How to pack the dance floor

A couple of people asked on my last post about how the dance floor got so packed so quickly. I must say, the same thing happened at my younger brother's wedding this summer- and didn't happen at many of the other weddings we have attended. It seems that there are a couple of things that can make a difference.

1. The bride and groom must be happy.

If they are happy, it is much easier for everyone else to be happy.

2. The right music is crucial- and live music helps.

Of the three weddings we've attended with live music, 2 had tons of dancing. Of the DJ or ipod weddings, roughly 25% (2 of 8, I think) had a lot of dancing. Regardless of how the music is played, it should be music that everyone, from grandparents on down, should be able to tap their feet to. Our big band played standards from the 1930s, '40s and '50s; my brother and his wife had a funk band that played classics from the 1970s through today. But in each case, most people knew most of the songs.

3. A dance floor in the middle of the room helps.

All of the weddings that I've attended with a lot of dancing had the dance floor in the middle of the room, surrounded on three sides by tables, with the DJ or band on the 4th side. This makes it easier for people who are not dancing to be part of the dance floor, and if people stop to take a break, it is much easier for friends to get them back on the floor.

4. Booze is important.

'nuff said.

5. The bride and groom must be on the dance floor.

My mom asked me if we would go around from table to table at the reception. To her initial dismay, I said no- we were having a receiving line so we wouldn't need to do that. I said that I planned to be on the dance floor the entire night, and if people wanted to talk to me, they could dance with me. Whether it was the right thing to do or not, it worked.

Anyone have other tips to add about how to get the dance floor moving?

Dance Dance Dance

There were two things that our photographer, Ken Blaze, said about our wedding that he had never seen before at a wedding.

1. The dance floor was immediately packed following my dance with my dad.

Some dear family friends

The best man and his then girlfriend, now fiancee - we're going to their wedding in Calcutta in October!

College friends

Flower girl and ring bearer

2. The longest conga line- it extended way beyond the dance floor

Led by my piano playing youngest brother. He was so proud that he got is bowtie tied- specifically so he could look awesome at the reception when he undid it.




During the band's first break, we took a couple of group shots of friends. I'd highly recommend doing this.

The "chicas", from high school. Quite a bit different than our prom picture, I believe.

The requisite college alumni picture. Which still needs to be sent to the alumni magazine.

The group shot I wish I'd gotten- of all of the friends/families from my church that I grew up with.
And then we boogied into the night.

One of my good friends from college. At the winter formal in school, we would swing dance to at least 1 song, and did the same at his wedding.






And there you have it- our wedding in a nutshell. My youngest brother danced with 19 women (his girlfriend was in South Africa), my other brother did shots of Zwack with my uncle, and friends kept saying how much fun our wedding was- which was our original goal. To throw one helluva party.

All photos courtesy (and copyright!) of the amazing Ken Blaze.
Recap
The beginning
Getting ready
First Glance
To the Chapel
I Do
Receiving Our Guests
A little time for us
Let the party begin!
Sneak Peak
Dinner and Dessert
After dinner

After dinner

After dinner, it was....
....time for dancing! (Big surprise, I know. No way you guessed that one.)

My youngest brother, pianist extraordinaire, played the song for our first dance. Ben Fold's "The Luckiest", which may be a bit cliched- but is one of my brother's signature songs that he plays whenever he is around a piano.

Our dancing lessons really paid off.

It was so fantastic to have that time together on the dance floor.

Following our dance, I danced with my dad while the band played "Fly Me To the Moon".

This is my favorite picture ever of my dad and I.
My dad and I used to attend Girl Scout Father-Daughter dances when I was much younger- but both of us were more of the wallflower type than tearing it up on the dance floor. But the lessons that Calvin and I took, and my parents are still taking, really paid off.

The crowd really got into it as well.

Calvin's cousins and mom

Random people I don't know. Seriously- they are friends of Calvin's parents, and I have no idea who they are. And Calvin doesn't want to admit it, but he doesn't know who they are either.
At the end of the dance, I gave my dad a hug.

As did Calvin.

And then the party really got started!

All photos courtesy (and copyright!) of the amazing Ken Blaze.
Recap
The beginning
Getting ready
First Glance
To the Chapel
I Do
Receiving Our Guests
A little time for us
Let the party begin!
Sneak Peak
Dinner and Dessert

dinner and dessert

And then it was time for the guests to enter the ballroom!

We had only two toasts, both scheduled before dinner.

My dad went first...

(I was so happy!)

followed by the best man

A bit of man love.

After grace was said, it was time to dig in.

Vegetarian tastiness...

...and food for the carnivores

The entire ballroom

And then dessert was served. You may recall that instead of having wedding cake, we opted for rose creme brulee.

It was absolutely perfect for us to have a bit of time, enjoying ourselves, and not necessarily be the complete center of attention like the traditional cake cutting

Plus, there is no possibility of the dreaded cake smash



All photos courtesy (and copyright!) of the amazing Ken Blaze.
Recap
The beginning
Getting ready
First Glance
To the Chapel
I Do
Receiving Our Guests
A little time for us
Let the party begin!
Sneak Peak

Sneak peak

Marisa Gindi, the utterly fabulous hotel coordinator, gave us a sneak peak of the ballroom before guests entered.

We were blown away.

At the entrance to the ballroom

Tall centerpiece

Closeup- all of the flowers were carnations

The menu was designed to match our invitations- this was before they were tucked into the napkins

Each table was named for a different Cleveland landmark. Calvin's dad took the photos for each location.

All photos courtesy (and copyright!) of the amazing Ken Blaze.
Recap
The beginning
Getting ready
First Glance
To the Chapel
I Do
Receiving Our Guests
A little time for us
Let the party begin!

Let the party begin!

Thanks for all who commented on my last post- I will indeed continue with the recap :-)

After taking time for our pictures, we headed for the reception in time to catch cocktail hour. (When we arrived, though, I didn't head directly for the food. I first stopped in the bridal suite to change shoes into something that was more comfortable. For those looking for a comfortable option that isn't flip-flops, I highly recommend ballroom dancing shoes.)

The cocktail hour was held in the lobby area of the Renaissance Hotel's Gold Ballroom.

Scoping out the beverages...

As a fairly last minute decision in the planning process, we decided to hire a Rick Iacoboni for cocktail hour. The Renaissance wanted an obscene amount of money to set up the area for piped music (our original plan), so it was actually cheaper to hire Rick.

The ring bearer got some time in with his dad.

I got some time with my grad school friends

And Calvin caught up with a college friends and his wife. His wife is Dutch- hence the wedding present of wooden shoes.

My "adopted grandparents" - close family friends- looked on

Guests had the opportunity to sign our photo guestbook (Tip: Mpix books with linen paper pages have the perfect texture for guests to write in any type of ink.)


The placecards- I didn't even make it over to the table where they were located!

Around this point, the amazing Marisa Gindi (hotel wedding coordinator extraordinaire, and I do mean extraordinaire) let us take a sneak peak at the ballroom...

All photos courtesy (and copyright) of Ken Blaze.
Recap
The beginning
Getting ready
First Glance
To the Chapel
I Do
Receiving Our Guests
A little time for us