The 100 best songs to get everyone dancing at a wedding

Open the floor: songs everyone knows

The first dance is over, the couple wants company, and you need the floor full now. Pretty much every generation in the room recognizes these in two seconds.

• September – Earth, Wind & Fire
• Uptown Funk – Mark Ronson ft. Bruno Mars
• Shut Up and Dance – Walk the Moon
• I Wanna Dance with Somebody – Whitney Houston
• Dancing Queen – ABBA
• Hey Ya! – OutKast
• Can't Stop the Feeling! – Justin Timberlake
• Happy – Pharrell Williams
• Shout – The Isley Brothers
• Celebration – Kool & the Gang
• Twist and Shout – The Beatles
• Crazy in Love – Beyoncé ft. Jay-Z

Disco and funk for the parents (and everyone else)

The parents know every word, and even the couple's friends can't stand still. They work great right after dinner, while people are still deciding whether to dance.

• Le Freak – Chic
• We Are Family – Sister Sledge
• Stayin' Alive – Bee Gees
• I Will Survive – Gloria Gaynor
• Hot Stuff – Donna Summer
• Don't Stop 'Til You Get Enough – Michael Jackson
• Get Lucky – Daft Punk ft. Pharrell Williams
• Boogie Wonderland – Earth, Wind & Fire with The Emotions
• Ain't No Mountain High Enough – Marvin Gaye & Tammi Terrell
• I Want You Back – The Jackson 5

80s and 90s sing-alongs

The sing-along zone. Don't be surprised if the whole room shouts the chorus of Livin' on a Prayer louder than your speakers.

• Billie Jean – Michael Jackson
• Girls Just Want to Have Fun – Cyndi Lauper
• Wake Me Up Before You Go-Go – Wham!
• Take On Me – a-ha
• Footloose – Kenny Loggins
• Livin' on a Prayer – Bon Jovi
• Like a Prayer – Madonna
• Wannabe – Spice Girls
• Everybody (Backstreet's Back) – Backstreet Boys
• ...Baby One More Time – Britney Spears
• Livin' la Vida Loca – Ricky Martin
• Mambo No. 5 – Lou Bega
• Jump Around – House of Pain
• This Is How We Do It – Montell Jordan

From the 2000s to today

For the couple's friends and everyone who grew up with them. Mix them with the classics so the older guests never sit out for too long.

• Mr. Brightside – The Killers
• Single Ladies (Put a Ring on It) – Beyoncé
• Yeah! – Usher ft. Lil Jon & Ludacris
• Hot in Herre – Nelly
• I Gotta Feeling – The Black Eyed Peas
• Party Rock Anthem – LMFAO
• Titanium – David Guetta ft. Sia
• We Found Love – Rihanna ft. Calvin Harris
• Wake Me Up – Avicii
• Shake It Off – Taylor Swift
• 24K Magic – Bruno Mars
• Levitating – Dua Lipa
• Blinding Lights – The Weeknd
• As It Was – Harry Styles
• About Damn Time – Lizzo
• Espresso – Sabrina Carpenter

A little Latin heat

A couple of these lift the energy without losing anyone. Watch the uncles: this is usually when they come out.

• Hips Don't Lie – Shakira ft. Wyclef Jean
• Despacito – Luis Fonsi ft. Daddy Yankee
• Mi Gente – J Balvin & Willy William
• Suavemente – Elvis Crespo
• La Bamba – Ritchie Valens
• Danza Kuduro – Don Omar ft. Lucenzo

Group dances

Cheesy? A little. But they bring the shy guests onto the floor, and some families would be disappointed without them. One or two in the night is plenty.

• Cha Cha Slide – DJ Casper
• Cupid Shuffle – Cupid
• Electric Boogie – Marcia Griffiths
• Y.M.C.A. – Village People
• Macarena – Los del Río
• The Twist – Chubby Checker

Rock for the second wind

Later in the night, when the crowd is warmed up and ready to shout along.

• Don't Stop Me Now – Queen
• Sweet Child o' Mine – Guns N' Roses
• You Shook Me All Night Long – AC/DC
• I'm Gonna Be (500 Miles) – The Proclaimers
• Sweet Caroline – Neil Diamond
• The Final Countdown – Europe
• Africa – Toto
• Seven Nation Army – The White Stripes

Canadian favorites

Home-grown crowd-pleasers that always get a cheer.

• Man! I Feel Like a Woman! – Shania Twain
• Summer of '69 – Bryan Adams
• Call Me Maybe – Carly Rae Jepsen
• Promiscuous – Nelly Furtado ft. Timbaland
• One Dance – Drake ft. Wizkid & Kyla
• Sorry – Justin Bieber
• Sk8er Boi – Avril Lavigne
• Haven't Met You Yet – Michael Bublé
• Can't Feel My Face – The Weeknd
• Wake Up – Arcade Fire

Slow dances

For the first dance, the parent dances, or a short breather between two high points. Keep them few and short: two in a row is usually the limit.

• At Last – Etta James
• Perfect – Ed Sheeran
• All of Me – John Legend
• Can't Help Falling in Love – Elvis Presley
• Thinking Out Loud – Ed Sheeran
• A Thousand Years – Christina Perri
• Die with a Smile – Lady Gaga & Bruno Mars
• Everything – Michael Bublé

The last songs of the night

End on a high. These work as the very last songs, when everyone is singing arm in arm and nobody wants to go home.

• Don't Stop Believin' – Journey
• (I've Had) The Time of My Life – Bill Medley & Jennifer Warnes
• Bohemian Rhapsody – Queen
• Hey Jude – The Beatles
• Dancing On My Own – Robyn
• Last Dance – Donna Summer
• Friends in Low Places – Garth Brooks
• Save the Last Dance for Me – The Drifters
• Closing Time – Semisonic
• New York, New York – Frank Sinatra

Five habits to keep the floor full

• Watch the floor, not your list. If it starts to empty, go back to a song everyone knows.
• Switch generations often: a recent hit, then a classic, then a sing-along. Nobody sits out for long.
• Ask the couple for their no-play list, and take it seriously. There's always a reason.
• Save the big sing-alongs for later. They hit harder when the room is warm.
• Play grandma's request. Nobody ever lost a dance floor over three minutes of Frank Sinatra.

Let the guests fill in the gaps

No list covers everyone's favorite song, and that's fine: the guests will tell you. Give them an easy way to do it from their phone, and let them vote, so you can see which requests the room really wants. For the rest, here's how to handle song requests at a wedding.

In Special Request

Create the event in Special Request and turn on Open requests: guests can suggest their songs from the invitation, weeks before the wedding. With Premium, import the couple's playlist as suggestions, and guests vote for their favorites. On the night, a QR code on the tables sends requests straight to your phone. Create an event