First dance
Every guest has heard the song you picked a hundred times. None of them have heard this one.
A custom first dance song written about the two of you
Every guest has heard the usual first dance songs at other weddings. A custom first dance song is about the two of you only: where you met, the proposal, a line you keep saying to each other, sung with both your names. You hear the first minute free and practise to it in the living room before you pay.
Hear the second a name lands
Maya and Sam, my heart is yours to hold
You wrote“We still split every dessert down the middle.”
The song singsWe split every single dessert down the middle
From a real song made here: “Down the Middle”, for Maya and Sam, from what the couple typed.
The moment you give it
The DJ fades the room out. The first line is about how you met, and your partner's face changes before the chorus does. Nobody else in the room has heard this song before, which is the whole point.
First dance · 8:42 pm
The first dance
Center of the floor, lights down
Admit two. Nobody else knows the words.
Start with one memory
Pick a question. The form opens with your first line already started.
A real first dance song made here
"Down the Middle": Maya and Sam's three lines (a missed concert, a wobbly ferry proposal, every dessert split in two) sung as indie folk with both names.
What you get for $12.99
You hear it first, free. You pay once, only if you keep it.
- Free preview
- The first 60 seconds, ready in about two minutes after you enter your email. No card.
- The song
- The full song, about two minutes long, as an MP3 to download and keep.
- Lyrics
- Every line is on the preview page before you pay. Unlocking adds the lyric sheet, to print or save as a PDF.
- Their link
- A private link that plays the whole song without an account, with your name and a short note. Switch it off any time.
- Photo video
- Free: a vertical 9:16 photo video of your photos with the lyrics on screen, plus 15- and 30-second cuts. Made in your browser.
- The name
- Unusual name? Type how to say it (SEER-sha for Saoirse) and the singer says it that way.
- Re-record
- One free re-record per song: change a line, the style or the voice and record it again.
- Name sung wrong?
- After you pay, a free remake with the name fixed, once per song.
- Languages
- Sung in English, German, French, Spanish or Japanese.
- Teaser
- Before you pay, a 15-second teaser link that tells them a song is on its way.
- For this song
- For the reception: the MP3 plays from any phone or the DJ's laptop, and the lyric sheet can go in the program.
- It stays a surprise: the preview goes only to your email, and nothing reaches them until you send the link.
How a first dance song gets made
- Type both first names, for example "Maya and Sam" (up to 40 characters). If either name is easy to get wrong, add how it is said.
- Pick "Partner" and "Wedding" in the form, then write up to three lines: how you met, the proposal, and one thing about your life together now.
- Choose a style and a female or male voice. About two minutes later you hear the first 60 seconds, with every line of the lyrics on the page.
- Keep it for $12.99 and the full song, the MP3 and the lyric sheet are yours straight away. If it is not right, you pay nothing.
Dancing to a two-minute song
Each song runs about two minutes. For a first dance that is usually a relief rather than a problem: two minutes is long enough for a few turns and a dip, and short enough that nobody has to fill four minutes of swaying while the whole room watches.
We do not set an exact tempo, so judge it by ear. Play the preview in the kitchen, put your arms around each other and sway. If it feels too fast or too busy, use the free re-record to switch to a piano ballad or acoustic pop and listen again.
If you want the floor to fill up afterwards, ask the DJ to go straight from your song into a song everyone knows, and to invite guests to join at the change.
| Style | How it tends to feel on the floor |
|---|---|
| Piano ballad | The slowest and most open; easy for a simple sway. |
| Acoustic pop | Gentle guitar with a clear beat you can count steps to. |
| R&B / soul | Close and smooth, for couples who like to move. |
| Country | Warm and easy-going; suits barn and outdoor weddings. |
| Indie folk | Soft and a little rustic, good for small weddings. |
What to tell us about the two of you
Three lines are enough. One couple sent: "We met queuing for the same sold-out concert and neither of us got in." "He proposed on the ferry and nearly dropped the ring." "We still split every dessert down the middle." That gave the verses a story and the chorus a promise to come back to. The prompts below help you find yours.
- The night you met, with one detail only you two would remember.
- Where and how the proposal happened, including what went wrong.
- A phrase you say to each other that nobody else understands.
- A line you plan to say in your vows, or the promise behind it.
- The place you are getting married, if it means something.
A surprise, or made together
Some couples sit down together and write the three lines over dinner. Others keep it secret: one partner makes the song, tells only the DJ, and the other hears their story for the first time on the dance floor.
If it is a surprise, use your own email in the form. The preview, the receipt and the link go only to you, and nothing reaches your partner until you choose to play it. Practise the dance to a well-known song of similar speed, then swap the file on the day.
When to make it before the wedding
The song itself takes minutes, so the dates below are about everything around it: practising, the DJ and the wedding stationery.
| Before the wedding | What to do |
|---|---|
| Three months | Make a few previews in different styles and pick the one you can both sway to. |
| Six to eight weeks | Unlock it, start practising, and send the MP3 to your DJ or venue with the file named after you both. |
| Before the stationery goes to print | Copy a line of the chorus into the order of service or the menu cards, if you want guests to have it. |
| The week of the wedding | Save a copy on two phones, and check the DJ has the right file by asking them to play the first ten seconds. |
On the day: the DJ, the band and the video
- DJ: the MP3 plays from a laptop, a phone or a USB stick. Ask for it to start from the beginning and run to the end, not fade early.
- Live band: you get the recording and the lyrics, not sheet music. A band can learn it by ear from the MP3, but give them time.
- Videographer: the song can go under your own wedding film. The terms allow it in your own non-commercial videos and events.
- Screen at the reception: the free photo video sets your engagement photos to the song with the lyrics on screen, for a projector after dinner.
Parent dances and other wedding moments
The same form makes a song for a father-daughter or mother-son dance. Choose "Daughter" or "Son" and the lyrics are written in a parent’s voice; write about the day they were born, the drive to school, and what you hope for them now.
A song with both names can also play while you walk into the reception, or during the cake cutting if you would rather not dance at all.
Two languages in one family
Each song is sung in one language. If half the guests speak Spanish, German, French or Japanese at home, open that site and the whole song, both names included, is written and sung in that language. Some couples make one in each language: one for the first dance, one for the family table.