The Wedding Jam Blog
Memorable Stories from Unforgettable Weddings.
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6 Reggae Tunes for Your Summer Wedding
We've been blessed with amazing weather during lockdown, which got us thinking about all the sun-kissed weddings later this summer and beyond, by which time hopefully everything will be back up and running.
With that in mind we thought we'd suggest a few reggae tunes that could set the tone either on the dancefloor later or for daytime drinks as the sun beats down on you and your guests.
Bob Marley - Could You Be Loved
Where else to start than with the King himself.
Bob has an abundance of uplifting, sunny and inspiring songs and picking just one wasn't easy, but we went for 'Could You Be Loved'. A nagging, relentless beat and theme of pure positivity makes it a great choice, we reckon. It's unclear what the song is about - one theory is that he wrote it on a flight back from Brazil after he was overwhelmed with love from audiences there. Either way, it's a real vibe guaranteed to go down a treat.
Freddie Notes & The Rudies - Montego Bay
This Trojan Records classic is in fact a cover, and one to bear in mind for the oft-asked question about covers that are better than the originals. This is certainly one of those.
Any song with a bit of whistling in it tends to ooze happy vibes, and the line 'I'll lay on a lilo til I'm lobster red' just caps off the joyous, baking summer feel.
Sister Nancy - Bam Bam
One of those songs that if you showed your guests the artist and the track name many would be like "nah, don't know that one" - and then it comes on and suddenly they're all swinging their hips to a legendary track they didn't know they knew. Sampled countless times due to the infectious 'bam bam' refrain, it will have everyone getting down.
Toots & The Maytals - Funky Kingston
Equally at home on the evening dancefloor or chilling in the afternoon sun, this reggae dance classic is another one known by more people than you realise. Unique insofar as the way that it blends reggae with hints of 60s soul artists like Otis Redding and even James Brown. Dig it!
UB40 - Food for Thought
What a track this is, tight as hell, and what a production! Latched onto by the mod-revivalists and anti-racist suedehead movement at the time, this exquisite and infectious groove predates UB40's unfortunate slide into watered down, insipid reggae. They were young, they were vital and they churned out magic like this - guaranteed to spread positive, sunshine vibes all around your wedding party.
Bob Marley - Is This Love
As we edged closer to the sixth and final cut, this one came crashing into our thoughts and became impossible to ignore. With so many reggae songs tackling social and political issues, we had to chuck in this fairly rare out and out love song. Every single line - literally line after line - is ripe for a mass wedding singalong, perfect in its idealistic romanticism, dreaming of a long and loving future together.