You are getting married again, later than the first time and probably wiser for it. You want a song that fits a love you had almost stopped expecting, not the same track everyone plays at a twenty-two-year-old's first wedding. Below are eight real songs about finding love the second time around, plus one more idea: an original song written about your own story, for $39.90, delivered in 24 to 48 hours. We start with that one, because it is the example.
Listen: "Took Us Long Enough"
What makes a second-marriage song land
The best second-marriage songs are about arriving, not starting. A first wedding is full of "forever" and open road. A later-in-life wedding already knows what forever costs, and the songs that move this room tend to say so plainly. "Took Us Long Enough" is about two people who took the long way to each other, past a first marriage or two, and finally got it right. No fairy tale. Just relief, and gratitude, and a little laughing at how long it took.
That is the register to aim for. Steadiness over sweep. A love the second time around is lovelier partly because both people know exactly what they are choosing, and a good song names that instead of pretending this is anyone's first rodeo.
8 second-marriage songs about love the second time around
Here is a quick way to choose: a famous song is best when one already belongs to the two of you, and a written song is best when you want your actual road to each other in the words. These eight are real, well known, and made for a later-in-life wedding.
- "The Second Time Around" — Frank Sinatra. Written by Sammy Cahn and Jimmy Van Heusen for the 1960 film High Time, where a widower finds love again. "Love is lovelier the second time around" is almost the thesis of your whole day. This is the one.
- "At Last" — Etta James. Written by Mack Gordon and Harry Warren in 1941, made immortal by James in 1960. The sound of a long wait finally rewarded. For the couple who spent years wondering if this would ever come.
- "Grow Old with Me" — John Lennon. One of the last songs Lennon wrote, released in 1984. Yoko Ono said he hoped it would be sung at weddings. A plain, grown-up promise about the years still ahead, which is exactly what a second marriage is buying.
- "When You Say Nothing at All" — Keith Whitley (or Alison Krauss, or Ronan Keating). Written by Paul Overstreet and Don Schlitz, a country number one in 1988 and a hit again for Krauss and Keating. It is about the comfort of being known without words. That comfort usually takes a lifetime to find.
- "Could I Have This Dance" — Anne Murray. Written by Wayland Holyfield and Bob House for 1980's Urban Cowboy. A gentle waltz built for a first dance, and a good fit for a room where nobody needs the spectacle, just the slow turn around the floor.
- "Making Memories of Us" — Keith Urban. Written by Rodney Crowell as a Valentine's gift for his wife, a country number one for Urban in 2005. It is all forward-looking devotion, the promise to build a life from here. For couples who feel like the good part is only starting.
- "The Best Is Yet to Come" — Frank Sinatra. Written by Cy Coleman and Carolyn Leigh in 1959, introduced by Tony Bennett and made famous by Sinatra. A confident, swinging bet that the best years are still ahead. A cheeky, hopeful pick for a second wedding.
- "Come Away with Me" — Norah Jones. Written and sung by Jones on her 2002 debut. Quiet, warm, and unhurried, the sound of two adults choosing a calmer kind of happiness. For the low-key ceremony that would rather feel intimate than grand.
The lyrics
The lyrics
Took Us Long Enough
Fourteen years and one gray dog later —
Well, look who's wearing white
Your mother quit her hinting
Somewhere back in year nine
The group chat had a betting pool
Nobody guessed this far down the line
We already shared the keys, the bills, the blanket —
Today we're just saying it loud
Took us long enough, my love
But hey, we never were in a rush
The vows were living in the grocery runs
The forever started way back when
We just finally sent the invitations —
Took us long enough. Say it again!
You proposed while we were painting
The hallway, brush still in your hand
Said "we should probably make this legal"
Most romantic words known to man
The dog's the ring bearer, he's ancient
He's waited longer than the guests
Took us long enough, my love
But hey, we never were in a rush
The vows were living in the grocery runs
The forever started way back when
We just finally sent the invitations —
Took us long enough. Say it again!
Here's the secret nobody clapping knows:
We weren't late — we were sure
Some folks marry and then find out who they married
We just did it in reverse
Took us long enough, my love
But hey, we never were in a rush
The vows were living in the grocery runs
The forever started way back when
We just finally sent the invitations —
Took us long enough. Say it again!
Fourteen years of practice —
Watch how good we are at this
Common questions
What songs are good for a second marriage?
Songs about love found again fit best. "The Second Time Around" by Frank Sinatra and "At Last" by Etta James are two of the most fitting, because both are about a good thing that finally arrived after a long wait. If you want the lyrics to name your own path to each other rather than a general one, a custom song is the most personal choice.
Is it different picking music for a later-in-life wedding?
A little. The music tends to lean warmer and calmer than a first wedding, because the couple usually knows exactly what they have. Songs about steadiness and gratitude land better than sweeping fairy-tale ballads. Guests often include grown children and old friends, so a song that honors the long road tends to feel right.
Can we have a song written about our own second-marriage story?
Yes. A custom song from Songbond is $39.90 and arrives in 24 to 48 hours, with unlimited revisions. You fill out a short questionnaire about how you met, what you had each been through, and what changed, and we turn those details into an original song that is only about the two of you.
Give the day a song that is only about you two
A famous song says how love the second time around feels in general. A song about your own story says what it looks like for you: the years apart, the friend who set you up, the quiet certainty this time. If you want that, have a custom wedding song written about your story for $39.90, delivered in 24 to 48 hours, revised until it is right. Tell us how long it took. We will write the rest.
From the same series: vow renewal songs and elopement songs.
