Dollar Dance

1652katrina · May 2010

I am debating on whether or not to do the dollar dance. In a way I feel that it is tacky, because people have already spent money to buy you presents and attend your wedding. On the other hand, I feel like every wedding I have attended has done the dollar dance. What do you think? Please share your opinions! Thanks!

cschuma2 · May 2010

I also think it is tacky. However, it seems like more often than not, the weddings I go to have dollar dances/dash for cash. I wonder if it is a regional thing. Tacky Ohioans...

katieanne85 · May 2010

your wedding doesn't have to be like every other weddings, start a new trend and ditch rude and obsolete traditions!

mizri · May 2010

I really like the idea of a wish dance instead of a dollar dance.

angiems97 · May 2010

I don't think we will be doing a dollar dance either. The best thing about dollar dances when I have been to weddings is I get some time to talk with the groom who is marrying into the family or one of my friends.

karmellah · May 2010

i was so embarrassed when i was forced to do one the last wedding i attended soooooo probably not

future-mrs · May 2010

Unfortunately, it is HIGHLY common here and I've always hated it. Even my mom is insisting on things like this... The guest is just that: a guest at your wedding, why should they be shelling out money for this and that to be a guest at your wedding?

MyNameIsNot · May 2010

This topic comes up fairly frequently on this board. Most people find it horribly tacky.

Of course, the people that are doing it think it is ok.

megk8oz · May 2010

I'm from an area where they are never done. I only have been to one wedding that had one ... and the bride (Who is one of the most class-less people I've ever met) outright said that they were only doing one to get more money from people ... so I think they're tacky.

That being said, I am all for a couple doing a "wish" dance.

memelissa13 · May 2010

Never heard of the Dollar Dance not a custom to me and my friends and family. Sounds tacky though.

trix1223 · May 2010

I married into a family that ALWAYS does a dollar dance. We didn't. Guess what? Everyone got over it.

No one should panhandle at their own wedding. Or at anyone else's wedding. Start a trend. Just say no.

mrs chicken · May 2010

I had never heard of a dollar dance until moved to CA. For some reason, the phrase "dollar dance" makes me think of strip clubs.

Hee hee...dollar dance...

Needless to day, we won't be doing.one.

nboulanger · May 2010

If I wanted to dance for cash I wouldn't need to get married to do it!

I have never seen one myself but I could just picture my family dying of embarrassment if they had to watch me do it.

Alanda1318 · May 2010

My cousin did one and I liked the idea of getting to dance with everyone, and all that, but I didn't have any money on me, which made me miss out. We are doing a dollar dance, but putting monopoly money at each table so people aren't using their own money to get to say what they want or whatever to the Bride and Groom originally we were going to donate the money to a charity, but we decided we would donate a percentage of the wedding money if we get any to a charity.

trix1223 · May 2010

In Response to <a href="http://forums.theknot.com/Sites/theknot/Pages/Main.aspx/wedding-boards_customs-traditions_dollar-dance-1?plckFindPostKey=Cat:Wedding%20BoardsForum:36Discussion:e98b56d8-191a-4110-972c-837a4d4200b4Post:51a08246-38a8-4b6f-9631-86d04cc0fda7">Re: Dollar Dance</a>:
[QUOTE]My cousin did one and I liked the idea of getting to dance with everyone, and all that, but I didn't have any money on me, which made me miss out. We are doing a dollar dance, but putting monopoly money at each table so people aren't using their own money to get to say what they want or whatever to the Bride and Groom originally we were going to donate the money to a charity, but we decided we would donate a percentage of the wedding money if we get any to a charity.
Posted by Alanda1318[/QUOTE]

If you don't like the idea, why not donate ALL of the money to charity? How does donating a "percentage" of the money make a dollar dance less egregious?

[Deleted User] · May 2010

I felt the same way at first, but after talking to my bridesmaids, and my family it sounds like a good idea. It seems like hardly any of them have been to a wedding that DIDN'T have one. I didn't want to make it seem like we are asking people for money, but on the other hand I think it will be nice to dance with all the guests. In my region at least, my dad said "it's usually expected at weddings." I think what we are going to do is have one, but not have it mandatory that the guests give a dollar to dance with the bride or groom. If they don't have an extra dollar, or if they aren't able to give one, they can still participate.

trix1223 · May 2010

In Response to <a href="http://forums.theknot.com/Sites/theknot/Pages/Main.aspx/wedding-boards_customs-traditions_dollar-dance-1?plckFindPostKey=Cat:Wedding BoardsForum:36Discussion:e98b56d8-191a-4110-972c-837a4d4200b4Post:08f80b0e-25c1-4f81-a107-e82f745062fe">Re: Dollar Dance</a>:
[QUOTE]I felt the same way at first, but after talking to my bridesmaids, and my family it sounds like a good idea. It seems like hardly any of them have been to a wedding that DIDN'T have one. I didn't want to make it seem like we are asking people for money, but on the other hand I think it will be nice to dance with all the guests. In my region at least, my dad said "it's usually expected at weddings." I think what we are going to do is have one, but not have it mandatory that the guests give a dollar to dance with the bride or groom. If they don't have an extra dollar, or if they aren't able to give one, they can still participate.
Posted by srobson2011[/QUOTE]

Can't you dance with all the guests without money exchanging hands?

Alanda1318 · May 2010

In Response to <a href="http://forums.theknot.com/Sites/theknot/Pages/Main.aspx/wedding-boards_customs-traditions_dollar-dance-1?plckFindPostKey=Cat:Wedding%20BoardsForum:36Discussion:e98b56d8-191a-4110-972c-837a4d4200b4Post:9a82537f-18cf-413d-a48b-f57a383d714c">Re: Dollar Dance</a>:
[QUOTE]In Response to Re: Dollar Dance : If you don't like the idea, why not donate ALL of the money to charity? How does donating a "percentage" of the money make a dollar dance less egregious?
Posted by trix1223[/QUOTE]
We aren't asking for money for the dollar dance... We are using monopoly money... We are donating a percentage of any wedding money we receive as gifts to charity. Please read my post before you call me rude.

mizri · May 2010

Call me naive, but why do people donate money that was given to them as a gift to start your life together to charity? If the person giving you money as a wedding gift wanted to donate to charity, they would. To me, that just doesn't make sense.

andreakim · May 2010

We are not doing the dance either.

Alanda1318 · May 2010

In Response to <a href="http://forums.theknot.com/Sites/theknot/Pages/Main.aspx/wedding-boards_customs-traditions_dollar-dance-1?plckFindPostKey=Cat:Wedding%20BoardsForum:36Discussion:e98b56d8-191a-4110-972c-837a4d4200b4Post:369b80da-2ae9-4847-9d1f-84de6079e31a">Re: Dollar Dance</a>:
[QUOTE]Call me naive, but why do people donate money that was given to them as a gift to start your life together to charity? If the person giving you money as a wedding gift wanted to donate to charity, they would. To me, that just doesn't make sense.
Posted by mizri[/QUOTE]

It is a gift given to us to do what we want to do with it. I just paid off my students loans, we have a house and everything we need. We want to donate to a charity that means something to both of us. They gave us the money because they didn't know what else to give. We don't need anything. If I have extra money i would like to do something that would make me feel good instead of buying china that will sit in my cabinets and collect dust. It doesn't have to make sense to you... it isn't yours to spend. If this makes us feel good and happy I guess the person who gave us the gift did their job because don't you give gifts to make other people feel good and happy?

marguerita04 · May 2010

I voted "undecided" because I HATE the dollar dance. It's long, it's awkward and awful. I usually walk up to the Best Man, hand him a $5 bill and walk away. I'll talk to the groom later haha

I actually posted a similar question, but mine's more of "How do we still get the money to go towards our HM?" Our families both expect it and thus far, I've found no way around it. Though I might make the DJ play upbeat, fun music rather than stupid 7th-grade slow songs.

trix1223 · May 2010

In Response to <a href="http://forums.theknot.com/Sites/theknot/Pages/Main.aspx/wedding-boards_customs-traditions_dollar-dance-1?plckFindPostKey=Cat:Wedding%20BoardsForum:36Discussion:e98b56d8-191a-4110-972c-837a4d4200b4Post:1d4d47de-4464-4a24-b912-694688773a3a">Re: Dollar Dance</a>:
[QUOTE]I voted "undecided" because I HATE the dollar dance. It's long, it's awkward and awful. I usually walk up to the Best Man, hand him a $5 bill and walk away. I'll talk to the groom later haha I actually posted a similar question, but mine's more of "How do we still get the money to go towards our HM?" Our families both expect it and thus far, I've found no way around it. Though I might make the DJ play upbeat, fun music rather than stupid 7th-grade slow songs.
Posted by marguerita04[/QUOTE]

I'd suggest planning a HM that you can afford yourself. Honeymoons don't have to be big extravagent vacations. Or take a mini-moon after the wedding and then take a smashing vacation for your 1st anniversary.

iamapixie · May 2010

Ok, so I'm really loving the wish dance idea. I think I'll have to use that

Another thing my cousin did was a shoe auction. I think it's a Polish thing. Basically, you "auction off" the bride's shoe to the highest bidder.

jamjar11 · May 2010

Here are the 2 main reasons I am NOT doing the dollar dance....

1. I'm a terrible, terrible dancer. Seriously, it's like watching a drunk zombie try to hopscotch. No one wants to pay to dance with that.

2. Knowing my bridesmaids and friends, they will hear "dollar dance" and probably have my wedding shut down for public nudity and indecency.

Sagenhaft · May 2010

where I come from, no one does it so my family wouldn't know to bring cash (and who just randomly carries cash anymore?). I'd be standing up there by myself for 3/4 of the song, awkward as hell.

danij30 · June 2010

i have never been to a reception WITHOUT a dollar dance. it's never ever ever mandatory to participate. instead it's a fun/dorky/and yes..tacky way to chat a bit with guests that choose to be generous. my aunts and uncles and extended family love it. they get to meet the person marrying into our HUGE family...and i'm talking huge. all ceremonies have at least 200 guests and usually more at the reception.

and i think some people are making too big of a deal by saying you are being greedy and asking for money. IT'S A DOLLAR. yes. grandparents and aunts/uncles sometimes give more, but they are the exception and they do that out of the goodness and generocity of their own hearts. A DOLLAR. and i also agree with a previous poster...it's for the kids. young cousins love it. they get to dance with the handsome groom or the beautiful princess bride.

it's fun. and if you are THAT concerned about offending your guests...then you are inviting the wrong people.

Dollar Dance

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