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OMG, I need a FIRST DANCE/FATHER/DAUGHTER/MOTHER/SON song for my wedding! 

Some of the hardest decisions to make for couples are songs for the special moments of their receptions. What songs work well for bridal party introductions? What about a first dance? You'd be surprised how many times we hear "I'm not sure what song to dance with my Mom to..." or "I need a good father daughter dance song!" Of course this changes as new songs come out, but classics remain popular over the years and are still chosen today.

We also hear: "We don't want to be the center of attention for the entire 5 minutes of my (first dance/father/daughter/mother/son) song, because that makes us uncomfortable." - a lot. The beauty of a live band is that we can edit the song for you. Many times, we play the first verse and a chorus or two, and try to keep the song at about 2 minutes or 2:30, which is the sweet spot, in our opinion.  Note that there are certain "story" songs that aren't well-suited to an edit. We can certainly advise you of what songs are best if you want to edit them during our pre-wedding consultations!


Bridal Party Introductions
Think: Upbeat, Happy, Fun

American Authors - Best Day of My Life
Pink - Raise Your Glass (recently eclipsed in popularity by "Best Day of My Life")
Robert Palmer - Bad Case of Loving You
Bruno Mars - Marry You
Kool and the Gang - Celebrate
Katrina and the Waves- Walkin' on Sunshine
Hall and Oates - You Make My Dreams Come True
Pink - True Love

First Dance Songs
Think: Meaningful, romantic

John Legend - All of Me
Blake Shelton - God Gave Me You
Jason Mraz - I'm Yours
Jason Mraz - I Won't Give Up
Christina Perri - A Thousand Years
Keith Urban - Only You Can Love Me This Way
Jack Johnson - Better Together
Colbie Caillat and Jason Mraz - Lucky
Sara Bareilles - I Choose You
Hunter Hayes - Wanted
Frankie Valli - Can't Take My Eyes Off of You
Train - Marry Me
Brad Paisley - Then
Rolling Stones - Wild Horses
Queen - You're My Best Friend - SOMEONE, please request this song! We would LOVE to sing this!


Bride/Father Dance (or Bride/Mother/Family Member)
Think: Sentimental
(Many of these songs are suitable for either a bride or groom to dance with a parent/family member)

Rascal Flatts - My Wish
Bob Carlisle - Butterfly Kisses
Heartland - I Loved Her First
Billy Joel - Lullaby
Tom Petty - Wildflowers
Carrie Underwood - Mama's Song
Judy Garland or Israel ‘Iz’ Kamakawiwo’ole- Somewhere Over the Rainbow
The Beatles - In My Life
Stevie Wonder - You Are the Sunshine of My Life

Groom/Mother Dance (or Groom/Family Member)
Think: Sentimental

Five for Fighting - 100 Years
Rod Stewart or Glee (Acoustic Version) - Forever Young
Eric Clapton - Wonderful Tonight
Lee Ann Womack - I Hope You Dance
Phil Collins - You'll Be in My Heart
Kenny Chesney - Don't Blink
Lynyrd Skynyrd - Simple Man
Ben E. King - Stand By Me
Lady Antebellum - Never Alone
Jason Mraz - 93 Million Miles

It varies from person to person as to what makes a song special enough for a first dance or father/daughter dance, but here are some ideas for your reception. We'd love to hear YOUR suggestions in the comments, too.

Peace, Love & Rock n Roll,
Christine Bainbridge, Sunshine Symphony
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Thanks to Ciara and Evan for the use of their photo. Photographer: Sturazzi

Summer Weddings! 


Congratulations to Lauren and Adam, whose wedding we played last weekend at Riverview Country Club.  What a beautiful location! Riverview is definitely a scenic location for a wedding ceremony and reception.  As we performed at the ceremony, and reception, we got an up-close glimpse at all the details that make Riverview a great location for both ceremonies and receptions.

Riverview's reception location is called "Villa on the Green" - it's a round room with windows all around overlooking the golf course, which is beautiful landscaped. As soon as you walk in, you see a huge, dramatic stone fireplace goes perfectly with the natural wood beams inside and view of the rolling hills of the course.  Lauren's theme of navy blue and sunflower gold perfectly accented the space and lent a summery look to the room.

The ceremony location is behind Villa on the Green. As you can see in the picture above, a long wooden boardwalk with past the pond leads to a rustic wooden gazebo. A natural hill overlooks the gazebo, so all of your wedding guests will have a great view of the proceedings. We set up at the end of the boardwalk, where Ricky and I performed acoustic songs while the guests were being seated, and then, once the bridal party was ready, started playing Sara Bareilles's song "I Choose You."

One advantage to having professional musicians perform at your wedding is our ability to customize your entrance song "on the fly." Since Riverview's boardwalk aisle is quite long, if we had played a recorded version of "I Choose You," we would have been three whole minutes short by the time Lauren got to the end of the aisle. So, we added an instrumental break, and two extra choruses to make sure that as soon as Lauren set foot at the altar, the song concluded - but she still got to hear a good bit of her selected song.  We received one of the nicest compliments ever, when Lauren and Adam told us afterwards that they felt like they were in a movie, with the way the music was perfectly timed.

We then took care of introducing Lauren and Adam's bridal party and getting the reception going inside the beautiful Villa on the Green.  The benefit of having a live band is we were able to introduce the bridal party and then Lauren and Adam in between choruses of "Best Day of My Life," by American Authors.  We then performed the couple's first dance to Blake Shelton's song "God Gave Me You," a Father/Daughter dance to "My Wish" by Rascal Flatts, and Adam and his Mom danced to "100 Years" by Five for Fighting, all performed live by Sunshine Symphony.

At the end of the night, after getting the whole room onto the dance floor with "Shout", and hearing everyone singing along to "Don't Stop Believing", we received the ultimate compliment from our couple: "That was EXACTLY what we wanted!" Thanks again to Lauren and Adam for choosing Sunshine Symphony for your wedding. We always aim to deliver total satisfaction!

We'll be appearing at the Summer Engagement Bash Bridal Show on July 13th from 12-3. If you're thinking about a band at your wedding, stop by and see us - we'll be there to answer questions and show you some footage from shows and weddings we've performed at. Get free tickets (free for brides, $5 for guests) here:
http://bridalexpopa.ticketleap.com/pennsylvania-bridal-expo-presents-a-summer-engagement-bash-at-g/