If you’re looking to share a special moment with a very special man in your life, the father-daughter dance song can be a gorgeous way to do this. Typically the father daughter/dance comes straight after the first dance but you can work it in wherever you feel is best. There are lots of lovely songs out there to chose from, perhaps you have a song that you both love, or a song that the minute your hear the opening strums, you just think ‘dad’ – there is no hard and fast rules to the style of song to choose, often slower sets are more popular but ultimately it’s what will suit you and your dad, so if you prefer something up tempo, go for it. There are also some beautiful songs with heartfelt lyrics that crop up again and again and that are fitting for a special moment like this, songs such as I loved Her First by Heartland and Isn’t She Lovely by Stevie Wonder. For some more inspiration, check out these 7 Irish Wedding Bands top picks for father-daughter dance songs below…
Robbie from The Eden Wedding Band – View Profile
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Here is a selection of the most popular father/daughter dances that we play:
I Loved Her First – Heartland
Butterfly Kisses – Bob Carlisle
Your Wedding Day – Jimmy Buckley
Isn’t She Lovely – Stevie Wonder
My Girl – Tim McGrath
Glen from A Few Good Men – View Profile
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Here are some of our most popular father/daughter dance song requests, the first being the most popular:
The Way You Look Tonight – Frank Sinatra
I Loved Her First – Heartland
What A Wonderful World – Louis Armstrong
That’s Amore – Dean Martin
Robbie from Midnight Sounds – View Profile
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The songs that we regularly play for father/daughter dances are:
Butterfly Kisses – Bob Carlisle
My Girl – Temptations
Isn’t She Lovely – Stevie Wonder
The Blowers Daughter – Damien Rice
You Are So Beautiful to Me by Joe Cocker. A father actually sang this instead of dancing with his daughter, not a dry eye in the house – it stuck in my head as a lovely moment.
Cathal from Pink Champagne – View Profile
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The father and daughter dance has become more and more popular over the past two years. Before it was rare that Pink Champagne Wedding band would perform a father and daughter dance. Although it might be traditional to have the father/daughter dance after the first dance, we would always suggest breaking this tradition and having it just after the interval. This is a good time as it gives a nice space between the first dance and father/daughter dance, which in turn gives more light to the special occasion. Below are the songs that we perform most often for the father/daughter dance:
My Girl – The Temptations
I Loved Her First – Heartland
Your Wedding Day – Jimmy Buckley
My Wish – Rascal Flatts
Dance with My Father – Luther Vandross
Sam from The Best Men – View Profile
Listen to some of The Best Men’s samples here!
Heartlands – I Loved Her First
The Temptations – My Girl
The Heart of Every Girl – Elton John
Isn’t She Lovely – Stevie Wonder
Save the Last Dance – Michael Bublé
They are without a doubt our five most popular tracks and our most recently requested song is the Heartland’s track mentioned above. Personally, we just love playing a little bit of the Stevie Wonder track- ‘Isn’t She Lovely’ or the Bublé number – they are both total classics and manage to convey the emotive nature of the moment whilst keeping the crowd happy and enthralled – our absolute priority.
Keith from The Moogs – View Profile
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No matter what the song, it’s always a beautiful moment! We’re always delighted to perform a father/daughter dance and a few popular choices have been:
Father and Daughter – Paul Simon
I Loved Her First – Heartland
My Girl – The Temptations
Isn’t She Lovely – Stevie Wonder
Just The Way You Are – Billy Joel
Tina from The Suite – View Profile
Listen to some of The Suite’s samples here!
Our top 5 father/daughter dances are:
Isn’t She Lovely – Stevie Wonder
One of our favourite tunes to play live full stop! And we always play it at showcases as our example of a great father/daughter tune!
I Loved Her First – Heartland
This is one we are learning for an upcoming wedding and it’s just a great song with a lovely message.
Black Velvet Band – The Dubliners
A great old fashioned waltz which is a real tradition at an Irish wedding.
Father and Daughter – Paul Simon
This is the type of tune that surprises you as a musician – there are some great parts in it to learn.
Three Little Birds – Bob Marley
We performed this at a wedding in Cork last year and it was just a real treat to learn, you don’t get to do too many reggae tunes!
Image by Maine Tinker Photography
