For anyone looking to start on their journey as a professional musician, joining a wedding band or becoming a wedding singer can be a great place to begin. However, when playing on the happiest day of someone’s life, your choice of wedding music is crucial. In this blog, we’ll give you some top tips for songs to avoid at weddings…
Selecting a set list is something of an art form. Every musician will take a different approach.
However, it’s definitely worth considering the type of event you are playing at when selecting material.
Obviously, weddings celebrate love and happiness – meaning any songs with a less than appreciative take on the subject should probably be avoided.
Always keep in mind that the event is supposed to be a celebration, especially if you are taking requests from the audience. Hopefully, this will help you avoid any awkward moments!
As such, we’ve put together a list of songs that you should generally avoid playing as wedding band.
Many of these songs you probably wouldn’t have considered putting into your set in the first place! However, some cursory googling of the lyrics of any of these hits will make it obvious why they shouldn’t be played at anyone’s big day.
60 Songs to avoid playing at weddings
- “It Wasn’t Me” – Shaggy
- “Still Haven’t Found What I’m Looking For” – U2
- “Love Will Tear Us Apart” – Joy Division
- You Give Love A Bad Name – Bon Jovi
- “Every Breath You Take” – The Police
- “Fake Love” – Drake
- “Suspicious Minds” – Elvis Presley
- “Gold Digger” – Kanye West
- “Blurred Lines” – By Robin Thicke
- “Before He Cheats” – Carrie Underwood
- “Love The Way You Lie” – Eminem Feat. Rihanna
- “Bad Romance” – Lady Gaga
- “Bad Guy” – Billie Eilish
- “You’re So Vain” – Carly Simon
- “Love Stinks” – J. Geils Band
- “Heaven Knows I’m Miserable Now” – The Smiths
- “50 Ways To Leave Your Lover” – Paul Simon
- “D-I-V-O-R-C-E” – Tammy Wynette
- “Don’t Marry Her” – Beautiful South
- “Nothing Lasts Forever” – Echo & The Bunnymen
- “Grounds For Divorce” – Elbow
- “It Should Have Been Me” – Gladys Knight & The Pips
- “Unfaithful” – Rihanna
- “Crashed The Wedding” – Busted
- “That Don’t Impress Me Much” – Shania Twain
- “Free Bird” – Lynyrd Skynyrd
- “Someone Like You” – Adele
- “The End” – the Doors
- “Love Is a Losing Game” – Amy Winehouse
- “Drivers license” – Olivia Rodrigo
- “I Hate Myself For Loving You” – Joan Jett & The Blackhearts
- “You’ve Lost That Lovin’ Feelin’” – Elvis Presley
- “Maneater” – Hall & Oates
- “What’s Love Got To Do With It” – Tina Turner
- “I Want To Break Free” – Queen
- “Who Needs Love” – Razorlight
- “If You See Her, Say Hello” – Bob Dylan
- “Forget Her” – Jeff Buckley
- “Lost Cause” – Beck
- “Breaking Up Is Hard To Do” – Neil Sedaka
- “Let’s Call the Whole Thing Off” – Ella Fitzgerald and Louis Armstrong
- “Go Your Own Way” – Fleetwood Mac
- “I Fall In Love Too Easily” – Chet Baker
- “Last Request” – Paulo Nutini
- “Since U Been Gone” – Kelly Clarkson
- “Somebody Else” – The 1975
- “The Winner Takes It All” – Abba
- “We Are Never Ever Getting Back Together” – Taylor Swift
- “You Oughta Know” – Alanis Morissette
- “Always on My Mind” – Willie Nelson
- “Marry You” – Bruno Mars
- “Another One Bites The Dust” – Queen
- “If You Leave Me Now” – Chicago
- “Please Release Me” – Engelbert Humperdinck
- “Don’t You Want Me” – The Human League
- “You’ve Lost That Lovin’ Feeling” – The Righteous Brothers
- “Who’s Sorry Now” – Connie Francis
- “Leaving on a Jet Plane” – John Denver
- “Run To The Hills” – Iron Maiden
- “The End” – The Doors
It’s important to remember that you should thoroughly check any playlists you have not put together yourself, especially if you offer a DJ service after your sets.
For obvious reasons, if you haven’t put the list of music together, it’s more likely something inappropriate could make it onto the list by mistake.
What to do if you get a bad request
Whether you are performing mid-set or DJing afterwards, it’s incredibly common to have some attendees make a few requests.
Whether you choose to take them or not is ultimately down to you, but always be polite and courteous – even if the suggestion is absolutely ridiculous.
It’s never a good idea to humiliate or disparage your audience, especially over a microphone.
Sometimes it’s easier to say you don’t take requests rather than go into a long explanation of why their suggestion wouldn’t be appropriate for a wedding.
Remember that you are ultimately in charge of what music gets played and to deal with any hecklers appropriately.
What about if it’s a first dance request?
Dealing with unusual requests for a first dance is a very tricky business.
Ultimately, you can advise but never dictate.
Fortunately, the conversation around a first dance will almost always happen in advance, meaning there is some time for discussion.
If the happy couple has made what feels like a strange choice for their first dance, there will often be some kind of logic behind it as to why, and they will usually explain it to you.
However, if they have picked something very bizarre and seem to be completely unaware as to why it might not be appropriate, you might want to very sensitively broach the subject with them.
A relatively easy way to do this is to recommend they give the song’s backstory a google – that way they can make an informed decision on whether or not they choose it.
If the couple hadn’t realised the song’s connotations, you might even find that they thank you for helping them avoid a potentially embarrassing choice.
Unfortunately, the final decision usually has to stay with the people paying the bill.
Do you have any top tips for songs that should be avoided at weddings? Leave them in the comments below!
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