When did you do parent dance during the reception?

dem068

I am trying to figure out when some things will happen during the reception and I was curious as to when people did/are planning their parent dances during the reception.  I just spoke with someone from our band and they suggested to do the first dance (and about halfway through or so to invite other people on to the dance floor), then to play fun music for a while, and to do the parent dances later in the evening.  But I can't decide when I think it would be good (and not party stopping/dance floor clearning) to do them.  Thanks in advance!

itzMS

Right away. I can't tell you how many times I've seen them done "later in the evening" and the Father of the Bride is MIA.

The poor bride stands on the dance floor for like 10 minutes while people try to hunt down her dad. The poor guests are bored out of their minds.

wittykitty14

I would do it immediately after your first dance.

krizzo17

We were originally going to do our first dance, then the parent dances, then serve dinner, but H got sick during the cocktail hour, and the DJ was worried about him standing for too long, so he announced dinner right after our dance, then did parent dances after dinner and then opened the dance floor. Either way works well, I think, I just wouldn't put them off until a random time.

dem068

krizzo17 said:

We were originally going to do our first dance, then the parent dances, then serve dinner, but H got sick during the cocktail hour, and the DJ was worried about him standing for too long, so he announced dinner right after our dance, then did parent dances after dinner and then opened the dance floor. Either way works well, I think, I just wouldn't put them off until a random time.

ah, I love this idea.  We want to have a little bit of time between cocktail hour and dinner (because there is going to be a good amount a food at cocktail hour and dinner is 4 courses), so I think this will work perfectly.  Small dance party before dinner and then kick off the dancing again after dinner.

Thanks everyone for your responses.  It is really helpful to get a few perspectives

Maggie0829

We did first dance and then parent dances.  That way after dinner was served the dance floor would be completely open without any interruptions.  There is nothing worse then getting down with your bad self on the dance floor only to have your fun time paused to watch a spotlight dance or worse a garter/bouquet toss.

erinlin25

We did everything after dinner & cutting the cake...it was our first dance, daughter/dad, mom/son; anniversary dance, garter toss, bouquet toss...open dance floor for the rest of the night.  It flowed well.

dem068

Totally agree, we are not interested in kicking people off the dance floor until the band packs up and leaves.  I think we are going to do our first dance, then have the dance floor open for about 30 min, then sit for dinner, and immediately after dinner do our first dances (they are both pretty short songs, so will be nice and quick) and then kick up the party again!