Wedding Dance

Your first dance together as husband and wife will be a memory of a lifetime. It is quite a tradition and should be fun.

By the time it comes to dancing at the reception people are ready to let their hair down and enjoy themselves.

It is an opportunity for the newly married couple to show their love for each other and surprise or entertain their guests with a slow waltz or a beautiful choreographed dance routine.

The dance and music you choose should be a reflection of you both as a couple.

Here is a fabulous video of Ryan and Frankie having their first dance and having LOTS of fun!

Growing in popularity is for the wedding party to perform a routine together after the bride and groom have performed their first dance. This idea can even add to the fun of preparing for the wedding with routine visits to the dance studio.

Tradition says the bride and groom dance together first and then the parents follow. The father of the bride will dance with his daughter and the groom dances with his mother.

Then the groom's father dances with the bride and the groom dances with his new mother-in-law.

This tradition came about as a way of showing the new mix of the two families.

The first dance is usually performed after the main course is served and ideally, directly after the cutting of the cake.

If you are performing a set routine for your wedding dance you will not want your guests joining you on the dance floor so an announcement by your MC is a good idea! Something like the following:

“ Ladies and gentlemen I would now like to welcome the bride and groom to the dance floor to perform their first dance as a married couple.  I would ask all guests to keep the dance floor clear until our couple have finished their first dance together. I would also suggest you get your cameras and tissues ready as I know they have planned a beautiful routine that is sure to capture your hearts."

When it’s all said and done though, it’s your wedding day so you can always start your own tradition and have a great time!

Theme Inspiration

Picking the theme for your reception comes down to personal choice. Let it be a reflection of you as a couple. Most reception venues are happy to work with you on your theme and ideas.

You could choose your theme based on:

• Your gown design. You fell in love with your gown and the elegance or colour of it inspires your theme.
• Your wedding stationery design. You sent out those wedding invitations months ago and just love their design!
• The location of the reception! e.g. your venue is by the seaside, on a farm or in a beautiful garden!
• The season you are being married in. Winter weddings can be spectacular!
• Your favourite flower/s that are in season!
• Your favourite colours!
• a reflection of your personalities (e.g you both think it would be fun to have a gothic, pirate, or medieval wedding)
• pure elegance.

There is no right or wrong... just what is right for you and your partner!

Whatever you do bringing a bit of DIY to your wedding can help you feel more involved and appreciated on the day. Something that is handmade is more likely to be remembered by your guests long after the big day. You can have a lot of fun along the way with DIY by organising get-togethers with your friends to create the decorations too! 

DIY Idea:

When no colour at all is allowed to creep in, jet black teamed with snowbally white makes a powerful impact. The clarity of the effect is breathtaking.

Patterns appear clear and sharp in monochrome. Here black and white shows a fun side with playful dots, stripes and floral paper napkin holder.

Download the floral paper here and trim into bands any size you like. Wrap around rolled napkins and secure with double-sided tape.

Download Template
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Flower Paper Template

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Real Wedding Inspiration!

Wedding Style Guide has put together some images from past Real Weddings for your inspiration.

Alexis Hemphill and Steven Elsea by Elizabeth Messina

Amy Moss and Mark Mandel by Jonathan Ong

Astrid Ramsden and Steven Harrison by McKay Photography

We would love to hear about your theme! You can leave a comment below or click here to upload images so we can share with all our readers what you did for your theme!