Best 20 Song Choices For Your Parent/Child Dance

Dancing with a parent is a time-honored wedding tradition. Let's look at the ways we can make it work for your family and create extra memories that will be treasured across the generations. Weddings are about celebrating a new marriage, while also generally paying homage to the families that helped support the new spouses on their journey. That's why special dances, from a first dance to a parental figure dance are often included in the wedding reception. They're a fun way to spotlight special people amid the rest of the dancing and festivities.

81% of couples choose to share a special dance with a parental figure during their wedding reception.

The Knot 2021 Real Weddings Study

Your father/daughter or mother/son or any of the myriad other combinations thereof = your parental dance. It's the opportunity for you to honor a parental figure in your life and enjoy a moment of calm among the joys of your wedding day.

It's entirely your choice on who to pick for your parent dance (or whether to have one at all!).

Top 20 Most Requested Songs for Father-Daughter & Mother-Son Dances

1. I Loved Her First – Heartland

2. Butterfly Kisses – Bob Carlisle

3. Sweetest Devotion - Adele.

4. Have I Told You Lately – Van Morrison or Rod Stewart

5. Dance Like Yo Daddy - Meghan Trainor

6. The Way You Look Tonight – Frank Sinatra

7. She’s a Rainbow - The Rolling Stones

8. What A Wonderful World – Louis Armstrong

9. In My Life – Beatles

10. I Loved Her First – Heartland

11. My Girl – Temptations

12. A Song For Mama – Boyz II Men

13. Because You Loved Me – Celine Dion

14. You Are The Sunshine Of My Life – Stevie Wonder

15. Butterfly Fly Away – by Billy Ray Cyrus and Miley Cyrus
16. There Goes My Life – Kenny Chesney
17. Sweet Pea - Amos Lee
18. Beautiful Boy - Ben Harper
19. You’ve Got a Friend in Me - Michael Bublé
20. You’re My Best Friend - Queen

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Popular parental figure dance options:

• Mom/daughter, mother in law/daughter, stepmom/stepdaughter, grandma/granddaughter
• Mom/son, mother in law/son, stepmom/stepson, grandma/grandson, foster mom/foster son
• Dad/daughter, father in law/daughter, stepdad/daughter, granddad/granddaughter
• Dad/son, father in law/son, stepdad/stepson, granddad/grandson
  
  

There are too many to list but if you have someone extra important in your life, invite the to join you on the dance floor! We were in floods of happy tears recently when a friend asked her short-term foster mom to join her for a dance. They had created a special bond in the short time they spent together over two decades previously and it was so meaningful to see them share a quiet moment within the festivities.

What about new spouses inviting the next generation onto the dancefloor? This is an absolute yes! If the newly weds have children, younger siblings, niblings (nieces and nephews), etc. then a beautiful dance moment is definitely called for. It makes for wonderful memories that can be captured by your official photographer and enjoyed forever.

There are so many beautiful family combinations and you can choose whoever you want for a meaningful moment on the dancefloor. Parental dances are usually slow numbers that last 3-5 minutes. A traditional parental dance music choice gives you a chance to talk quietly, maybe sharing advice or favorite moments from your day so far. A faster song where you've prepared dance moves can wow the crowd and show off your combined skills!

Got more parental figures in your life that you would like to honor with a dance on your wedding day? Go right ahead! You have plenty of options, you can formally change partners at the end of a song, change mid-song or during a medley, or you and your new spouse can swap parental figures mid dance which creates a lovely sentiment of opening up to include each other's families. 

We've seen beautiful occasions where the mom and step mom took to the floor with the new spouses and switch partners mid-song to great applause. 

You can include as many parental dances as you wish during your reception and you can either mark each one by making it formal where the dance floor is closed to other guests or celebrate the moment among all your guests as you all take to the floor and dance together! A lovely alternative is a parental figure to choose a partner for their dance and include all family members with more and more people joining the dance floor over time.

Whether you decide a parent dance is right for your wedding, we know you'll have a memorable day.