Writer's Room - June 2026

“SOMETHING BORROWED, SOMETHING BLUEGRASS”                                                                                  

Choosing Tunes for Wedding Playlists                                                                                           

As spring turns into summer, weddings in city churches, country chapels, and the great outdoors are echoing with tunes familiar to Bluegrass brides and grooms.

“If a June night could talk,” said English writer Bernard Williams, “it would probably boast that it invented romance.” When those romances lead Bluegrass fans to the altar, they have a wide selection of songs for ceremonies and receptions.

And while June has long staked its claim as the leading month for marriage, a couple’s favorite music is appropriate for tying the knot at any time of the year. In fact, two of my favorite Bluegrass wedding stories took place in the fall.

“Bluegrass Royalty” and Lifelong Love

October, which recently passed June in wedding popularity, was the marriage month for Donna Ulisse and Rick Stanley. Donna always says she “married into Bluegrass royalty,” and their guests in Norfolk, Virginia, could understand what she meant.

Traveling to the Tidewater region from Virginia’s Blue Ridge was Rick’s cousin, Ralph Stanley, and the Clinch Mountain Boys (Junior Blankenship, Charlie Sizemore, Curly Ray Cline and Jack Cooke). When “Dr. Ralph” and the band played at the reception, guests were treated to an up-close concert of favorite Stanley tunes.

In the years since their wedding, Donna and Rick have written and recorded plenty of their own songs suitable for ceremonies and anniversaries. “I Want To Grow Old With You” affirms “There’s a Higher Power who’s always known/That we weren’t meant to go through life alone.”

“You and Me” follows up that belief: “We walk on through this life, knowing we are right where we should be/We keep each other strong, so nothing much goes wrong/As long as you are holding me.” The title line to a third song confirms that lifelong romance: “He and me, we make a perfect us/Tailor-made for each other, no doubt/We act just like mushy movie stars/He and me, We Got This Love Thing Figured Out.”

A Bluegrass/Jamgrass Wedding

At another fall wedding, Billy Strings and Ally Dale were married on the grounds of Michigan’s Hoxeyville Music Festival. That September ceremony combined Bluegrass melodies and a Jamgrass feel.

The processional included traditional tunes such as “Forked Deer,” “Cherokee Shuffle,” “Clinch Mountain Backstep,” and “Home Sweet Home.” Leftover Salmon was the house band for the reception, and an all-star jam featured Billy, Bob Weir of The Grateful Dead, Trey Anastasio of Phish, and Les Claypool of Primus. The couple’s first dance was to the John Hartford song, “No End Of Love.”

Several Billy Strings songs are becoming new wedding standards. “In The Morning Light,” written by Billy and Paul Hoffman of Greensky Bluegrass, expresses hope and awe for redemptive love. “She’s a wonder to behold/I’ll love her ‘til I’m growing old/And that’s the plan . . . And it seems so easy now/I can’t believe it but somehow/I made her mine.” 

Billy and Jon Weisberger wrote another song assuring the object of the singer’s affection that she’ll never find another “Love Like Me.” The song promises, “Darlin’, if you’ll walk beside me/I will be a steady hand/If you need a rock to stand on/Honey, I will be your man.” 

Building a Bluegrass Wedding Playlist

As I began looking at songs for a Bluegrass wedding playlist, I thought . . . who better to ask than members of the IBMA Songwriters’ Committee? 

This is Bluegrass, though, so I made it clear that I was seeking “happily ever after” song plots. No characters named “Willie”—whether from Knoxville or “The Banks of the Ohio”—are on this musical guest list. They’ll get their due in a “haunting melodies” column for Halloween.

I appreciate all the writers who contributed, starting with Chair Mike Mitchell. He and co-writer Dawn Kenney had Zoom session conversations with two friends who were getting married and wanted an original wedding song.

The writers used real-life stories of how “Love Came True” for their friends, and that  authenticity proved to be relatable to other couples. Mike included this song on his new Love Songs, Torch and Bluegrass album. He also wrote “Jenny Lynne,” a song for his wife that fits this category. It’s on his Small Town album, with Mark Schatz, Jarrod Walker and Claire Lynch.

Among other songs Mike recommended are Volume Five’s “Forever’s Just a Start,” expressing the optimism of new marriage; Authentic Unlimited’s “The Vow,” which he called, “a perfect modern ‘Wedding March’”; and Rick Faris’ “Walking on Air,” a happy tune that “captures that ‘newlywed’ feeling—light, joyful and rhythmically driving.”

Melodies and Memories

Songwriter/artist Caroline Owens said her pick would be “I Was Meant To Love You” by The Whites. She said she first heard it played at a friend’s wedding “and it has stuck with me all these years later.” In the song, the singer confides that, “It might have been that very first touch . . . Remember when you took my hand and wouldn’t let go?/ It’s crazy, but I’ve known ever since/That I was meant to love you.”

Johnny Williams of Shelton & Williams chose “Your Love Holds The Key” . . . “a song I wrote many years ago that we have performed at weddings and receptions.” The upbeat tune on his Last Days Of Galax album features great harmonies by Johnny and Jeanette Williams. 

The singers play it cool at first but reveal in the chorus . . . “My heart’s on fire with desire for you/When we’re far apart, I don’t know what to do/I believe in you and you believe in me/There’s a lock around my heart/Your love holds the key.”

“Walk Beside Me” is a song that Kevin Slick wrote and performed with the Orchard Creek Band. “We sang this one at a wedding and, even though it was a new song that I had just written, the crowd was singing along by the end of the first chorus,” he said. “Everyone asked for an encore at the reception.” 

The song builds throughout, adding voices and changing keys in an upbeat invitation to “Walk beside me, my love/Hold my heart, my hand/As we follow the sunrise/Across this promised land.” 

“Love Enough” (and Good Advice)

Songwriter Nancy Posey remembered the wedding of Ella Allman, a friend from the Swannanoa Gathering, and her new husband. The newlyweds got a great response at their reception when they sang the classic “How Mountain Girls Can Love.”

Nancy also shared a father/daughter dance song that she and Jeff Walker wrote called “Love Enough (To Go Around).” It begins, “Everybody’s eyes are upon us/The father and the beautiful bride/I’m dealing with a big ol’ mess of emotions/Folks are betting on whether I cry . . .” Somebody needs to cut this beautiful song! And if it ends up on my daughter’s reception playlist, I’ll remove any suspense about whether I’ll be blinking back a tear.

Finally, Nancy cautioned brides and grooms to think about the meaning of songs they select, however beautiful the melodies may sound. She said, “I recall a college friend who had an instrumental version of ‘Yesterday’ played at her wedding.” The implication: do you really want wedding guests singing along in their heads to “Yesterday, all my troubles seemed so far away. Now it looks as though they’re here to stay . . .”