Popular Wedding Reception Songs: If you’re planning your wedding day, congratulations! Now that you’re working on your wedding reception music, that means that you’ve planned for a little while, already. Clients usually plan their wedding ceremony and reception music in the final month or two before the wedding day! So congrats, you made it this far! 🙂
So now, you may be thinking, I’m not a wedding DJ, so I have no idea what to play! Well, luckily, we are, and we’re here to help make your celebration memorable! Here are a few tips to have fun wedding receptions.
Tips for Choosing Great Wedding Songs
- Remember that your friends and family have a variety of musical tastes. So try to play songs from different genres, if possible.
- Keep your vision in mind. What do you envision for your wedding reception? Do you want an energetic, packed dance floor all night? Perhaps you just want a laid-back vibe or atmosphere, where dancing isn’t the focus. Either way, your favorite music will help you achieve this!
- Hire a great DJ! Even with careful planning, a great DJ is an absolute must. You may have created a great playlist, but for some reason, no one is dancing. This is where a great DJ can easily take over and change the mood, quickly. Inexperienced DJs will simply stick to your list and not know what else to play.
- A great DJ will check in with you and find out what you want to do. If you decide to let the DJ play other songs off your list to get the dancing started, he/she should be able to do this, easily! So invest in your entertainment!
These are the top 3 tips to remember when planning your wedding reception/dance. There are numerous other tips, but we’re discussing the dance part, in particular. Now that you’ve got the above info, you may be wondering where to start. What songs are best for everyone? Here is a great list to start with.
Keep in mind that this is based on weddings and events that we do in Austin, San Antonio, and the central Texas area. Some songs may be different, depending on what part of the country (or world) you’re in. For the most part, though, these hits are played at many weddings in the US. Here’s the list of the 60 most popular wedding reception songs for 2024 weddings.
ABDJs’ Top 30 Popular Wedding Reception Songs
- I Wanna Dance With Somebody – Whitney Houston (always a fun, upbeat song to play)
- Dancing Queen – Abba (everyone loves to sing the lyrics to this classic)
- Mr. Brightside – The Killers (newlyweds always LOVE this song)
- September – Earth, Wind & Fire
- Yeah – Usher
- Sweet Caroline – Neil Diamond (still a crowd favorite)
- Cupid Shuffle – Cupid
- Don’t Stop Believin’ – Journey
- Shut Up and Dance – Walk the Moon
- Party in the USA – Miley Cyrus (this is a fun song to take you back to your school life days)
- Wobble – VIC
- Uptown Funk – Bruno Mars
- I Gotta Feeling – Black Eyed Peas
- Man I Feel Like a Woman – Shania Twain
- Hey Ya! – Outkast
- Cha-Cha Slide – Mr. C The Slide Man
- Low – Flo Rida (another playlist fav)
- Love Story – Taylor Swift (another couples fav)
- Friends in Low Places – Garth Brooks
- Tennessee Whiskey – Chris Stapleton (a slow song but always packs the dance floor)
- Wannabe – Spice Girls (this has become a popular bouquet toss song)
- Livin on a Prayer – Bon Jovi
- Everybody – Backstreet Boys
- Get Low – Lil Jon (a wedding party fav)
- All the Small Things – Blink 182
- We Found Love – Rihanna
- Hot in Herre – Nelly
- Every time We Touch – Cascada
- Footloose – Kenny Logins (or Blake Shelton)
- Forever – Chris Brown (perfect for a grand entrance, grand exit, or other key moments)
More Awesome Reception Songs
- Fireball – Pitbull
- Marry You – Bruno Mars
- No Hands – Waka Flocka
- You Shook Me All Night Long – AC/DC
- 24K Magic – Bruno Mars
- Shake it Off – Taylor Swift
- Love Shack – B-52s
- Brown Eyed Girl – Van Morrison
- Ain’t No Mountain – Marvin Gaye
- Time of Our Lives – Pitbull
- Can’t Stop the Feeling – Justin Timberlake
- I Want it That Way – Backstreet Boys
- Come on Eileen – Dexy’s Midnight Runners
- Pour Some Sugar On Me – Def Leppard (a good cake-cutting song) 🙂
- About Damn Time – Lizzo
- Can’t Help Falling in Love – Elvis (we love the Kina Grannis version, too. Listen, here)
- Mambo No. 5 – Lou Bega
- In da Club – 50 cent
- Hotel Room Service – Pitbull
- Gasolina – Daddy Yankee
- Save a Horse Ride a Cowboy – Big & Rich
- Beautiful Crazy – Luke Coombs
- Baby Got Back – Sir Mix a Lot
- Crazy in Love – Beyoncé feat Jay Z (every couple still loves this hit)
- Shout – Isley Brothers
- Give Me Everything – Pitbull, Chris Brown
- Girls Just Wanna Have Fun – Cyndi Lauper
- Party Rock Anthem – LMFAO (still a bridal party fav)
- Cotton Eyed Joe – Rednex
- Perfect – Ed Sheeran (still a good, romantic first dance song)
More Song Ideas
There you have it. These are the top 60 most popular wedding reception songs that are most often played at weddings in the central Texas area. These are all great songs that keep your guests dancing! Some other great artists to consider for inspiration are: Stevie Wonder and Dolly Parton (for your older relatives), Pop hits from Maroon 5, Calvin Harris, Rihanna, Daft Punk, Dua Lipa, and even Pharrell Williams.
There are so many other songs we play; however, these are the most popular ones that are requested.
For more great wedding song ideas, read our Top 2024 Wedding Songs article! If you’re looking for country wedding songs & song ideas, visit our 50 Awesome Country Wedding Songs article!
