Add Mary McCaslin's version of "Let it Be Me" which we used for our wedding 27+ years ago.
not listed (and esp. soulful) are:
Theola Kilgore's The Love of My Man
Booker T & the MG's What Does it Take to Win Your Love for Me?
fantastic & super folky is Dave Sudbury's "Are You Comin' to the Wedding?" from Prince of Rome CD
and Mary Well's "What Love Has Joined Together"
Must have been a very long wedding! Did they allow time for toilet breaks, eating sleeping etc.
Otherwise some lovely songs but how many are actually folk songs?
The best version of 'The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face' I ever heard is on the Chad Mitchell Trio album 'Reflecting'. The soloist is either Mike Kobluk or Joe Frazier, but I haven't found any definitive reference on the net; all references say 'recorded by the Chad Mithcell Trio' or some such. I guess I'll just have to go look at the dust cover.
We used "Beloved One" by Ben Harper in our wedding, from the 2nd disc (acoustic) of his Live from Mars CD, really good for more traveled lovers; and yes, Leonard Cohen's "Dance Me to the End of Love" is great, but folks should definitely take a listen to the Klezmer Conservatory Band version, on their CD by the same name.
Add "St. Paul's Song" by Pierce Pettis. It's a paraphrase of I Corinthians 13 (love is kind, love is patient, etc.) I not available on any of Pierce's available CD's, but Jim Blum occasionally plays a live recording of the song from a Wildcat Ranch concert, and Kim and Reggie Harris covered it on a live CD they did with Magpie.
Add Smithfield Fair's "I wad walk the hielands", "I'll Be In Your Dreams", and "Catriona".
Their song "Swept Away" was my my first wedding dance and it was lovely.
www.smithfieldfair.com
Add for consideration by the engaged folkies our wedding song: The Star of the County Down. It's held up for us for nearly 19 years. And, for the world of the Irish diaspora and beyond for many years more!
You may want to add "Let It Be A Dance" by Ric Masten. I have sang this at several weddings
While it may not qualify as the "definitive" wedding song, here is one that we used that, while seemingly a somewhat odd selection, actually worked wonderfully. It's the song which the farmer song to his sick pig in the movie "Babe" and is referred to by the name "If I had words."
The entire lyrics are:
If I had words to make a day for you,
I'd give you a morning golden and true.
I would make this day last for all time,
Then fill the night deep in moonshine.
Short and sweet and work very nicely for a wedding day. The other thing that commends this song is the absolutely beautiful melody which is based on a theme by composer Saint-Saens.
We used "The Wedding Gift" by Rawlins Cross as our processional...
And "The CLosing Theme" from The Muppet Show as our recessional... :-)
Our First Wedded Dance was to "A Kiss To Build a Dreeam On" By Louis Armstrong...
She and her dad danced to "Father And Daughter" by Paul Simon....
Me mudder and me danced to "Time After Time" as covered by Eva Cassidy
And the wedding Party danced to "Lost Together" by Blue Rodeo
I've played "All That Is" by Garnet Rogers at quite a few weddings since it came out...
Others off the top of my head...
James Keelaghan, "I Would I Were"
John Prine, "In Spite Of Ourselves"
Stephen Fearing, "When My Baby Calls My Name"
Skydiggers, "I Will Give You Everything"
Mitch and Mickey "A Kiss At The End Of The Rainbow"
Townes Van Zandt, "If I Needed You"
Fred Eaglesmith, "I'm Wilder Than Her"
"You Are the Light" the Lone Justice version
We used "One Moment More" Mindy Smith and "Winter Waltz" from Serena Ryder....Beautiful!!!!
Outdoor wedding in a meadow with beautiful folk songs.....what more could a bride ask for?
Rest of My Days performed by Indigenous
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The definitive wedding song list
