There are 3 rings involved in getting married. The engagement ring, the wedding ring, and the suffering. In traditional weddings, the suffering of marriage begins minutes after you’ve signed your life away, when you’re expected to show off your mad dancing skills to hundreds of your friends and family. If you’re lucky, your dance showcase will end up on the World Wide Web for thousands of complete strangers to review and provide their opinion on. This could be a good or a bad thing– it could be a big break that turns you into an internet sensation overnight, or your moves could land your dance in the much-loved “Wedding Dance Fails” section of YouTube.
Now that we’ve set the reasonable expectation that your wedding dance is possibly the most important 2 minutes of your life, here are some tips for choreographing a winning wedding dance, even if you have two left feet:
- Don’t shy away from first wedding dance lessons. You can find ballroom dancing lessons at almost any dance studio. Learning the fundamentals of dance will improve your number. Also, dance lessons might open your eyes to a lifelong source of joy. As the saying goes, “If you give a man a wedding dance, he’ll dance for a day. If teach a man how to dance, he’ll enjoy dancing for the rest of his life.” Or something like that.
- KISS– Keep It Simple, Stupid. Don’t bite off more than you can chew. It’s better to do a simple dance extremely well than to do a difficult dance badly.
- Practice your dance in your wedding gear. Make sure your moves aren’t constricted by your mermaid-cut gown. If you’re a gentleman, try out your dance in your dress shoes; make sure you can groove in them.
- Watch yourself do your dance. If possible, practice in front of a mirror. If you don’t have access to a dance studio, have someone film it will a smartphone. Giving yourself the perspective your guests will have prevents you from incorporating moves that you should not leave the house with.
- Don’t give up if you forget your moves. Just sway a bit until you can jump into the next move and no one will notice. If you have a big breakdown, be affectionate with your spouse and all the guests will be too distracted by your cuteness to care if you missed the step.
- Plan an entrance. Think of an entertaining way to introduce your dance so it seamlessly leads into your number and builds up your energy. Maybe you want the DJ to announce you, or have the best man give a little speech to welcome the new couple. Planning the entrance out will get the dance started on the right foot. Pun intended.
- Coordinate with your photographer. Let your photographer know when your dance will occur, which angle to stand at to capture the best shots, and if there are any highlights that you hope to have photographic evidence of.
- Have fun! This is your special day, you deserve to hold only great memories from it! Not to mention, if you are having a blast, it will make your dance more exciting to watch.
What do you think makes a wedding dance great? Are there any dance moves that you think should be avoided? Leave us a comment with your input below!
