When should I start wedding dance lessons?
It is important to choose a good time to start wedding dance lessons. There are several factors to consider such as: your level of dance experience, difficulty of choreography and your availability for dance lessons and practice. When it gets closer to your wedding, things start getting hectic and most people put their dance lessons and practicing aside. Thus, it is better to start earlier, about 3-4 months before wedding so that about 1 month before the date you already have routine and practiced it a little. This way when closer to wedding things start getting more stressful, all you need to do is to rehearse from time to time.
How many dance lessons should we take before wedding?
It really depends on what kind of dancing you want to do for your wedding and your level of experience. If you want something simple and relaxing, like social dancing, and you have some experience, a couple of lessons might work. If you want nice choreography and do not have dance experience it may take a few lessons. Our First Dance Wedding Dance package, for example, includes 5 private lessons. In that time frame we can create a choreography that is nice and suitable for a dancer's level.
How long should a Wedding First Dance be?
There is no time limit on Wedding First Dance, however there are several things to consider. First, the longer the dance, the more choreography you have to remember and practice. How much time are you willing to invest into practicing? Second, consider your audience. They came because they love you so much and want to support you. However, most people have short attention spans. If your wedding first dance is too long, your audience may get a little less enthusiastic. Therefore, we recommend a range between 2:00-2:30 minutes. That time range is quite reasonable for most people without dance experience and pleasant for your audience.
How do you choose a Wedding First Dance song?
Choosing a good First Dance song is very important and here are a few things you need to consider:
Is the song in the style of dance that you would like to do? Sometimes we get asked to do a Waltz first dance choreography to the song that is not a waltz at all. If you don’t know, just ask us, we can recommend a dance that would suit your particular song. Alternatively we can recommend other songs that might work as well for you.
Consider your dress/gown and shoes. If you have a fast song can you dance in them? If not, you always have an option of changing to a different dress for your first dance.
Choose a song that has meaning for you both, this way your performance may be more genuine. Also choose a first dance song with a steady, easily recognized beat. Being able to hear the beat and not struggle to hear music makes dancing easier.
Practice your First Dance a lot
The best way to ensure your First Dance is going to go as planned is to practice. Practice between your dance lessons. It is very common for people to forget fast, therefore the sooner after the lesson you review what you have learned the better. Write down some notes if you have to.
To start with, practice at home, in your back yard, wherever you can find enough space for your choreography. Do not forget safety, be aware of things you can trip over.
For those with more-elaborate choreography, schedule a dance rehearsal designed to mimic your first-dance circumstances as closely as possible. Work with your wedding planner and venue. Arrange for time when you can rehearse in your reception space.
Listen to your first dance song as much as you can, for lunch, while driving to work etc. Get yourself familiar with rhythm, beat, melody, accents.
What to tell your dance instructors (very important)
Wedding date: Most important, tell us when your wedding is. We need to schedule your lessons so that you are prepared on time. On time means not a day before your wedding, but a little bit ahead. The last week before a wedding is quite stressful, we recommend finishing your choreography earlier and rehearsing your dance well before the week of event.
Venue details: Tell us how big your dance floor is going to be at venue. When we create choreography we need to have an idea how much you will be able to move around. At the studio we can approximate venue floor size to make it more realistic.
Audience: Are you going to have audience on all sides of the floor or only few sides? That makes a difference. If your guests are only on one side and we choreograph something where you facing away from them that would be awkward. Otherwise if you have quests all around the floor but your choreography is very stationary that is not good either. Ask your wedding planner or venue personnel if you are not sure what size the space is and how it will be arranged.
First Dance Song: Tell us as soon as possible, even before first lesson what song you plan to use. This information gives us idea of the style of dance we need to work with and we start thinking about potential choreography, based on your likes, time constraints, expenses etc
