One, two, three-four-five,
Everybody in the car, so come on, let’s ride!
…Did we get Lou Bega’s ‘Mambo No. 5’ stuck in your head? Easy to do, the song is undeniably catchy and it certainly never fails to make people want to dance! Which is why this next sentence may come as a surprise:
We strongly recommend not playing this song on your wedding day.
GASP – SHOCK! HORROR! WHY????
Simply put, the same or similar reason we’re going to recommend a whole list of songs not to play on your wedding day: these particular lyrics are all about someone who is seeing at least ten women at the same time (though shout-out to Rita and Sandra for being the only two to be mentioned in both a verse and the refrain?). On your wedding day, these lyrics may not quite convey what you’re hoping to in terms of eternal and true love.
So, as NYC’s premier entertainment company, with 5 of the most-lauded live wedding bands in the tristate area, Around Town Entertainment is here to help you make sure the music at your wedding is full of good vibes only! Below, we’ve broken it down to a few different categories of thematic material you may not want to feature on your special day, and included lists in each of those categories because we believe that when planning your wedding, choosing the music should be the easiest and most fun part! So without further ado, let’s get into it!
Songs that Insult Your Partner (or her Family)
Let’s face it, we all love a song with a witty little jab for an ex. There’s something eternally satisfying about cleverly putting someone in their place. However, your wedding doesn’t seem like the time or place for these songs, since your partner is presumably someone that you want to spend the rest of your life complimenting – you chose to marry them because they aren’t like the lyrics in the following songs:
‘You’re So Vain’ – Carly Simon
‘You Give Love a Bad Name’ – Bon Jovi
‘I Hate Everything About You’ – Three Days Grace
‘Gold Digger’ – Kanye West feat. Jamie Foxx
‘That Don’t Impress Me Much’ – Shania Twain
This last one isn’t about your partner, is funny, and may even be apt for your relationship with your new Mother-In-Law, but it probably isn’t one you want to play the very day she becomes your family; not if you want to start out on the right foot!
Songs About Cheating
This one… feels like it should be the most obvious category. It’s your wedding day and you just promised to love and cherish one another in sickness and in health ‘til death do you part. Songs about cheating on your partner just don’t fit the bill for this special day. We’re also going to start this list off with a hot take: the first song is still about cheating, even if they do end up back with the partner they started with and never technically see anyone else. Fun as it is, we don’t encourage it for your wedding!
‘Escape (The Piña Colada Song)’ by Rupert Holmes
‘Before He Cheats’ by Carrie Underwood
‘You Know I’m No Good’ – Amy Winehouse
‘Cry Me a River’ – Justin Timberlake
Songs About Leaving or Breaking Up
This also feels exceedingly obvious as a category. And while there is certainly a time and place to belt out some of the following bangers, your wedding is probably not one of those times and places, since we’re very much hoping your love is here to stay!
‘Thank U, Next’ – Ariana Grande
‘You Can Go Your Own Way’ – Fleetwood Mac
‘50 Ways to Leave Your Lover’ – Paul Simon
‘I Will Survive’ – Gloria Gaynor
‘Since U Been Gone’ – Kelly Clarkson
‘I Will Always Love You’ – Dolly Parton (covered by Whitney Houston)
Songs That Make Your Grandma Blush
(Or are generally tasteless)
We’re sure your grandma is a cool grandma. She’s YOUR grandma after all. And while TikTok has certainly revealed its fair share of cool, rebellious grandmas, we also know there’s every chance that your grandma or another of your guests could be easily offended by the… racier content in some of the following songs. These songs might be perfect for your bachelorette night, but your wedding reception maybe isn’t the time. Additionally, some songs, we can acknowledge in 2024, simply aren’t appropriate (if they ever were).
‘Bootylicious’ – Destiny’s Child
‘Baby Got Back’ – Sir Mix-A-Lot
‘My Humps’ – The Black-Eyed Peas
‘Candy Shop’ – 50 Cent feat. Olivia
‘Every Breath You Take’ – The Police (Stalker vibes!)
Songs About Lost Love
Your wedding day is all about celebrating the full and hopefully long lives you’ve just promised to share! These songs are ones that, stunning as they are, focus on love that’s been lost, either to life’s circumstances or (gulp) death. So again, while they might put you in your feels or even be a personal favorite, we think there are better times to play these particular songs than on your wedding day.
‘Make You Feel My Love’ – Adele
‘Tears in Heaven’ – Eric Clapton
While this list certainly isn’t a complete list with every song that maybe shouldn’t make an appearance on your wedding day, these categories and examples should give you a good set of questions to ask yourself before selecting a song. Even more helpfully, we’ve provided a list of songs that we know are classics and hits your guests will love – when you book us, you get to highlight ones you like to your heart’s content so we get a sense of your style and vibes! While we may not get the chance to play all of them, we can promise your day will be full of crowd-pleasing, bopping, non-problematic tunes.
