These songs make your wedding even more beautiful

I cry more during a wedding ceremony than at a funeral. It's strange really, but at a funeral it sometimes feels a bit gratuitous to cry when the deceased is somewhat distant from you. And at a wedding, the emotions are so layered. There is often sadness, new life, and hope, and above all, a lot of love bundled together in a ceremony.

Why music at your wedding determines everything

And while you often worry about everything at a wedding, the playlist can sometimes be an afterthought. Do you remember that scene from Love Actually still? Worst DJ in the world? That's what I mean. While music, at least for me, is a lot more important than the flowers on the table or the bouquet in your hand. No one is going to cry over that anyway.

So here are some small suggestions for the wedding playlist.

The Look of Love by Dusty Springfield remains the ultimate love song

When my love and I were still in the holding hands phase of our relationship, my love often slipped a burned CD, hello zeroes, into my work bag. The first song was The Look of Love by Dusty Springfield. If there is one song that sounds like the definition of longing, it is this one. Dusty Springfield doesn't sing about love, she is love, with a voice as heavy and warm as velvet in the sun. The song dates back to 1967 but sounds in no way dated, rather timeless in a way that most things today really can't compare to.

“You’ve got the look of love
It’s in your eyes
A look your smile can’t disguise”

And let's be honest, if someone looks at you like that during the vows, then everyone in that room is hopelessly lost.

Coldplay may have written the most beautiful line ever for a wedding

Coldplay has now built a body of work that has something for almost every emotional occasion, but for weddings, you can also easily turn to them. Higher Power may not seem like the archetype of a love song at first glance, but it does have one of the most beautiful lines ever sung for me:

“So lucky to be alive at the same time as you.”

Isn't that exactly what love ultimately is? That someone happens to walk around in the same era as you and that you then also find each other among all those billions of people.

Adele belongs on every wedding playlist

There is actually no article about love and music imaginable without Adele. Adele is of course primarily the grandmaster when it comes to the broken heart, Make You Feel My Love is an exception because it actually sings about pure love. What many people don't know is that the song was originally written by Bob Dylan, which actually shows how great her interpretation is: she has made it so completely her own that it is hard to imagine it was ever sung by someone else.

“When the rain is blowing in your face
And the whole world is on your case
I could offer you a warm embrace
To make you feel my love”

I mean. Who survives this dry?

Elvis Presley and the song that never wears out

There are songs that have been used so often that you would think they are worn out, but Can’t Help Falling in Love by Elvis Presley is not one of them. Elvis sings here about the inevitability of love, about the idea that sometimes you simply have no choice and that is precisely what makes it beautiful.

“Wise men say
Only fools rush in
But I can’t help falling in love with you”

Every generation discovers this song anew and every generation is right.

Bruno Mars understands romance like no other

I would also like to dedicate a separate chapter to Bruno Mars, because his lyrics are delightful. I mean:

“I’d catch a grenade for ya
Throw my hand on a blade for ya
I’d jump in front of a train for ya”

Okay, his closing line “but you won’t do the same” is a bit less romantic for a wedding perhaps, but hey, you can't have it all.

And then we can almost put Bruno's complete The Romantic-album on shuffle and repeat. From Cha Cha Cha to God Was Showing Off.

“Whoever said God don’t have favorites
Has never seen you before”

Come on. Who still writes sentences like these?

Or take The Rest of My Life, which actually just sounds like someone set their wedding vows to music:

“I’ll love you for worse or for better, whenever, wherever
For now and forever
The moment I met you
I knew from the start
Your heart fit into mine”

There you are, with your waterproof mascara that suddenly turns out not to be waterproof.

Elton John may have written the sweetest chorus ever

And what about Elton John's Your Song.

“And you can tell everybody
This is your song
It may be quite simple but now that it’s done
I hope you don’t mind
I hope you don’t mind
That I put down in the words
How wonderful life is while you’re in the world”

That last little sentence alone. How wonderful life is while you’re in the world. That is ultimately everything you want to say to someone.

The perfect wedding song is ultimately very personal

My dear Daan played I Belong To You by Lenny Kravitz when she walked into her little chapel to tell her Joep that she would always stay with him.

And that is perhaps exactly what a good wedding song should do. Not only sound beautiful, but feel like it was written just for you. As if no one else on earth understands exactly why that song is your song.

Oh, I find it all too sweet.

Do you have any suggestions? You can DM me!

Credit: Eric Liebowitz / FX