Parent Dance Songs
What are the best songs for the father and bride or mother and groom dances?
The tradition of the bride dancing with her father and the groom dancing with his mother is supposed to acknowledge that special relationship between a parent and child. The wedding day is the day that the child takes a step away from his or her family while taking a big step toward creating his own family. It is only natural that you want to take a moment to acknowledge this change while reflecting on all the events that brought you to this point.
Consider this a moment where you can pause and take a deep breath before moving on to the rest of your reception. It is also an event that signals the start of the dancing–which will help take the focus off of you!
While traditionally the father-daughter and mother-son dances are separate, many people are now choosing to combine the two dances into one. Usually, this is done to help speed the reception along. Because of this change in wedding tradition, we decided to create five distinct pages for these songs. While we still have pages devoted to the traditional father of the bride and mother of the groom dances, we’ve taken any songs that are generic enough that they could work for either dance (or a combined dance) and have listed them here. In doing so, we’ve avoided any songs that are more about romantic love or are traditional love songs (you can find them on either our Best First Dance Songs page or our Best Wedding Love Songs page.
- Best Father of the Bride Dance Songs: Songs that express love between a father and daughter.
- Best Mother of the Groom Dance Songs: Songs that express love between a mother and son.
- Best Songs for Parent-Child Dance: Songs that work for either the father of the bride dance or the mother of the groom dance or a combined dance.
- Best Songs for the Family Dance: A mixture of songs that work for generic family dances as well as ones that would work for a nontraditional dance.
- Best Songs for the Bridal Party Dance: Songs that express feelings of friendship. These are the most generic songs combined with some of the faster dance songs.
Listed below are some of the best parent dance songs for the wedding reception. For your convenience, we have compiled the songs in a playlist, making it easy for you to listen to a sample or purchase a song. A detailed listing of the songs is provided below the playlist.
Best Wedding Songs for the Mother of the Groom or Father of the Bride Dances
- “A Whole New World” (Aladdin’s Theme) performed by Peabo Bryson and Regina Bell
- “As I Lay Me Down” by Sophie B. Hawkins
- “Beautiful in My Eyes” performed Joshua Kadison
- “Because You Loved Me” performed by Celine Dion
- “Blessed” performed by Elton John
- “Butterfly Kisses” performed by Bob Carlisle
- “Can You Feel the Love Tonight” performed by Elton John
- “Don’t Cry” by Guns N’ Roses
- “Fire and Rain” performed by James Taylor
- “Flying Without Wings” performed by Ruben Studdard
- “Forever Young” by Youth Group and Alphaville
- “Forever Young” performed by Rod Stewart or Bob Dylan
- “Friends” performed by Elton John
- “God Only Knows” by Beach Boys
- “Goodbye’s the Saddest Word” by Done Again
- “Greatest Love of All” performed Whitney Houston
- “Have I Told You Lately” performed by Rod Stewart or Van Morrison
- “Hero” performed by Mariah Carey
- “I Am Your Child” by Barry Manilow
- “I Believe” performed by Diamond Rio
- “I Hope You Dance” performed by Lee Ann Womack
- “I.O.U.” performed Jimmy Dean
- “I Turn to You” performed by Christina Aguilara
- “I Will Be There For You” by Jessica Andrews
- “I Will Remember You” by Sarah McLachlan
- “If There Hadn’t Been You” by Billy Dean
- “I’ll Remember” performed by Madonna
- “I’ll Stand By You” performed by Pretenders
- “I’m Moving On” by Rascal Flatts
- “I’m Your Angel” performed by Celine Dion and R. Kelly
- “In My Life” performed by The Beatles or Bette Midler
- “In This Life” performed by Colin Raye or Bette Midler
- “Just the Way You Are” performed by Billy Joel
- “Keeper of the Stars” performed by Tracy Byrd
- “Kind and Generous” performed by Natalie Merchant
- “Less than the Song” performed by Joan Baez
- “Let Them be Little” performed by Lonestar
- “Letting Go” performed by Suzy Bogguss
- “Lullabye (Goodnight My Angel)” performed by Billy Joel
- “Memories” performed by Elvis Presley
- “Moon River” performed by Henry Mancini and Barbra Streisand
- “Music of My Heart” performed by Gloria Estefan and N’ Sync
- “My Heart Will Go On” performed by Celine Dion
- “Oh How the Years Go By” performed by Vanessa Williams or Amy Grant
- “Say Once More” performed by Amy Grant
- “Stand by Me” performed by Ben E. King
- “Summer Wind” performed by Frank Sinatra, Barry Manilow and others
- “Sunrise, Sunset” from Fiddler On The Roof
- “Thank God For Kids” performed by The Oak Ridge Boys
- “Thank You” performed by Boyz II Men
- “Thank You” performed by Dido
- “Thank You For Loving Me” performed by Bon Jovi
- “Thanks Again” performed by Ricky Skaggs
- “The Dance” performed by Garth Brooks
- “The Things We’ve Handed Down” performed by Marc Cohn
- “The Way You Do the Things You Do” performed by The Temptations
- “The Way You Look Tonight” performed by Frank Sinatra or Tony Bennett
- “There’s a Hero” performed by Billy Gilman
- “Times of Your Life” performed by Paul Anka or Clueless
- “Then They Do” performed by Trace Adkins
- “Unforgettable” performed by Nat King Cole or Natalie Cole
- “Universe” performed by Mark Wills
- “What a Wonderful World” performed by Louis Armstrong
- “When I Need You” performed by Leo Sayer
- “When You Come Back Down” performed by Nickle Creek
- “When You Say Nothing At All” performed by Keith Whitley, Ronan Keating and Alison Krauss
- “Who Knows Where the Time Goes” performed by Judy Collins
- “Wind Beneath My Wings” performed by Bette Midler
- “Wonderful Tonight” performed by Eric Clapton
- “You Raise Me Up” performed by Josh Groban
- “You’ll Be in My Heart” performed by Phil Collins
- “You’re Gonna Miss This” performed by Trace Adkins