Back when I got married, in the distant past of 2009, if you were picking the best wedding songs for your reception, you were probably also wrangling an iPod and wondering if you were going to be able to make a bumpin’ reception happen without a high-priced DJ. Thank goodness, in the intervening handful of years, we’ve ditched iPods, moved to iPhones, and some pretty awesome DJ apps have been launched, making “putting together your wedding playlist” the maybe the most fun item on your wedding to-do list.

But whether you’re having a professional DJ or a self-selected shuffle, we’ve compiled a massive (and I do mean massive) list of wedding songs to help you pick music for every key moment of your wedding, without digging through a million posts and a zillion comments to find the best stuff. We’ve covered ceremony music from secular to modern, reception entrance songs, slow and sweet and bump and grind first dance songs, music for dancing with your dad (or mama), and power ballads to close out the night. Oh, and duh, we covered music to get ready to, with a side of feminism.

We hope this exhaustive wedding songs playlist (you can listen to it in full here) helps you pick music without breaking a sweat. Because that should be saved for the dance floor. (#rimshot)

getting ready wedding songs

1. 1. Beyoncé: “Formation”
   2. Destiny’s Child: “Independent Women (Pt 1)”
   3. Katy Perry: “Roar”
   4. Beyoncé: “Single Ladies (Put a Ring on It)”
   5. Alicia Keys: “Girl on Fire”
   6. Spice Girls: “Wannabe”
   7. Missy Elliott: “Work It”
   8. En Vogue: “My Lovin’ (You’re Never Gonna Get It)”
   9. Blondie: “Call Me”
   10. Martina McBride: “This One’s for the Girls”
   11. Janelle Monáe: “Electric Lady”
   12. Nicki Minaj: “Starships”
   13. Destiny’s Child: “Jumpin’ Jumpin’”
   14. No Doubt: “Just a Girl”
   15. Christina Aguilera, Lil Kim, Mya, and Pink ft. Missy Elliott: “Lady Marmalade”
   16. Beyoncé ft. Jay-Z: “Drunk in Love”
   17. Rihanna: “We Found Love”
   18. Katy Perry: “Teenage Dream”
   19. Iggy Azalea ft. Charli XCX: “Fancy”
   20. Beyoncé: “Run the World (Girls)”
   21. Aaliyah: “Are You That Somebody”
   22. M.I.A.: “Boyz”
   23. Jennifer Lopez: “Get Right”
   24. Kelis: “Milkshake”
   25. Ani DiFranco: “Face Up and Sing”
   26. Dixie Chicks: “Not Ready to Make Nice”
   27. Salt-N-Pepa: “None of Your Business”
   28. Jessie J: “Do It Like a Dude”
   29. Lesley Gore: “You Don’t Own Me”
   30. Joan Jett: “Bad Reputation”
   31. The Doubleclicks: “Nothing to Prove”

secular processional songs

1. Velvet Underground: “I’ll Be Your Mirror”
2. Johnny Cash: “I Walk the Line”
3. Yo La Tengo: “Our Way to Fall”
4. The Corrs: “Haste to the Wedding”
5. Ennio Morricone: “Once Upon a Time in the West”
6. The Beach Boys: “God Only Knows”
7. Siobhan McDonnell: “Twa Bonnie Maidens”
8. Cake: “Love You Madly”
9. The Muppets: “Life’s a Happy Song”
10. Keb’ Mo’: “Every Morning”
11. Death Cab For Cutie: “Stay Young, Go Dancing”
12. José Gonazalez: “Heartbeats”
13. The Ramones: “Baby, I Love You”
14. Josh Ritter: “Baby, That’s Not All”
15. City of Prague Philharmonic: “The West Wing Theme”

secular Wedding ceremony songs 

1. Sufjan Stevens: “For the Widows in Paradise”
2. Bob Dylan: “Forever Young”
3. Magnetic Fields: “The Book of Love”
4. The Weepies: “Somebody Loved”
5. Judy Collins: “How Can I Keep from Singing”

secular recessional wedding songs

1. The Temper Trap: “Sweet Disposition”
2. Bruce Springsteen: “Dancing in the Dark”
3. Justin Timberlake: “Mirrors”
4. Faith Hill: “This Kiss”
5. Frank Ocean: “Thinkin Bout You”
6. The Cure: “Just Like Heaven”
7. Beyoncé: “XO”
8. Michael Bublé: “Everything”
9. The Sundays: “Summertime”
10. Meiko: “Stuck On You”
11. Hedwig & The Angry Inch (Stephen Trask): “The Origin of Love”
12. Iron & Wine: “Time After Time”
13. Erasure: “Always”
14. Queen: “Crazy Little Thing Called Love”
15. Capital Cities: “Safe and Sound”

traditional wedding hymns 

1. “A Mighty Fortress Is Our God”
2. “Abide with Me”
3. “All Beautiful the March of Days”
4. “All Creatures of Our God and King”
5. “Amazing Grace”
6. “Ave Maria”
7. “Be Thou My Vision”
8. “Blessed Be the Tie That Binds”
9. “Canticle of the Sun”
10. “Come Thou Fount of Every Blessing”
11. “Earth and All Stars”
12. “Eternal Father Strong to Save”
13. “Faith of Our Fathers”
14. “Gather Us In”
15. “Great Is Thy Faithfulness”
16. “Joyful, Joyful We Adore Thee”
17. “Love Divine All Loves Excelling”
18. “Oh God Our Help in Ages Past”
19. “Praise to the Lord, the Almighty (1982 Hymnal #390)”
20. “Praise My Soul the Kingdom of Heaven”

modern wedding hymns

1. “All Are Welcome”
2. “Celtic Alleluia” 
3. “Covenant Hymn”
4. “Endless Is Your Love”
5. “For the Beauty of the Earth”
6. “How Great Thou Art”
7. “I Have Loved You with an Everlasting Love”
8. “Morning Has Broken”
9. “O Love That Will Not Let Me Go”
10. “O God, Beyond All Praising”
11. “Prayer for Peace”
12. “Psalm 95”
13. “Set Me as a Seal”
14. “Spirit of Life”
15. “The Servant Song”

religious ceremony wedding Music

1. Ella Fitzgerald: “What a Friend We Have in Jesus”
2. Soweto Gospel Choir: “Amazing Grace”
3. Oranim Zabar Troupe: “Dodi Li”
4. Etta James: “Down by the Riverside”
5. Aretha Franklin and Mavis Staples: “Oh Happy Day”
6. The Mormon Tabernacle Choir: “Great Is Thy Faithfulness”
7. Cambridge Choir of Kings College: “Love Divine, All Loves Excelling”
8. “You Satisfy the Hungry Heart”
9. “Bless the Lord, O My Soul”
10. Naomi Shemer: “Yerushalayim Shel Zahav”
11. Westminster Abbey Choir: “Ave verum corpus”
12. “Magnificat”
13. Cambridge Choir of St. John’s College: “Ubi caritas et amor”
14. Ribi David Kadoch: “Sheva Brachot”
15. “Thou Art the Vineyard”

classical ceremony music

1. Jeremiah Clarke: “Trumpet Voluntary”
2. Johann Sebastian Bach: “Sinfonia from Cantata, BWV 29”
3. Johann Sebastian Bach: “Unaccompanied Cello Suite No. 1 in G Major: Prelude, BWV 1007”
4. Marc-Antoine Charpentier: “Prelude from Te Deum”
5. Jacques Ibert: “Trois pièces brèves”
6. Henry Purcell: “