What song to play for the Unity Ceremony? – Podcast E16

Matt talks about his favorite songs to play for the Unity ceremony such as lighting the unity candle, tieing the ropes, and mixing the sand.

Important Links

• View the complete list of Unity Ceremony Songs.
• See all Wedding Songs Podcast episodes.

Podcast Transcript

(00:18):
Hi everybody, I’m Matt Campbell, and welcome to the 16th episode of the Wedding Songs Podcast. Today is April 27th, the time of this recording while it’s 96 degrees in Las Vegas, and hopefully, you are doing well where you are today. I’m going to be talking about unity songs. These are the songs you can play during the lighting of the Unity Candle, during the rope ceremony, and during the sand ceremony. This is just to play during the ceremony for your unity of two becoming one. So let’s go ahead and get started with the first song on our list. It is an acapella version of Matt Stell’s song “I Prayed For You” by Fourth and Maine. It was released in 2019 and it still is a country version. “When You Say Nothing At All” by Alison Krauss was first released this song in 1995.

(01:09)
“Hallelujah”. No, it’s not the vocal version of this song, but it is a violin version by Alison Sparrow released in 2018 as a folk rock song. “One Flame” by Amber Norgaard was released in 2010 and another instrumental song “Compass the Cinematic Version” was released in 2019 by Analog Heart. ‘I am yours, I am yours, I am yours’ – Andy Grammer sings that in his song released in 2019. ‘”‘I will love you so’ “Always” by Atlantic Star released in 1987 -this R&B hit would be perfect for any ceremony. Unity song “All You Need Is Love” by the Beatles released in 1967. This is one of their greatest love songs that is a little bit more uptempo. Released in 1999 is a Christian song “A Page Is Turned” by Beebo Norman. “By My Side” by Ben Harper released in 1995. This folk-rock song is still a great love song today. “Ave Maria” by Beyonce released in 2008.

(02:27)
“I Promise To Love Her” by Blaine Howard was released in 2017. A little unknown country song “I Could Never Love You Enough” by Brian McComas is a song that fits perfectly for Unity released in 2002 with more than 15 million views on YouTube. Brooklyn Duo has a hit on their hands with a cello and a piano and their cover of “Canon and D” was released in 2019. “When You Love Someone” by Brian Adams was released in 1997 for those pop-rock fans. A not too well-known folk song “I Chose You” by Caleb Eds was released in 2019. Next up on the list is “You Are The Reason” by Calum Scott. He also has a duet with Leona Lewis, both of them released in 2017. A little bit later on in 2018 for those R&B fans, Case released “Happily Ever After” in 1999.

(03:33)
For The Voice Fans, next on the list is Casi Joy’s song “I Do” released in 2018. She actually sang this song at her own wedding to her fiance and decided to convert it into a full-production song. You can actually read the interview I did with her on our website. Next is another duet song with Charlotte Church and Josh Groban, “The Prayer” released in 2001. A new country song, “Big, Big Plans” by Chris Lane released in 2019. It seems like Christina Perri’s song “A Thousand Years” is just about on every wedding playlist released in 2011. Another little-known country song is “Unconditional” by Clay Davidson released in 2000. If you wanna have a country song that’s not played at every wedding “When I Said I Do” by the married couple, Clint Black and Lisa Hartman Black released in 1999.

(04:34)
“All of Me”. No, it’s not the John Legend version, but this is the Daniel Jang version released in 2014. It’s a violin cover of the song and would fit perfectly into any unity ceremony. One of my favorite songs on the list is a Celtic song by David Arkenstone called “Hand In Hand”, released in 2018. If you’re looking for a modern R&B song, “My Word” by Darren Day was released in 2018. Just for Opera fans is a duet with Ed Sheeran and Andrea Bocelli “Perfect Symphony” released in 2017. A very popular wedding song on YouTube is “Yours” by Ella Anderson which was released in 2014. One song to definitely check out is “Take My Hand (The Wedding Song)” a very popular wedding song released in 2014 by Emily Hackett featuring Will Anderson. I actually got the chance to interview her and you can check out the interview on our website.

(05:32)
Another new folk song is “Before You” by Fortunate Ones released in 2018. Another one of my favorites on the list is “Guiding Light” by Foy Vance featuring Ed Sheeran. Even though it was released in 2013, it didn’t get a lot of airplay and would fit perfectly into your wedding. No pun intended. Another duet song on the list was released in 2019 “Giving It All To You” by Haley and Michaels. “Always and Forever” by Heatwave released their classic R&B song in 1977. If you’re looking for an indie song not played at every wedding, be sure to check out this song “I Will Spend My Whole Life Loving You” by Imaginary Future and Kina Grannis released in 2017. “I Belong to You” by Jacob Lee is another huge wedding song on YouTube released in 2018 in the 2000s.

(06:32)
John Tesh was very popular releasing piano songs just like Jim Brickman. His hit “Give Me Forever I Do” was released in 2000. For those of you who are old enough to remember the group New Edition, next I have one of their members, Johnny Gill, featuring Kevin Edmonds and their song “Home” released in 2019. The wedding folk hit “Touching Heaven” by Johnny Swim was released in 2016. “Right Here Right Now” by Joshua Radin released his wedding song in 2019. “If I Knew You” by Justine Chantel was released in 2019. It seems like Kane Brown can’t do anything wrong lately with a string of hits. And next on the list today I have “Live Forever” released in 2018. A classic R&B song released in 1997 by Kenny Latimore “For You”. Flip that around to a modern R&B song “I Choose You Acoustic Version” by Kiana Lede. Another country acapella group King Callaway released their song “World For Two” in 2019.

(07:34)
Love this next song and is a great way to accent any unity ceremony. “The One” by Kodaline was released in 2015 as this indie hit. I know it’s on other lists like the First Dance, but it definitely makes for a great wedding song. A song not on every list is “Greatest Love Story” by Lanco was released in 2016. “Amazing Grace” by Larry White, a country version was released in 1997. Another one of my favorite songs on the list is “One + One” by Lawson Bates featuring Olivia Collingsworth was released in 2019. They say this is country, but I would call it Country-Christian just because the song talks about two people becoming one with God. In 2014, Leela James released “Fall For You”, an R&B hit. Leon Patillo released “Flesh of My Flesh”, if you’re looking for a Christian song, in 2007. A true opera song “Ave Maria” by Luciana Pavarotti was released in 1988.

(08:39)
“When you love someone, you’ll open up your heart. Lucas Graham does a much better job than I do and his song “Love Somebody” was released in 2018. “Marry You” was first released by Train. However, Martina McBride and Pat Monahan, the lead singer of Train, released their version in 2011. The original song of the first song on our list, Matt Stell’s “Prayed For You” was released in 2019. Matthew Mole released “The Wedding Song” in 2013, a great Christian song. Another great Christian song is Matthew West’s
“When I Say I Do” in 2010. With just two guys and two guitars, the group Music Travel Love released their song “The Only One” in 2019. A classic R&B fan released in 1975 is “Inseparable” by Natalie Cole. If you’re looking for a modern rock song, check out O.A.R.’s “All Because Of You” released in 2019.

(09:39)
Just for piano fans, The O’Neill Brothers Group released “One Hand, One Heart” in 2013. For classic folk fans, released in 1969 is a very popular wedding song called “Wedding Song There is Love” by Peter Paul and Mary’s Noel Paul Stokey. I actually got to see the Piano Guys in Las Vegas at the Smith Center and they are fantastic if you ever get a chance to see them! They are next on our list with “Just The Way You Are” released in 2013. If you want something that’s a little bit more uptempo and lively, one of my favorite current R&B artists, Rahsaan Patterson released “Sent From Heaven” in 2019. Another modern hit that I really like is “Could I Love You Anymore” by Renee Dominique featuring Jason Mraz in 2019. “When You Say Nothing At All” was not only done by Alison Krauss but was also done by Ronan Keating in 1999.

(10:34)
“I Get To Love You” by Ruelle in 2016 for this indie wedding hit. “You Make Me Better Than I Was Before” and “I’m Yours” by Russell Dickerson. This country hit was released in 2016. “For A Lifetime” by Ryann Darling featuring Coard was released in 2018. A very popular rock song released in 2012 was “Never Stop Wedding Version” by Safety Suit. If you’re looking for a rock song to play, Sailor released “All My Life” in 2019 for a pop wedding hit. Another indie hit on the list is Samantha Durham’s “I Found You” in 2019. If you’re getting married on a Saturday, check out this little-known Sammy Wilke song “Saturday The Wedding Song” in 2019. A very popular wedding song ever since it was first released in 2013 was Sara Bareilles’s song “I Choose You”. If you ever watch the home improvement show Property Brothers, then you know who the Scott Brothers are and their song “You Choose Me” released in 2018. One of the brothers got married in 2018 and wrote this song for his wife.

(11:45)
“From This Moment On” I know you know this song by Shania Twain. But maybe you didn’t know that it actually can be played as a duet with Brian White released in 1997. Another one of my favorite songs on the list is a folk song by Sheffield called “Forever From Now” in 2019. For those of you who remember Grant Hill, the NBA star, he married Tamia and she released “Today I Do” in 2018. The video for this song actually showcases footage from their actual wedding. The Alternate Routes released “Nothing Lost” in 2019. My favorite video on the list is “You Changed Everything” by This Wild Life in 2019. This indie hit shows the group playing in an elevator while people are coming on and off as they’re just sitting there playing their music. They even have champagne and flowers for the ladies. It’s just a great song because the people getting on the elevator have no idea what’s going on.

(12:45)
If you’re looking for a very romantic pop song to play, check out Treela’s song “I Would, I Could, I Do the Duet” which was released in 2019. Trey Healy released his song, “Baby” in 2019 as he’s converting from other genres into country and I was actually able to interview Trey. The final Christian song on our list is Twila Paris and Stephen Curtis Chapman with “Faithful Friend” released in 2001. We’re gonna close out our list of 85 Unity Ceremony songs with “All Your’n” by Tyler Childress released in 2019. If you guys wanna discuss any of the songs that I mentioned today, please reach out to us through Facebook. Thanks for listening and have a great day.