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First dance/ bridal party dance

MCM0W0MCM0W0 member
Eighth Anniversary First Comment
in Wedding Reception Forum
Hello all,
Just a question as i'm not really sure of tradition and how this is supposed to go. When the bride and groom have their first dance, does the rest of the bridal party join in at a later time during the song or is there a seperate song chosen for the brial party to dance to with the bride and groom after the original first dance? I know its probably confusing wording and im sorry if it is, just wasn't sure. Thanks for any advice!
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Re: First dance/ bridal party dance

  • NYCMercedesNYCMercedes member
    Sixth Anniversary 2500 Comments 500 Love Its 5 Answers
    The bridal party doesn't "do" a dance. The only other spotlight dances one occasionally sees are parent/child.
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  • AddieCakeAddieCake member
    10000 Comments 500 Love Its Fourth Anniversary 25 Answers
    It's incredibly awkward for the bridal party to have to dance with each other and for your guests to have to watch them.
    What did you think would happen if you walked up to a group of internet strangers and told them to get shoehorned by their lady doc?~StageManager14
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  • holyguacamole79holyguacamole79 member
    5000 Comments Sixth Anniversary 500 Love Its 5 Answers
    Just dance with your new husband and call it a day. There is no need to have a BP dance.




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  • manateehuggermanateehugger member
    2500 Comments 500 Love Its Third Anniversary 5 Answers
    Oh man, bridal party dances are the worst. People are either really awkward or they're really drunk in an attempt to be less awkward. The awkwardness exponentially goes up if you have a large wedding/dance floor and only 10-12 people on it. 

    Toward the end of our first dance song, we had our dj cut to a more upbeat song and invite everyone to the dance floor. We tipped off our bridal party to move to the floor to get people out there though - worked out fine.
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  • climbingsingleclimbingsingle member
    Knottie Warrior 10000 Comments 500 Love Its 5 Answers
    Please don't force your BP to dance. Just do your first dance and leave it at that. 
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  • MandyMostMandyMost member
    Knottie Warrior 1000 Comments 500 Love Its Name Dropper
    It's up to you. In particular, if you're really hesitant about doing a first dance in general, it can make sense to maybe dance for one minute alone, then have the bridal party join in with you. There's really no reason to do a specific bridal party dance, though. And think about it--who will the partners be with your bridal party dancing? The people may not know each other well and may feel awkward. 
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  • ShallowSeasShallowSeas member
    Sixth Anniversary 1000 Comments 500 Love Its First Answer
    I've been to several weddings and I have never seen a bridal party dance done. Father/Daughter and (mother/son if your FI wants one) and first dance are enough.  Nobody wants to sit and watch other people dance all night.  They'll either be ready to eat or ready to dance themselves, depending on when you do your dances.
    Anniversary
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  • donethatdonethat member
    Knottie Warrior 500 Comments 100 Love Its First Answer
    You can encourage your bridal party to help get dancing started by joining in (with their choice of dance partner) once open dancing begins.  This would not be announced, just let them all know you'd love it!  
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  • wrigleyvillewrigleyville member
    2500 Comments Fifth Anniversary 500 Love Its First Answer
    When I was younger, it was tradition (in our circles) for the B&G to dance their first dance and then the WP and parents would come out and dance to a slow song along with them. It always seemed pretty awkward to me, especially when you'd have an older GM paired with a preteen BM, so I'm glad to see that tradition dying out (in our circles).

    We're both introverts and hate being the center of attention, so we danced by ourselves for about a minute, and then my MOH and her husband, our BM and his girlfriend, and our parents joined us for the remainder of the song. This was pre-arranged and was our BM and MOH's idea. I made sure to gesture that the floor was open so guests wouldn't snark about the extra people "interrupting" our dance.
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  • Jen4948Jen4948 member
    Knottie Warrior 10000 Comments 500 Love Its 25 Answers
    I'd just dance with your FI and then open up the floor.  Not only does too many spotlight dances bore the guests, wedding party members (who often have SOs or dates who they are not matched with or who are not in the wedding party) often prefer not to dance with each other.
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  • LittleWohlscheidLittleWohlscheid member
    10 Comments First Anniversary 5 Love Its Name Dropper
    Both weddings I've been in have had a BP dance after the first dance. I didn't find it that awkward, but the groomsmen I was paired with were outgoing and talked with me the few minutes while we danced. 

    Both B&Gs decided to turn it into a snowball dance though, so it wasn't even a full song of just the BP dancing. It started with a slow song and the DJ then put a more upbeat song and would call out a key word (ex: wedding!) at which point everyone on the dance floor went and brought somebody new on to the floor with the goal of getting all of the guests dancing by the end of the song. Just an idea for if you feel like mixing it up.
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  • mrsk616mrsk616 member
    500 Comments 100 Love Its Second Anniversary Name Dropper
    just do your first dance. i havent seen a bp dance in years. since the 90s. what if you have an uneven bp not fair. my sister did this and i had to dance with my cousin because she didnt have any junior groomsmen. thankful for that cousin that stood up and did help but to awkward
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