Preparing for Your First Wedding Dance Together as a Couple

All eyes are on you for your first dance as a couple, but dance experts estimate less than one percent of Americans actually know how to dance. To make the first dance even worse, many couples pick a song that is a meaningful song to their relationship but that is not necessarily easy to dance to, and then realize that they do not know how to dance to that song. It is important when deciding the song for your first dance to pick a song that you can dance to and practice doing so in dress shoes and a long dress that can get in the way. If you really want to dance to a specific song, then it is important to consider dance lessons.

Depending on how complicated your first dance will be you will likely need at least 6 weeks of dance lessons, if not three months worth, as a couple. Talk to the dance instructor to find out how much time and effort will go into learning a specific dance for a specific song. Decide if there is an alternate. If you want to dance to a specific song or your song, decide if you would want to do this later in the reception as a more private moment than your first dance. Check out your local Arthur Murray Dance Studios, who often have some complimentary or cheap initial lessons. Perhaps grandparents know how to dance a more formal dance, or a local dance studio holds lessons at a local community center on a regular basis. These types of things are generally posted in libraries or in local town papers.

Some other issues to decide is your actual level of dancing talent, the shoes you will be wearing and if you would want to have a pair of shoes just to dance in, and how your dress will affect your dancing. If you move around a lot, will it be very hard not to step on the dress - potentially tripping you both? Is the reception dance floor slippery? Are you having an outdoors reception and does this affect your dance floor at all? If you are having a reception in a tent - will you be dancing on grass or putting down wood flooring or carpeting? Is your favorite song lengthy - almost too long to dance to? Your favorite song might be high energy and fun and long - but are you ready to put on a dance performance for almost five minutes? A wedding couple I know tried a song that was not a typical wedding dance tempo, but it was more of a high spirited fast song that the couple practiced for extensively but they did not have the stamina to dance non-stop to a non-stop five minute song. Try to pick something that is two to three minutes so you are not tired out and guests are not uncomfortable.

Dance lessons are also an opportunity to learn some other dances for your wedding, like the fox trot. This is a nice opportunity to learn a dance step that you can dance with grandparents to songs that they love. Most dance instructors will teach you enough so that you do not look clumsy but you don't have to look like professional ballroom dancers - just enough moves to look like you are having fun and are comfortable dancing in front of your guests.