Opinions About a Wedding Dance

[Kaylyn]

Hey all...

I was just wondering, did anyone here not have a wedding dance, or is there anyone getting married soon who is planning to skip this tradition?

Our wedding should be taking place around noon, and so we wanted the reception invitations to say something along the lines of, "Reception luncheon and social hour to follow ceremony". I don''t really want to be there late, and I get the feeling if there was a dance everything would just drag on and on and on.

There is also the issue of price ($1100 for just the music and the place to dance...no decorations, refreshments, nothing) and we''re on a budget.

We''re not really dancing people so much, but with 11 months left to plan everything is still pretty up in the air.

Opinions on what I should do?????

 

[LizzieC]

We had a really small wedding w/ no dancing. Our ceremony was at about 11:15am and we just did a lunch reception (at 1:15 ish) that lasted until about 4:00. If you''re not dancey people, I don''t think you should feel you HAVE to have a dance. I think a lot of people would actually prefer a "social hour".

 

[KimberlyH]

Our ceremony is at 7pm w/ followed by cocktail hour and then dinner, no dancing. We''ve hired a guitarist who will play throughout the evening. We are having a small wedding (40 invited guests) and dancing just isn''t my fiance''s thing.

 

[Kaylyn]

See, I LOVE those ideas. I have a bit of a problem with those brides that spend all that money to look classy and beautiful and then start booty dancing as soon as they hit the dance floor...it seems so contradictory to me. Haha.

Maybe it''s because I''m from a smallish town, everyone just *expects* you to have a dance. My other friend getting married in July isn''t having one either and we''re both getting crap for it.

Ah, well...it''s our wedding. Not theirs.

 

[monarch64]

Kaylyn, we had a Sunday 12:30 ceremony outdoors with a reception immediately following inside. We did hire a DJ for the ceremony music as well as the reception, with the intent that people would dance, at least my DH and I and my father and I. As it turned out, the weather was so beautiful that day that people basically went outside and stayed outside on the patio after the meal and dessert...the only "dancers" were the children and several of our younger friends (who didn''t get all stripper like or anything, lol). We probably could''ve saved some $ by not hiring a DJ, but you''ve got to have some background music no matter what! I think that usually when the music goes down people know it''s time to be making an exit. It doesn''t have to be dance music or anything wedding-y, just some background ambiance... my brother married a girl whose family doesn''t believe in dancing (Bible belt Baptists) and my parents arranged a 3 piece "band" for their reception which was held in her church''s basement--it was nice.

Nothing wrong at all with no dancing...especially if you and your fiance don''t care for it. It is definitely your day to call the shots!

 

[diamondfan]

I think it really depends on you. I have a girlfriend who got married at a lovely house in LA that is rented for events. She had a small wedding, not black tie but cocktail attire. She had a harp, flute and something else...it was basically heavy hors doeuvres (can NEVER spell that) and passed champagne and white wine (plus other beverages). She did not have any dancing, it was like a cocktail reception. It was lovely and elegant and simple, exactly her style. Whatever you are comfy with is what you should do...and I do not always love a band and stuff in the day time, but that is just me. You could very easily not have dancing...and I am sure it would be great!

 

[eks6426]

I had an afternoon wedding as well with no dancing. Fiance doesn't like to dance. You're right that lots of people expect it and I took a lot of comments for not doing it. But ultimately, it saved a ton of money, made my husband happy and allowed us to actually visit with people instead of dancing.

For background music we used an IPOD hooked up to my husband's giant speakers. I did a playlist that was long enough for our entire reception. The giant speakers had sound that was as good or better than any DJ. In fact, we used the IPOD speaker hook-up for our ceremony music too. We put one of his nephews (in his 20s) in charge of the the IPOD & it worked great. The nephew & his buddies moved the speakers to the reception location too. Worked like a charm and we still have the IPOD.

People really remember our reception because it was different...in the end we got a lot of really nice comments.