Do You Want the Best Wedding Dance?

You want to have the best first dance right? I mean, this is one of the biggest days of your life. You've spent the last year putting all your time, effort, and money into having the perfect wedding. Now here you are. The ceremony goes smoothly, the flowers are gorgeous, your reception venue is perfectly set, and you've never felt more stunning. The emcee announces the new Mr. and Mrs. will be performing their first dance. With that cue, you and the love of your life walk out onto the center of the dance floor. You look around and all eyes of your family and friends are on you.

One of two things can happen here. Scene a: With your arms around each other, your first dance together consists of swaying back and forth, sometimes tripping on each other, sometimes on the beat and sometimes not, as your guests patiently watch for a whole 3 minute song. Scene b: For your first dance together, your new husband gracefully leads you around the dance floor as you lovingly gaze into each other's eyes, and you both move as one with the music. To everyone's amazement you are swept off your feet and they all want to see more when it is over too soon. (I know that sounds cheesy but it really can be like that!)

So you want to have the best first dance right? Then learn how to dance! I know it often falls to the bottom of most engaged couples' priority lists. There's only so much money to go around and well, by the time you get to the bottom of that list, there isn't much left. It's true that dance lessons are a little on the pricey side, but so are flowers and invitations, wedding cakes, and everything else that goes along with having a wedding.

Here are some reasons why you should bump those wedding dance lessons higher up on that priority list.

1. Your wedding dance lessons are one of the few parts of wedding planning that you can both enjoy together (other than food and cake tastings!) Everyone knows that planning gets hectic, stressful, and there's always something that needs to be done. It often happens that engaged couples get so caught up in the wedding planning that they barely have time to spend together and share in the things they enjoy. Taking dance lessons gives you an opportunity to learn something new together, have fun doing it, and de-stress during all the wedding planning madness!

2. Learning how to dance is an investment. You've spent all this money on so many things that you will enjoy on your wedding day, like your flowers, cake, music, food, drinks, etc. It's all amazing and it will no doubt be something you will remember forever, yet it will all be a memory. Dancing will always stay with you and it's something you and your spouse will be able to do forever. You will most likely spend the rest of your lives attending other weddings together, anniversary parties, company events, etc. Wouldn't you want to go to them and enjoy your time with your love dancing the night away?

3. If you are on a fitness plan to get in shape for your wedding day, adding dancing to your regime will help you get to your goal. Not only will it help your shape, but it will also improve your posture, making you look tall, lean, and beautiful on your wedding day when all eyes are on you.

4. In taking ballroom dance lessons, you and your sweetie will work together in a partnership. You will learn how to connect with each other and speak a language that uses no words. You'll learn more than how to sway from side to side, you'll learn how to not step on each other's toes, and you'll learn how to dance to the beat of your music. You will learn how to move together with ease, style, and grace which is exactly how your first steps together should be. That's reason enough.

Now that you know you want to take wedding dance lessons, it's time to get started!

Selecting a ballroom dance studio for your wedding dance lessons.

1. Try to get started at least 3-6 months before the wedding day. This will ensure that you have enough time to get comfortable with your new dance moves for your first dance. You want to get to the point where the movement is built into your muscle memory so you don't even have to think about it come the big day. Allowing this much time also gives you a bit of wiggle room (pardon the dance pun) should you not be able to make your wedding dance lessons every week.

2. Search your local area for a ballroom dance studio (the majority of studios offer wedding dance packages) or an independent teacher specializing in wedding dances. I would try to stay away from franchised studios as their packages are generally a bit more expensive than the independent studios when the instruction is just as good.

3. Shop around. There are a lot of independent dance studios that offer complimentary lessons. Take advantage of them! Just like shopping for a wedding dress you want to try it out for fit and affordability before committing to it. Here are a few things to keep in mind during your complimentary lesson:

- Did the instructor ask you questions specific to your event? Information they should know includes: your wedding date, songs you would like to use, how big your floor size is, if your dress is easy to move around in, what your personalities are like (do you like big and flashy, or low key and subtle), if you have a DJ or a band, and the tone and theme of the event. All of this information will help them in organizing a first dance best suited for the both of you.

- How did you feel upon entering the studio? If everyone there welcomes you in right away and puts you at ease, then you've found a great place that will take care of you. If you were intimidated upon entering and felt lost in the shuffle, then you will most likely feel like that every time you come in.

- Was it a conducive learning environment? Many studios also specialize in competitive ballroom dance training which is great, but is often distracting for a wedding couple. Being a ballroom dance teacher, I've seen many wedding couples become distracted on the dance floor as highly trained dancers whiz past them and almost knock them over.

If the studio offers a private or sectioned off area, you are in good hands. If however, they can only offer you a shared space, I would consider looking for another studio. You're paying a lot of money for these lessons so you want to make sure you can focus, be at your best learning ability, and get as much as you can from your wedding dance lessons.

4. Be prepared. Before your first wedding dance lesson, you and your fiancee should put together a list of 4 or 5 songs that you both enjoy. Bring a burned CD or mp3 player with you and have an order of preference for each wedding dance song. Have an idea of the approximate size of your dance floor space at the reception venue. If you have any thoughts in particular about how you would like your wedding dance to be you should not be afraid to tell your instructor.

Making the most of your wedding dance lessons

1. Schedule lessons once a week. This is ideal because this gives you enough time to practice in between lessons without the time span being so long, that you'll forget what you learned each lesson.

2. Practice practice practice! Each week, the both of you should spend half an hour to an hour practicing what you learned. That way your cool wedding dance moves will stay fresh and your instructor will not have to keep repeating and reviewing everything you learned on your first lesson. Also, when you are practicing, be sure to practice with your wedding dance song.

3. While practicing your wedding dance, if the two of you disagree over what you remember the teacher saying, write it down somewhere and ask your instructor at your next lesson. It is not worth it to get into a huge fight over who is right and who is wrong. I've seen it happen and it's not pretty! Maybe you are both right or both wrong. Only your instructor will know so save it for them. Remember, dancing is a fun activity that the both of you are learning together and it's something to be enjoyed!

4. Ask your instructor if you can take a video of what you learned in your dance lesson. That way if you forget something when you are practicing, you can refer back to it (it could also help avoid arguments!)

Tips for the best wedding dance.

1. Pick a wedding song that you both enjoy. When you are on the dance floor for your first wedding dance you want to enjoy each other and enjoy the music. So you should be feeling it! You don't want to look like you are dying to get off the dance floor.

2. The ideal length for your wedding dance is 2 to 2 1/2 minutes long. If the song you select is longer than that, your dance instructor should pick out a good stopping point (at the end of a verse, chorus, or during the instrumental) where you can do your grand finale. If you have a DJ, they can either fade out the song, or invite anyone else up to the dance floor to dance the rest of the song with you. If you have a band, you can just let them know how long you would like them to play for.

3. Your wedding dance should have an intro, a middle, and an end. Your dance instructor should plan out for you where and how to enter the dance floor for your intro. The middle will consist of a number of cool dance patterns, turns, and spins that you will be comfortable leading and following. The end should finish with a fun (and safe!) dip or some other cool ending, if you're not into dipping.

Congratulations on your upcoming wedding, good luck, and happy dancing!

Source: My dance-teaching experience