Which Bollywood songs suit each part of the wedding?
Choose by ceremony. A Hindi-film wedding gives a band five separate jobs: procession music for the baraat, something stately for the jaimala, quiet songs around the pheras and the vidaai, a romantic song for the couple's entry and dance, and a full dance set at the reception. The 30 titles below run from 1966 to 2023, because the guest list does too. Sangeet performances follow their own programme and are left out of this page.
The notes under "Where it fits" are our suggestions for where a song can sit in a set. They are not facts about the song, and the list is not a ranking or a measure of popularity. Titles, artists and years were checked against MusicBrainz or Wikipedia when this page was written. We list no keys or tempos, because bands change both.
Baraat
| Song | Artist | Year | Where it fits |
|---|---|---|---|
| Aaj Mere Yaar Ki Shaadi Hai (film: Aadmi Sadak Ka) | Mohammed Rafi | 1977 | Older guests dance in the procession |
| Saajanji Ghar Aaye (film: Kuch Kuch Hota Hai) | Kumar Sanu, Alka Yagnik, Kavita Krishnamurthy | 1998 | As the groom reaches the gate |
| Dulhe Ka Sehra (film: Dhadkan) | Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan | 2000 | Slower, for the welcome at the door |
| Mere Yaar Ki Shaadi Hai (film: Mere Yaar Ki Shaadi Hai) | Udit Narayan, Sonu Nigam, Alka Yagnik | 2002 | Groom's friends at the front |
| Tenu Leke (film: Salaam-e-Ishq) | Sonu Nigam, Mahalakshmi Iyer | 2007 | Loud arrival with the dhol |
Jaimala
| Song | Artist | Year | Where it fits |
|---|---|---|---|
| Baharon Phool Barsao (film: Suraj) | Mohammed Rafi | 1966 | Bride walks to the stage |
| Tum Se Hi (film: Jab We Met) | Mohit Chauhan | 2007 | Soft bed under the garlands |
| Tujh Mein Rab Dikhta Hai (film: Rab Ne Bana Di Jodi) | Roop Kumar Rathod | 2008 | Slow, for the exchange itself |
| Mast Magan (film: 2 States) | Arijit Singh, Chinmayi | 2014 | Gentle, while photos are taken |
Pheras and vidaai
| Song | Artist | Year | Where it fits |
|---|---|---|---|
| Kabira (film: Yeh Jawaani Hai Deewani) | Rekha Bhardwaj, Tochi Raina | 2013 | Quiet, one voice and guitar |
| Dilbaro (film: Raazi) | Harshdeep Kaur, Vibha Saraf, Shankar Mahadevan | 2018 | Vidaai, played very softly |
| Ranjha (film: Shershaah) | B Praak, Jasleen Royal | 2021 | Vidaai for a younger family |
| Kudmayi (film: Rocky Aur Rani Kii Prem Kahaani) | Sachet Tandon | 2023 | Low under the pheras, if asked |
Couple's entry and couple dance
| Song | Artist | Year | Where it fits |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pehla Nasha (film: Jo Jeeta Wohi Sikandar) | Udit Narayan, Sadhana Sargam | 1992 | Slow dance the parents know too |
| Tum Hi Ho (film: Aashiqui 2) | Arijit Singh | 2013 | Slow couple dance |
| Tere Sang Yaara (film: Rustom) | Atif Aslam | 2016 | Mid-tempo sway for a shy couple |
| Din Shagna Da (film: Phillauri) | Jasleen Royal | 2017 | Walk-in, unhurried |
| Ve Maahi (film: Kesari) | Arijit Singh, Asees Kaur | 2019 | Light duet for the first dance |
| Raataan Lambiyan (film: Shershaah) | Jubin Nautiyal, Asees Kaur | 2021 | Duet when both singers are on |
| Kesariya (film: Brahmastra) | Arijit Singh | 2022 | Recent pick for the couple dance |
Reception dance floor
| Song | Artist | Year | Where it fits |
|---|---|---|---|
| Gulabi Aankhen (film: The Train) | Mohammed Rafi | 1970 | Opens the floor with the elders |
| Om Shanti Om (film: Karz) | Kishore Kumar | 1980 | Retro lift early in the set |
| Koi Mil Gaya (film: Kuch Kuch Hota Hai) | Kavita Krishnamurthy, Udit Narayan, Alka Yagnik | 1998 | Nineties block, hands in the air |
| Chaiyya Chaiyya (film: Dil Se..) | Sukhwinder Singh, Sapna Awasthi | 1998 | Steady groove, mid-set |
| Kajra Re (film: Bunty Aur Babli) | Alisha Chinai, Shankar Mahadevan, Javed Ali | 2005 | Brings the aunts back up |
| Desi Girl (film: Dostana) | Shankar Mahadevan, Sunidhi Chauhan, Vishal Dadlani | 2008 | Bridesmaids take the floor |
| Badtameez Dil (film: Yeh Jawaani Hai Deewani) | Benny Dayal, Shefali Alvares | 2013 | Fast, start of the late block |
| Zingaat (film: Sairat) | Ajay-Atul | 2016 | Marathi floor filler, late |
| Ghungroo (film: War) | Arijit Singh, Shilpa Rao | 2019 | Cooler groove before the finish |
| Jhoome Jo Pathaan (film: Pathaan) | Arijit Singh, Sukriti Kakar | 2022 | Last song, everyone up |
Start a setlist with these 30 songs
Opens StageFloww with the titles typed in. Free plan, no card. Search can miss a song, and you can add it by hand.
What does a reception running order look like?
This order is for the reception alone. The ceremony songs above are played one at a time, on a cue, and never sit in a set. Numbers 1 and 2 are the couple's walk-in and their dance. The floor opens at 3 with film songs from the 1970s and 1980s so that parents and grandparents come up first. Number 9 is a slow breather, and the newest songs are kept for the end.
This running order is one suggestion built from the list above. Change it to suit your band and the room.
- Din Shagna Da
- Tum Hi Ho
- Gulabi Aankhen
- Om Shanti Om
- Koi Mil Gaya
- Chaiyya Chaiyya
- Kajra Re
- Desi Girl
- Pehla Nasha
- Badtameez Dil
- Ghungroo
- Zingaat
- Jhoome Jo Pathaan
To see how many songs fill the minutes the family has given you, put the times into the set length calculator.
Which ceremonies does the band play, and which go to the dhol or a recording?
Ask this when you take the booking, ceremony by ceremony. The usual split:
- Baraat. The dhol or a brass band walks with the procession. The stage band joins at the gate, if at all.
- Jaimala. A good moment for live music. Play one song and be ready to loop a section, because garlands are rarely exchanged on schedule. Watch the planner, not the couple, for the cue to stop.
- Pheras. The priest's part of the wedding. Play only if asked, and then barely audibly.
- Vidaai. One voice and one instrument. Leave a silence afterwards; do not follow it with a dance song.
- Couple's entry and dance. Many couples rehearse to the film recording. Ask whether they want that recording played or the band. If it is the band, copy the length and the structure they practised to.
- Reception. This set is yours.
Ask each family which languages they want to hear, too. A Marathi family may expect Zingaat, and a Punjabi one will want far more bhangra than this page carries.
What does StageFloww do for a wedding band, and what does it not do?
In the setlist builder, keep each ceremony as a short block of its own and write the cue in the song's notes: who signals, and what happens next. The reception is the long block. A list this size fits the Free plan, which allows 40 songs per setlist.
Song search accepts a film name or a rough spelling. It needs a connection and it can miss a song, so add the songs at home and not at the venue.
Most of these songs are sung in Hindi, and the lyrics are normally written in Devanagari. StageFloww can show these lyrics in English letters. This is transliteration: the sound of the words respelled, not a translation of their meaning. Paste the lyrics yourself, or let StageFloww fetch them where available. Not every song has lyrics available.
StageFloww does not play recordings or backing tracks, so an entry danced to the film recording still needs the DJ or the sound engineer. It has no song data to publish and does not rank songs: the list above was put together by hand. The page for Bollywood bands shows how the rest of a booking runs.