"Chapel of Love" is a song written byJeff Barry,Ellie Greenwich andPhil Spector, and made famous bythe Dixie Cups in 1964, spending three weeks at number one on theBillboard Hot 100.^[3] The song tells of the happiness and excitement the narrator feels on her wedding day, for she and her love are going to the "chapel of love", and "[they'll] never be lonely anymore." Many other artists have recorded the song.

It was originally recorded byDarlene Love in April 1963, but her version was not released until 1991. The Dixie Cups' version was the debut release of the newRed Bird Records run byJerry Leiber andMike Stoller along withGeorge Goldner.^[4]The Ronettes included the song on their debut album released in November 1964 with production by Phil Spector. In 1973, singer and actressBette Midler had a moderate hit with a cover of "Chapel of Love".

The song was written in 1963 by Jeff Barry and Ellie Greenwich, who had themselves recently married; Barry later said that "the concept of marriage was very much in my head" at the time. It was written for Darlene Love to record, but producerPhil Spector was dissatisfied with her version and it was not released for some years.^[5]

The Mel-Tones – a group of three young women fromNew Orleans, Barbara Ann Hawkins, Rosa Lee Hawkins, and Joan Marie Johnson – had traveled to New York City with their managerJoe Jones to attempt to get a record deal. They were given the song "Chapel of Love" to sing, and passed an audition withLeiber and Stoller in theBrill Building. The group rehearsed the song with Barry and Greenwich before recording it. Thearrangement was byWardell Quezergue, and Leiber and Stoller added lyrics and some touches to the arrangements. Leiber and Stoller then decided to issue the record as the first release on their own newrecord label,Red Bird, and changed the group's name to The Dixie Cups.^[5]

The definitive version of "Chapel of Love" by The Dixie Cups was released as a single in April 1964.^[4] Sung by Barbara Ann Hawkins, Rosa Lee Hawkins, and Joan Marie Johnson, this version was the group's first single taken from their debut studio albumChapel of Love.^[6] The song was arranged byJoe Jones and produced byJerry Leiber,Mike Stoller,Ellie Greenwich, andJeff Barry.^[7] It charted at number one on June 6, 1964, on theBillboard Hot 100 knockingThe Beatles out of the number one spot and remained at the top for three weeks.^[7] The song also peaked at number 22 on theUK Singles Chart^[8] and hit number one in Canada on theRPM Chart.^[9] The "Chapel of Love" version by The Dixie Cups sold over one million copies, and was awarded agold disc.^[10] The song was later included on the soundtrack to films ranging fromFull Metal Jacket toFather of the Bride.^[11] The hit single recorded by The Dixie Cups was ranked No. 279 onRolling Stone's list ofThe 500 Greatest Songs of All Time, being thegroup's only song on the list.^[12]Billboard named the song No. 33 on their list of 100 Greatest Girl Group Songs of All Time.^[13]

American singer and actressBette Midler recorded a cover version of "Chapel of Love" for her 1972 debut studio album,The Divine Miss M. The track was produced and arranged byBarry Manilow. The following year, Midler included her version as the B-side of her number 40pop single, "Friends" (the single charted on theBillboard Hot 100 as a double A-side). The version included on the single release is a radically remixed version, with added horns and strings, and this version remained unreleased on any format other than the 45rpm until it was included as a bonus track on the 2016 remastered edition ofThe Divine Miss M. Midler's single of "Chapel of Love" was issued onAtlantic Records.

A cover by the Americanrock group,The Beach Boys was released on their 1976album,15 Big Ones.

Personnel per 2026 liner notes^[15]

The Beach Boys

• Al Jardine - backing vocals
• Mike Love - backing vocals
• Brian Wilson – lead vocals, backing vocals,ARP String Ensemble, grand piano,Minimoog bass
• Carl Wilson – phased electric guitar
• Dennis Wilson – drums

Additional musicians

• Mike Altschul – clarinet
• Steve Douglas – tenor saxophone
• Dennis Dreith – bass clarinet
• Gene Estes – tubular bells, hi-hat
• John J. Kelson Jr. – clarinet
• Carol Lee Miller –autoharp
• Jack Nimitz – bass clarinet

• The Blossoms were the first to record a version of the song in 1963 but it was never released as a single.
• The Ronettes covered the song as the last track for theirPhilles debut studio album,Presenting the Fabulous Ronettes Featuring Veronica, released in November 1964 and produced byPhil Spector.
• A looseSpanish-language version of the song, titled "Vete Con Ella", was adapted and recorded by Mayté Gaos for her 1964 EP of the same name, in which she reworked the lyrics to focus onheartbreak andbreakup.^[16] It was later performed byMirla Castellanos on her albumImprevú (1966), and byLucero in a synth-pop version on her albumOcho Quince (1988).^[17]
• The song wascovered byElton John for the soundtrack ofFour Weddings and a Funeral in 1994.

• 1964 debut singles
• Songs written by Ellie Greenwich
• Songs written by Jeff Barry
• Songs written by Phil Spector
• Billboard Hot 100 number-one singles
• Cashbox number-one singles
• Song recordings produced by Phil Spector
• The Dixie Cups songs
• The Beach Boys songs
• Bette Midler songs
• RPM Top Singles number-one singles
• 1964 songs
• Songs about marriage
• Red Bird Records singles
• The Ronettes songs

• CS1 Spanish-language sources (es)
• Articles with short description
• Short description is different from Wikidata
• Articles with hAudio microformats