Jun 11, 2019
*Updated March 2022
Let’s be honest: Planning a wedding tends to be more stressful than exciting. And figuring out the right music for the ceremony can be a challenge for any couple.
As a wedding videographer, you’re going to have your own challenge. From the processional to the first dance, it’s your job to find royalty free wedding music that makes the wedding video something the couple will be happy to watch for the rest of their lives.
Wedding videos used to be things that nobody watched except the couple’s family and friends. (We all know those VHS tapes ended up buried in the attic.) But thanks to social media, these videos can be viewed by hundreds or thousands of people.
That’s just one more reason why it’s important for you to pick wedding video songs that meet the couple’s wishes and also help you avoid any potential copyright issues with music publishers.
Avoid copyrighted music at all costs
Wedding videos are no different than any other project — using copyrighted music is illegal unless you have permission to use each song. (And unless the happy couple is willing to shell out thousands of dollars for licensing and royalties, that’s probably not going to happen.)
The easiest way to make sure you cover your bases is to stick with royalty free music.
At Soundstripe, we offer wedding videographers like you a subscription-based platform filled with high-quality wedding video songs. Contrast that with the tens of thousands of dollars you’d have to pay for music from traditional publishers.
Instead of haggling over that John Legend or Jason Mraz song you can’t afford, you can spend that time browsing for the perfect wedding video song — because a subscription gives you unlimited access to our entire catalog. Once you find the right track, you can download the license and drop it directly into your timeline.
Royalty free wedding playlists from Soundstripe
Every couple that you work with has their own unique tastes, traditions, cultures, and preferences. As a wedding filmmaker, it’s up to you to understand your clients’ vision and then find the wedding video songs that are the best fit for them.
To help you find and license the best music for your clients, our Music team has curated a wide variety of wedding songs and playlists. Whether you’re looking for music with or without vocals, our playlist options and filter functions make it easy to find exactly what you’re looking for quickly.
Here are a few of the most popular playlists in our library to-date:
Wedding: Romantic Vocals
Listen to and license here.
I Do
Listen to and license here.
Wedding: After Party
Listen to and license here.
Wedding: Inspiring Cinematic
Listen to and license here.
Down The Aisle
Listen to and license here.
Because weddings are happy occasions for all couples, we’ve been intentional about including songs with vocals for same-sex couples in our wedding playlists. We also offer a variety of ambient and cinematic tracks that are perfect for longer emotional shots.
Ultimately, music can beautifully underscore each important moment from a couple’s special day. Whether you’re looking for something specific or not, take some time to get familiar with our other wedding playlists and check out the music variety for yourself.
Soundstripe's top 10 wedding video songs
1. “I Will Be” by Visitants
Listen to and license here.
2. “Beautiful” by Joshua Nichols
Listen to and license here.
3. “Kiss of Sunlight” by Cody Martin
Listen to and license here.
4. “All That I Want” by Alsever Lake
Listen to and license here.
5. “Medicine” by Bobo Renthlei
Listen to and license here.
6. “Floppy Disk” by Mikey Geiger
Listen to and license here.
7. “Away We Go” by Be Still The Earth
Listen to and license here.
8. “A New Season” by Holiday On The Moon
Listen to and license here.
9. “Simple Song (Stripped)” by VISITANTS
Listen to and license here.
10. “Magic Night” by Caleb Etheridge
Listen to and license here.
How to search and filter wedding video songs in our library
If you want even more music options for your wedding video, you’re in luck. Soundstripe’s search and filter functions make it easy to curate a list of wedding video songs based on factors like genre, mood, characteristic, instrument, etc.
Once you navigate to the music catalog, you can include or exclude as many filters as you want.
So if you like the Wedding: Romantic Vocals playlist and you want to find songs that are reflective and indie but not sad, you can filter your results like this:
If you like the Wedding: Ethereal & Ambient playlists but want to exclude vocals altogether, you can filter your results accordingly. Here’s an example of what that could look like in the catalog:
Now that we’ve dealt with the legal stuff and pointed you in the direction of some great wedding video music, let’s move on to what you’re really excited for: the list of big moments that most couples want to immortalize with the perfect song in their wedding videos.
10 wedding video moments that need music
Music is a powerful way to create emotion, and there are few things more emotional than a wedding day. Using the right songs at the right moments can help people relive the experience, even if you don’t use recorded audio from the wedding ceremony.
In the end, that emotional experience is what people want from a wedding video. And as the person piecing it all together, you get to help the couple share their story.
Weddings are huge events that span an entire day (or a whole weekend), but you can break them up into a handful of important and candid moments. Couples hire you to capture those moments, but what they don’t know is that you’ll also be responsible for tying them together.
Usually, the lucky couple will work with a wedding planner to choose which songs will be used during the ceremony and reception. That process typically revolves around 10 different moments, and that’s something you can use to plan a wedding video playlist.
So, as promised, here are the 10 moments you’ll want to feature in your wedding video and a few tips for creating the perfect soundtrack for these moments:
Prelude
This is the part of the video where you set the scene. Did you get footage of the couple preparing for the wedding ceremony? Maybe some voiceover of them talking about the day or their spouse? Wedding guests starting to find their seats?
All of those moments count as part of the prelude, and each one can pack a huge emotional punch before transitioning to the actual ceremony. When choosing music for this part of the wedding video, you might opt for slow-paced love songs or melodies that create a smooth transition to the processional.
Processional
This is where the energy starts picking up. The parents enter, the wedding party enters, and everyone starts to feel the buzz of anticipation. (You might have some early criers making their appearance here, which could help if you’re going for that kind of tone.)
This is one of the most flexible spots on this wedding template. You could change songs after the prelude, or maybe pick a more upbeat part of the same song. Either way, you’re building toward one of the most memorable moments from the whole day, so using the perfect wedding video song is really important here.
Bride’s Entrance
The Bridal March (or “Here Comes The Bride”) is a classic love song that has been used so many times that it’s practically a touchstone of the entire wedding industry. That makes it a huge moment in an already big day — maybe even one that the bride has looked forward to since childhood.
Of course, the Bridal March (or any other song chosen by the couple) can land you in copyright trouble. So when you’re choosing a wedding video song, you’ll want to choose music that delivers the same emotions but also fits into the royalty free bucket.
Wedding Vows
After the bride’s big moment, there aren’t many “standard” things in the immediate future. Couples might do a unity activity, like lighting a candle. Or a parent or grandparent might say a few words.
But the next thing you should definitely plan for is the vow exchange.
You’ll want something soft in the background for the wedding video (think instrumental romantic songs with no vocals). Make sure the volume is low and doesn’t interfere with the exchanging of the vows. This might be the second most important (and possibly the most personal) moment of the day — so make sure you include music with the right tone and feel in the couple's wedding video.
Exit
Once the wedding vows are finished, most ceremonies wrap up pretty quickly. You’ll want to find something exciting and upbeat here, because the “I now pronounce you…” line is a fun and lively moment that kicks off the reception.
Reception
That upbeat music can flow right into the reception part of the wedding video. Whether you’re cutting footage of the venue, the wedding party’s photo session, or guests arriving, the audience will still be feeling the emotional high of the wedding ceremony.
It’s also an excuse to keep some high energy for when the happy couple enters to a round of cheers.
First Dance
This is another sentimental moment that should always be featured in a wedding video. While the couple usually chooses their own first dance song — like "Can't Help Falling In Love" by Elvis Presley or "All Of Me" by John Legend — that will create a pretty obvious a licensing dilemma for you.
Instead, use a royalty free song that matches the tone of what they danced to. Whether it’s upbeat and fun or touching and romantic, a good music library will have you covered.
Father-Daughter and Mother-Son Dance
Both of these dances will use different music, but they probably won’t focus too heavily in a wedding video. They also work as a transition to the next section of the wedding, so this piece of the video could be a great place to add more energy.
(And while we aren’t dedicating a spot specifically to the toasts or the meal, you can insert those before or during this section.)
Open-Floor Dance
Once the dance floor opens for everyone, it’s time to play a wedding video song that gets the party started. This is your chance to create a fun conclusion to the video, which could include moments from the reception that didn’t fit into the previous categories.
To help you find the best royalty free options for upbeat party music, here's a wedding playlist dedicated to exactly that.
Closing
And here we are at the end of the couple’s special day. How you wrap up the video depends largely on the tone and energy of the entire project. For example, if it's a cinematic wedding video, you'll probably want to use a beautiful song with emotional impact.
Background music would work well for any final shots of the party, or as something to play behind messages recorded by wedding guests. There’s a lot of versatility, so if that's the approach you want to take, here’s a blog post on using this type of music in post-production.
Obviously, the most important thing you can do is talk with your clients — a lot — and get a good grasp of the emotions and tone they want to capture. This will help with filming, as well as help you with editing and music selection.
It also wouldn’t hurt to play sample wedding video songs for the couple so you can get a taste of what they’re looking for. (And if you’re already subscribing to a royalty free music library like Soundstripe, you’ll have easy access to a ton of different genres.)
Find the best wedding video songs in record time
In this guide, we’ve shared 10 memorable moments that you might feature in a wedding video package, but here's the thing: Every couple’s wedding is different.
It's your job to understand your clients' expectations so that you can create a video that captures their wedding day in the way they want. And a key part of this process is finding the right wedding video song for the occasion.
It's no secret that knowing where to search for wedding video songs is half the battle of actually finding the perfect song (or songs) for your clients' big day. Thankfully, Soundstripe makes it easy to navigate our music library with curated playlists of songs that our users choose for their wedding videos.
And if you already know what you’re looking for, you can dive straight into the library and start filtering by music genre, mood, instruments, or even BPM. (You can even combine the two by selecting the wedding playlists, then filtering by moods like “Ethereal and Ambient.”)
Music choices really do make or break wedding videos, so take your time when it comes to selecting tracks. You want to be sure they fit the footage, as well as your clients' expectation for the end product.
That way, you’ll know you’ve made a wedding video that the couple will treasure for the rest of their lives.
Further reading
Finding the best music for your clients’ wedding video package isn’t always easy, especially since popular wedding video songs from artists like Peter Gabriel, Elvis Presley, Bruno Mars, and Ed Sheeran are notoriously difficult (and costly) to license.
By using wedding songs and stems from a royalty free music company like Soundstripe, you can avoid licensing issues and create a video that your client can proudly share with friends and family on social media.
If you’re looking for more wedding filmmaking resources, these articles from Soundstripe cover a wide range of topics from song selection to lighting techniques:
- How to Build the Perfect Music Library for Your Wedding Highlight Video
- How to Impress Beyond the Dress: Royalty Free Music for Your DIY Wedding Video
- Why Wedding Filmmakers Should Build an Email List
- How to Find and Download Background Music for Videos
- Working With Ambient Light to Create a Cinematic Wedding Video
- How to Choose the Best Music for Videos