Picture a traditional wedding reception. In the back of the room, several elderly aunts sit eyeing the cake and punch table, waiting for the wedding party to enter and the food line to begin. In one corner, the father of the bride bites his lip as he determines the odds of tripping on his daughter’s veil during the traditional father-daughter dance. There is an invisible line down the center of the room dividing the bride’s side from the groom’s side, and the guests sit or stand sizing up the other side. When the wedding party finally arrives, there is a flurry of excitement but the new arrivals retreat to the head table and giggle among themselves.
All that is becoming history with the newest wedding reception trend: wedding party dances. They can start as an entry, with bridesmaids on the arms of groomsmen swirling into the hall, dipping and gliding to ballroom classics, or with the couples “jiving” to some real “down” tunes as they enter the room. Guests rise to their feet, hands clap, feet move and the party is on. The awkward “daddy-daughter” dance is being replaced by a choreographed routine that even professionals would envy. So is the “mother-son” dance. One ”You-Tube” offering features a groom, in white suit and hat, showing some smooth moves as he removes the bride’s garter.
The trend seems to have begun in African-American weddings, but is now popular across the board. One of the first questions couples ask their wedding planners or their wedding DJs is what offerings are available for these special dances. Beyonce’s “Drunk in Love” seems currently to top the wedding dance charts.
The dancing wedding party craze extends even to full dance routines performed by the entire wedding party for the guests. That means a lot of coordination, and the emergence of another trend: dance lessons for wedding parties. Wedding dance lessons are offered by many dance studios, as much a part of the preparations as getting measured for a groomsman tux. The lessons themselves can be the occasion for an after-lesson dinner or party, and videos of the event become treasured souvenirs.
If you are considering transforming your wedding reception from boring to beyond-belief, contact us.
When your wedding party dances into the hall, even your elderly aunts will forget about the food line.