How to Choose Your Wedding Recessional Song

There are no strict rules—choose what feels meaningful and celebratory to you. Consider these quick guidelines to land on the perfect pick:

• Match the mood: Decide if you want joyful and upbeat, romantic and classic, or sweet and acoustic.
• Plan the cue: Ask your officiant or musician to start the track right after the pronouncement and kiss.
• Mind the tempo: A tempo that’s slightly brisk helps the exit feel energetic without rushing.
• Coordinate with live or DJ: If using live musicians, confirm the arrangement and length; for DJs, provide a specific start time and fade-out point.
• Personalize: Choose a song that nods to your story—lyrics, artist, era or a meaningful movie soundtrack.

Wedding Recessional Songs in This Guide

Browse handpicked ideas across the most requested categories. Find one song or create a short medley for your full wedding party exit.

• Upbeat
• Acoustic Covers
• Fun
• Classical
• Modern
• More Wedding Recessional Song Ideas

Upbeat Wedding Recessional Songs

Feel-good, high-energy tracks that spark applause and instantly shift your ceremony into celebration mode.

• Maroon 5 — “Sugar”
• American Authors — “Best Day of My Life”
• Pharrell Williams — “Happy”
• Walk the Moon — “Shut Up and Dance”
• Bruno Mars — “Marry You”
• Justin Timberlake — “Can’t Stop the Feeling!”
• Beyoncé — “Love on Top”
• Katy Perry — “Firework”
• Whitney Houston — “I Wanna Dance with Somebody (Who Loves Me)”
• Hall & Oates — “You Make My Dreams”
• Queen — “Don’t Stop Me Now”
• ABBA — “Dancing Queen”
• Lizzo — “Good as Hell”
• The Foundations — “Build Me Up Buttercup”
• Coldplay — “A Sky Full of Stars”
• The Lumineers — “Ho Hey”
• OneRepublic — “Good Life”
• Vance Joy — “Riptide”
• Jason Mraz — “I’m Yours”
• Train — “Hey, Soul Sister”

Acoustic Wedding Recessional Songs and Covers

For couples who love intimacy and warmth, these picks balance romance with a light, celebratory lift. Acoustic versions also shine with live musicians.

• Ed Sheeran — “Tenerife Sea” (Acoustic)
• John Mayer — “XO” (Acoustic cover of Beyoncé)
• Boyce Avenue — “A Thousand Years” (Acoustic)
• James Bay — “Hold Back the River” (Acoustic)
• Jack Johnson — “Better Together”
• Ben Howard — “Only Love”
• Bright Eyes — “First Day of My Life”
• Ray LaMontagne — “You Are the Best Thing” (Acoustic arrangement)
• Shawn Mendes — “Fallin’ All in You” (Acoustic)
• Gabrielle Aplin — “The Power of Love” (Acoustic cover)
• Sleeping at Last — “Turning Page”
• Jason Mraz — “Lucky” (feat. Colbie Caillat)
• Iron & Wine — “Such Great Heights” (Cover)
• Angus & Julia Stone — “Big Jet Plane”
• Hollow Coves — “Coastline”
• SYML — “Where’s My Love” (Acoustic)
• Ellie Goulding — “How Long Will I Love You” (Acoustic)
• The Paper Kites — “Bloom”
• Kina Grannis — “Can’t Help Falling in Love” (Acoustic cover)
• Calum Scott & Leona Lewis — “You Are the Reason” (Duet)

Fun Wedding Recessional Songs

Playful, crowd-pleasing favorites to get guests clapping and the wedding party dancing back up the aisle.

• The Beatles — “All You Need Is Love”
• Stevie Wonder — “Signed, Sealed, Delivered I’m Yours”
• Earth, Wind & Fire — “September”
• Mark Ronson feat. Bruno Mars — “Uptown Funk”
• DNCE — “Cake by the Ocean”
• Florence + The Machine — “Dog Days Are Over”
• Smash Mouth — “I’m a Believer”
• OutKast — “Hey Ya!”
• Kool & The Gang — “Celebration”
• Taylor Swift — “Shake It Off”
• Shakira — “Hips Don’t Lie”
• Black Eyed Peas — “I Gotta Feeling”
• Disclosure feat. Sam Smith — “Latch”
• American Authors — “Best Day of My Life”
• Katrina & The Waves — “Walking on Sunshine”
• Michael Bublé — “Everything”
• Empire of the Sun — “Walking on a Dream”
• Owl City & Carly Rae Jepsen — “Good Time”
• Foster the People — “Pumped Up Kicks” (feel-good edit)
• Jet — “Are You Gonna Be My Girl”

Classical Wedding Recessional Songs

Timeless orchestral pieces that deliver elegance and grandeur—ideal for traditional ceremonies and formal venues.

• Felix Mendelssohn — “Wedding March” from A Midsummer Night’s Dream
• George Frideric Handel — “Hornpipe” from Water Music
• Jeremiah Clarke — “Prince of Denmark’s March” (Trumpet Voluntary)
• W. A. Mozart — “Eine kleine Nachtmusik: Allegro”
• Ludwig van Beethoven — “Ode to Joy” from Symphony No. 9
• Johann Pachelbel — “Canon in D” (upbeat arrangement)
• Antonio Vivaldi — “Spring” from The Four Seasons
• Marc-Antoine Charpentier — “Te Deum: Prelude”
• Edward Elgar — “Pomp and Circumstance March No. 1” (festive excerpt)
• Charles-Marie Widor — “Toccata” from Symphony for Organ No. 5
• Camille Saint-Saëns — “The Swan” (paired with processional; upbeat recessional arrangement)
• Johann Strauss II — “Radetzky March”
• Georges Bizet — “Carmen Suite: Les Toreadors”
• Jean-Joseph Mouret — “Rondeau”
• Henry Purcell — “Trumpet Tune”
• Franz Schubert — “Ave Maria” (transition to lively postlude)
• Gioachino Rossini — “William Tell Overture: Finale”
• J. S. Bach — “Jesu, Joy of Man’s Desiring” (lively recessional arrangement)
• J. S. Bach — “Brandenburg Concerto No. 3”
• Georg Philipp Telemann — “Trumpet Concerto in D: Allegro”

Modern Wedding Recessional Songs

Fresh, romantic hits spanning pop, indie and R&B—lyrically on-theme and perfect for a stylish, contemporary exit.

• Harry Styles — “Adore You”
• Lauv — “I Like Me Better”
• Luke Combs — “Forever After All”
• Dan + Shay — “Speechless”
• Ed Sheeran — “Castle on the Hill”
• Coldplay — “Adventure of a Lifetime”
• The 1975 — “The Sound”
• Dua Lipa — “Levitating”
• Justin Bieber feat. Daniel Caesar & Giveon — “Peaches”
• Kygo & Whitney Houston — “Higher Love”
• Shawn Mendes & Camila Cabello — “Señorita”
• Ben Rector — “Love Like This”
• Leon Bridges — “Beyond”
• JP Saxe & Julia Michaels — “If the World Was Ending” (upbeat remix option)
• Maggie Rogers — “Love You for a Long Time”
• Kacey Musgraves — “Butterflies”
• Sasha Sloan — “Only” (uplifting edit)
• Noah Kahan — “Everywhere, Everything”
• Stephen Sanchez — “Until I Found You”
• V — “Rainy Days” (string-forward cover option)

More Wedding Recessional Song Ideas

Looking for a deeper cut that still gives you that celebratory spark? Try these genre-spanning gems—from alternative to Motown to cinematic.

• Etta James — “At Last” (festive edit)
• Frank Sinatra — “Fly Me to the Moon”
• Louis Armstrong — “What a Wonderful World” (triumphant arrangement)
• Nat King Cole — “L-O-V-E”
• Ella Fitzgerald & Louis Armstrong — “Cheek to Cheek”
• U2 — “Beautiful Day”
• Snow Patrol — “Just Say Yes”
• Florence + The Machine — “You’ve Got the Love”
• The Killers — “When You Were Young” (instrumental string cover)
• Vampire Weekend — “Harmony Hall”
• Bleachers — “I Wanna Get Better”
• CHVRCHES — “The Mother We Share”
• Of Monsters and Men — “Little Talks”
• Milky Chance — “Stolen Dance”
• Kygo & Ellie Goulding — “First Time”
• Calvin Harris — “Feel So Close”
• Avicii — “Levels”
• ODESZA — “A Moment Apart” (edit)
• Sigur Rós — “Hoppípolla”
• Explosions in the Sky — “Your Hand in Mine”
• The Temper Trap — “Sweet Disposition”
• Angus & Julia Stone — “Chateau”
• Adele — “Sweetest Devotion”
• Norah Jones — “Sunrise”
• Michael Jackson — “The Way You Make Me Feel”
• Stevie Wonder — “For Once in My Life”
• Aretha Franklin — “(You Make Me Feel Like) A Natural Woman” (instrumental)
• Bill Withers — “Lovely Day”
• Prince — “Let’s Go Crazy”
• Paul McCartney & Wings — “Silly Love Songs”
• David Bowie — “Heroes”
• Elton John — “Tiny Dancer”
• Fleetwood Mac — “Everywhere”
• Hall & Oates — “You Are a Star”
• George Ezra — “Paradise”
• Florence + The Machine — “Spectrum (Say My Name)” (acoustic or orchestral)
• Dermot Kennedy — “Giants” (uplifting edit)
• Ingrid Michaelson — “The Way I Am”
• Regina Spektor — “Us”
• Jason Derulo — “Want to Want Me”
• The Chainsmokers & Coldplay — “Something Just Like This”
• Daft Punk — “One More Time”
• MGMT — “Electric Feel” (string cover)
• Portugal. The Man — “Feel It Still”
• BØRNS — “Electric Love”
• The Head and the Heart — “All We Ever Knew”
• Ray LaMontagne — “Supernova”
• Tash Sultana — “Notion” (instrumental)
• RÜFÜS DU SOL — “Treat You Better”
• M83 — “Midnight City” (instrumental edit)
• Sigala — “Came Here for Love”
• Years & Years — “King”
• Louis Tomlinson — “We Made It”
• Sia — “Never Give Up”
• Birdy — “Keeping Your Head Up”
• Jess Glynne — “Hold My Hand”
• The Weeknd — “Blinding Lights” (string quartet cover)
• Jonas Brothers — “What a Man Gotta Do”
• Paramore — “Still Into You”
• Yeah Yeah Yeahs — “Maps” (instrumental reprise)
• Modest Mouse — “Float On”
• Edward Sharpe & The Magnetic Zeros — “Home”
• Caamp — “By and By”
• The Avett Brothers — “I And Love And You”
• Hozier — “Someone New”
• The Shins — “Simple Song”

Pro Tips for Timing and Transitions

Dial in these simple production details for a seamless, cinematic ceremony finale:

• Cue point: Start the recessional immediately after the kiss and pronouncement, then raise volume as guests cheer.
• Song length: Plan for 60–120 seconds for you and your wedding party to exit, with a tasteful fade as guests follow.
• Live adjustments: Ask your musicians to tag an extra chorus if the aisle is long or the party is large.
• Backup plan: Keep a secondary track ready in case you need more time for family or accessibility considerations.
• Coordinate photo moments: Tell your photographer when you’ll pause halfway down the aisle for a dip or celebratory kiss.

Sample Recessional Flow

Use this simple outline to visualize the order and energy of the final moments of your ceremony:

• Pronouncement and kiss (applause begins).
• Recessional song starts at the hook or chorus.
• Newlyweds exit first, pausing briefly for photos mid-aisle.
• Wedding party follows in pairs or individually.
• Parents and immediate family exit next.
• Officiant and remaining participants exit last.

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)

Is the recessional song the same as the processional?

No. The processional plays at the start as you walk down the aisle; the recessional plays at the end as you exit as newlyweds. Choose contrasting moods if you want a dynamic ceremony soundtrack.

How long should a recessional song be?

Plan for about one to two minutes. Most couples use the chorus or a 60–90 second edit so the exit feels spirited but not rushed.

Do we need lyrics, or is an instrumental better?

Either works. Lyrics can feel joyful and personal, while instrumentals offer timeless elegance and work beautifully in echo-prone venues.

What if we have a small wedding party?

Start the track for your exit and let it play as you reach the aisle’s end. Your DJ or musicians can loop or tag the song if you need more time for family to follow.

Can we use a cultural or religious song?

Absolutely. Traditional hymns, cultural recessional pieces and sacred instrumentals add meaningful heritage to your ceremony. Coordinate with your officiant for any venue guidelines.