their song Love Is All Around , after which it ended up on the soundtrack of the film, resulting in a big # 1 hit in various countries in 1994, including the Netherlands.
Wet Wet Wet , with frontman Marti Pellow, was especially successful in the late eighties, until the mid-nineties, with the aforementioned hit single from the feel-good movie. They also starred with Wishing I Was Lucky , Sweet Little Mystery , Sweet Surrender , Angeleyes and Goodnight Girl . Just before the turn of the century, Wet Wet Wet stopped, in 2004 the group was reformed and new album material was recorded and performed again.
Rene Froger – This is the moment (uit de musical Jekyll & Hyde)
The musical Jekyll & Hyde premiered at the Alley Theater in Houston, Texas (USA) in 1990. This Is The Moment is the key song from this production, a traditional musical song by Frank Wildhorn and Leslie Bricusse.
Jekyll & Wyde was written in the late eighties by the duo Frank Wildhorn and Steve Cuden. The lyrics from the song come from Jekyll’s mouth in the piece:
This is the moment
This is the dayThis is the moment when I know I’m on my wayEvery endeavor I have ever made is coming into play/Is here and now todayThis is the moment
This is the time
In 1992 René Froger scored a modest hit in the Netherlands with this song, it is still very popular with (future) bridal couples and is often played during special moments and occasions.
Bryan Adams – (Everything I Do) I Do It For You
He stayed at the highest position of the charts for twelve weeks in 1991: Bryan Adams with the co-written (Everything I Do) I Do It For You, taken from the album Waking up the Neighbors . It
was originally written for the soundtrack to the film Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves, but also appeared on Adams’ aforementioned studio album.
Text fragment:
Look into my eyes, you will see
What you mean to meSearch your heart, search your soulAnd when you find me there you’ll search no more
Wedding Máxima and Willem Alexander, Adiós Nonino – Carel Kraayenhof/ Ástor Piazzolla
The cause of the well-known historical TV moment with De Traan is Adiós Nonino (adieu father), played by Carel Kraayenhof at the wedding of Princess Máxima and Crown Prince Willem-Alexander, on February 2, 2002 (02-02-2002).
Carel performed the appropriate instrumental song on the bandeon. In this context, the song refers to Princess Máxima’s farewell to her native Argentina, now that she will become the future queen of the Netherlands. And of course the story plays in the background that her father, Jorge Zorreguieta, was not allowed to attend the royal wedding by the Dutch government due to his questionable war history.
Adiós Nonino is originally a song by Argentinian tango musician Ástor Piazzolla who reportedly wrote it after receiving a phone call that his father had died.
Godley and Creme – Wedding Bells
Kevin Godley and Lol Creme left the British band 10CC in the 1970s and formed the duo Godley and Creme. In 1981 their album Ismism was released, with the song Wedding Bells (an anti-marriage song?) which was later released as a single .
The text makes it clear that the couple in question are crazy about each other, but that one of the partners hears the wedding bells every time they get together, while the other only wants to have fun together and set each other free . .
The two gentlemen also scored hits in the Netherlands with Cry, (the famous black and white video clip with the faces flowing into each other), An Englishman In New York, Under Your Thumb and A Little Piece of Heaven. In 1988 the duo ended their collaboration.
Bløf – Everything is love
A light-hearted song by the Zeeland band Bløf, which can be heard in the soundtrack of the romantic comedy Alles Is Liefde from 2007. The film was written by Kim van Kooten and had a Belgian remake: in Flanders the title was Zot van A. A cheerful song about love and princes on white horses, suitable for weddings and parties.
Everything is love
For those who want it / And for those who still dare to dream About wonderful princes on white horses / Who cannot ride well And keep their secrets for a long time / And everything is also love
For those who quietly long
Mendelssohn Hochzeitsmarsch Wedding March
The Hochzeitsmarsch or in English the Wedding March was composed by Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy. He composed the famous classical work for A Midsummer Night’s Dream by William Shakespeare in 1842, originally called Incidental Music (Op. 61). The song, played on the pipe organ or church organ, is the traditional song as the bridal couple enters the altar.
The Bridal Chorus (Here Comes The Bride) – Richard Wagner
The Bridal Chorus or in German Treulich geführt is part of the opera Lohengrin from 1850, composed by the German Richard Wagner. In English speaking countries often referred to as Here Comes The Bride or in Dutch Daar Komt De Bruid . The wedding song is usually performed instrumentally, preferably played on a large church organ, upon the bride’s entry into the church or at the town hall. Sometimes the piece is referred to as the Wedding March , not to be confused with Mendelssohn’s piece of music of the same name .
In the opera the text below is sung by Elsa, the bride and her husband-to-be Lohengrin.
German text stanza:
Treulich geführt zeehet dahin
Wo e uch der Segen der Liebe bewahr’
Siegreicher Mut, Minnegewinn
Eint euch in Treue zum seligsten Paar
English text stanza:
Faithfully guided, draw near
Tto where the blessing of love shall preserve youTriumphant courage, the reward of loveJoins you in fact are the happiest of couples
Queen – The Wedding March (Soundtrack Flash Gordon)
In 1980, the science fiction film Flash Gordon was released, based on the cartoon character of the same name that was created in 1934. The film flopped mercilessly, only in Great Britain was the film reasonably successful.
The British pop group Queen provided the soundtrack for this film, of which the title song Flash, by Brian May, became a hit in the Netherlands. This soundtrack album also includes the 56-second fragment The Wedding March, a variation on Wagner’s Bridal Chorus, now with the typical guitar sound of Queen’s Brian May.
Chicago, Peter Cetera – You’re The Inspiration
You’re The Inspiration, written by Peter Cetera, can be found on the LP/CD Chicago 17, released in 1984.
One of Chicago’s most successful CDs, which, in addition to the aforementioned single, also contains the hit singles Stay The Night and Hard Habit To Break can be found.
Always on my mind
in my heartin my soul baby.You’re the meaning in my life
you’re the inspiration.You bring feeling to my lifeyou’re the inspiration.Wanna have you near meI wanna have you hear me sayin’:No one needs you more than I need you
Diana Ross and Lionel Richie – Endless Love
Endless Love was written by Lionel Richie, former frontman of the seventies soul band The Commodores.
He sang it together with Motown legend Diana Ross for the soundtrack of the film of the same name produced by Franco Zeffirelli, starring Brooke Shields, among others. The hit from the film score of the same name Endless Love: Original Motion Picture Soundtrack, among other things a # 1 hit in America, was the biggest hit that Diana Ross ever scored in her long career, for her solo album Why Do Fools Fall in Love she later recorded a solo version op.
The song about endless love was covered in later years by Luther Vandross together with Mariah Carey
Van Morrison – Have I Told You Lately
Deze romantische ballade van de Noord-Ierse singer-songwriter Van Morrison, vaak te horen op trouwerijen, verscheen in 1989 op het album Avalon Sunset en werd op single uitgebracht.
.
Have I told you lately that I love you
Have I told you there’s no one above youFill my heart with gladnessTake away my sadnessEase my troubles, that’s what you do
Oh the morning sun in all its gloryGreets the day with hope and comfort tooAnd you fill my life with laughterYou can make it better
Ease my troubles that’s what you do
Johann Pachelbel – Canon in D majeur
Canon in D major for three violins and a bass instrument, such as a cello or viola da gamba,
around 1680, in the heyday of the Baroque . The canon is by far the most famous composition by the Nuremberg musician, who lived from 1653 to 1706.
Due to the way the chords are structured, it has become a very popular piece of classical music and as such is often performed during weddings and weddings in general.
The aforementioned and famous chord progression has been a source of inspiration for the structure of many songs in pop music.
Dixie Cups – Chapel Of Love
Originally Chapel of Love , written by Phil Spector, Jeff Barry and Ellie Greenwich, was intended for The Ronettes, but was eventually recorded by sisters Barbara Ann and Rosa Lee Hawkins, along with their niece Joan Marie Johnson. The Dixie Cups , as the name was of the girl trio, with this song knocked The Beatles with Love Me Do from their #1 position in the American charts in 1964.
Iko Iko is another well-known song from this trio that is no longer entirely in its original line-up is still musically active.
Goin’ to the chapel/ and we’re gonna get married
Goin’ to the chapel/ and we’re gonna get married
Gee, I really love y ou/ and we’re gonna get married
Goin’ to the chapel of love
Spring is here, the sky is blue, whoa oh ohBirds all sing as if they knewToday’s the day we’ll say, ,I do,And we’ll never be lonely anymore because we’reGoin’ to the chapel and we’re gonna get t married
text fragment:
She is the sun and the moon for me
She has the best of both So mysterious And so warm at the same time And she does something with me She is free Free to go but she stays with me
She is the ebb and flow She is irresistible She just tells me what she finds
A woman and a childShe is wind and calmAnd sheShe belongs to meAnd she opens a world for me
Bruno Mars – Marry you
Marry You, sung by American Bruno Mars, is the fourth international single from his solo album
Doo-Wops & Hooligans. Bruno wrote the song, about the spontaneous idea of getting married, together with The Smeezingtons, who also produced the song.
It’s a beautiful night,
We’re looking for something dumb to do, Hey baby, I think I wanna marry you.
Is it the look in your eyes,Or is it this dancing juice?Who cares baby,I think I wanna marry you
BZN – Wedding Bells
The people of Volendam were successful in 1997 with this tearjerker, about the chapel where the wedding bells once rang, but where people are now together again to pay their last respects to one of the partners.
I’m down on my knees and I’m crying
Oh, my love, you were my everythingNow you lie at rest in the chapelWhere you once gave me my wedding ring
Wedding bells, I remember they we re ringing,
here in the church where I said ‘yes’, ma belleBut then the wedding bells made way for angels singingAdieu, goodbye, my love, adieu farewell
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