Thoughts on wedding party dance?

kd1986

I've always assumed we would have a wedding party dance at our reception, because most weddings I've been to have had one.  I even have a song in mind, but as I've started thinking more, I wonder if this is too much of a "forced awkward situation" for those standing up in our wedding.  What does everyone else think?  I'm starting to look at it as we're making certain people slow dance together who may or may not know eachother well....hmmmm

KBLDC2012

We has 11 members on each side of our wedding party but many of them knew each other. however, we wanted something a little more exciting so we started the dance with a slow song but it only played for like a minute then we busted into a fast fun song and the whole party danced.

Tkortier

We are not doing a wedding party dance for that reason (it would feel like an awkward, forced situation).  We have a small wedding party consisting of my 14 year old sister and his best man who has super stage fright.  We don't want to push anything on anyone.  There is no "rule" that says we HAVE to have a wedding party dance so have decided against it.

kikirst33

LIke PP we are not having a wedding party dance.  We are having only one dance - for bride and groom - and that is limited to only 2 minutes. We are then going to invite everyone to join us on the dance floor.

I've been to too many weddings where there were so many family dances that it sucked the life out of the party.   I'd prefer to have my guests having fun with me than watching me dance wtih my dad, step-dad, FFIL....  

zantster

I thought about this too...but I just want the WP to dance and help put the guests at ease.  I don't care if we all do the same steps.

Meegles4

It is a forced awkward situation. There's really no reason to do it, so why do it?

I'm also of the mindset that the reception should move quickly so that the dance floor can be opened as soon as possible for guests to enjoy the evening. So, we just did our dance, the father/daughter, and the mother/son.

Meegles4

In Response to <a href="http://forums.theknot.com/Sites/theknot/Pages/Main.aspx/local-wedding-boards_michigan-detroit_thoughts-on-wedding-party-dance?plckFindPostKey=Cat:Local Wedding BoardsForum:88Discussion:e7e8a7a8-8070-41d4-8b2d-a5ad08425d4aPost:fb4f819a-547b-4d19-a0a1-a7df26ad628e">Re: Thoughts on wedding party dance?</a>:
[QUOTE]I thought about this too...but I just want the WP to dance and help put the guests at ease.  I don't care if we all do the same steps.
Posted by zantster[/QUOTE]

Guests don't really need to be put at ease and watching strangers (i.e. the WP) dance together isn't going to make that happen, IMO.

I've often seen a DJ invite all the couples to the dance floor after the special dances are over, and that's how it's opened up. The DJ plays a slow song for that song and then goes into more upbeat music to keep people out there. It works fine, and that way people actually get to dance with their SOs instead of whoever they're paired with for the WP.

acaponi87

I'm not a fan of the wedding party dance, for reasons cited above.

Our DJ had a cool way of getting everyone on the dance floor to start. He called it a "good-luck dance" and announced that for every couple that came out an danced for that song (slow song) it was a year of good luck/health/happiness for my H and I. Naturally this brings almost everyone onto the dance floor. Toward the end of the song he makes everyone come together and do a massive group hug around us. It was fun and nice because everyone gets to dance with whoever they want. He goes into fun song and most people stay out and continue to dance.

vk2204

Growing up I have seen them at most weddings I have attended, and never thought too much about it.

But the first wedding I was in as a BM I had to do a WP dance and the guy I was dancing with (I had never met him before that day) had a girlfriend and she was totally not happy with it. She gave me dirty looks for the rest of the night. It was very uncomfortable.

mpickl

I think I am going against the grain here, but we are doing a WP dance... sort of. It's going to be tied into me and FI's first dance. We'll be dancing, then the wedding party joins us for a tiny bit of the song, then they all go out into the audience and grab people to dance and that will (hopefully) get a bunch of people on the dance floor. Dunno if it's going to work, but that's the plan.

zantster

In Response to <a href="http://forums.theknot.com/Sites/theknot/Pages/Main.aspx/local-wedding-boards_michigan-detroit_thoughts-on-wedding-party-dance?plckFindPostKey=Cat:Local Wedding BoardsForum:88Discussion:e7e8a7a8-8070-41d4-8b2d-a5ad08425d4aPost:8e271b41-5b2d-450d-83ef-4f9baa4f08ed">Re: Thoughts on wedding party dance?</a>:
[QUOTE]I think I am going against the grain here, but we are doing a WP dance... sort of. It's going to be tied into me and FI's first dance. We'll be dancing, then the wedding party joins us for a tiny bit of the song, then they all go out into the audience and grab people to dance and that will (hopefully) get a bunch of people on the dance floor. Dunno if it's going to work, but that's the plan.
Posted by mpickl[/QUOTE]

That's sort of the type of thing I wanted to do too.  I don't want the guests sitting there like spectators forever but just for the WP to sort of help make sure the floor doesn't end up completely empty by working with whatever the DJ is doing and being encouraging.

ermjdecember2015

I agree its awkward and uncomfortable, considering most of our party is married/dating other people not in our party. So we decided to invite our party, with their spouses/significant others, along with our parents, grandparents, aunt ands uncles and whomever else to join us up there and then open to dance floor to all and get the party going!

mlynn1223

We did a wedding party dance and it turned out very well.  We (and our party) are kind of odd in that we like being in awkward situations so we actually got some cool pictures!  In addition, my brother in law was paired with my cousin (who are both in other relationships) but they found out they both like to run and were able to share their training secrets (with both have subsequently put into their training regimen).  It turned out great and I am glad we did it.  I understand why others do not want to though, especially if there are younger party members.  

To get everybody on the floor we did a reverse anniversary dance.  It started with DH and I then we added from there so at the end all married couples were out there.  We made a special announcement about those who have been married the longest before it started and they stood up to a round of applause.  It was so great to get everybody one the floor.  From there he played another slow song for all to enjoy then a fast song which kept most (except the elderly) out on the floor dancing.  

All of our formal dances, first dance, father daughter, mother son, mother daughter (it's a long story), WP and then reverse anniversary song were less than 15 minutes and I would say every minute worth it.

Ultimately though, do what you and your FI want to do, it is your day and will go by to quickly!  DH wanted a WP dance so we did one

db1985

We are not doing a wedding party dance since all of our groomsmen are from out of state (my fiance grew up in New Jersey) and have never met the bridesmaids.  If you really want to do the wedding party dance maybe just let them dance with their dates?  

We are doing the anniversary dance to get everyone on the dance floor.  Fiance's grandparents will be married the longest so we will award them a bottle of wine at the end

pamcakes33

I have an odd number of bridesmaids to groomsmen. Most of them don't know each other and there are some big age differences. I was considering skipping the wp dance all together or having them all dance with their dates, but it was suggested to me that this dance should honor the wp and they should be allowed to have it without other people on the floor. anyone have any thoughts on that?