Your First Dance – a 5 Point Checklist

You may already have a favorite song – per­haps one that was play­ing when you first met – or it may be that nei­ther of you have a clue which song you’re going to choose. If so, don’t worry – all you have to do is Google ‘first dance songs’ and you’ll find plenty of sug­ges­tions. One word of warn­ing though — be sure to check the lyrics before reach­ing a final deci­sion. The song ‘Every Breath You Take’ by The Police sounds like ideal first dance mate­r­ial – until, that is, you realize it’s about a stalker! Give some thought also to the kind of tempo you’ll feel com­fort­able with. If you’re both com­pe­tent dancers then you prob­a­bly won’t mind whether it’s a foxtrot, a rumba or a waltz – but if you’re not too clever on your pins, or your part­ner has two left feet, then a slow song may be your safest option.

Photo credit: Twen­ty­Four Seven wed­ding band

2. To chore­o­graph or not to chore­o­graph – that is the question

Some cou­ples hate the idea of learn­ing a spe­cific rou­tine for their first dance whilst oth­ers wel­come the chance to put on a bit of a show a la Strictly Come Danc­ing. At the very least it makes sense to have a prac­tice at home. You may be sur­prised at just how long the aver­age song lasts and no-one wants to look (or feel) awk­ward dur­ing their first dance.

Should you wish to wow your guests with a stun­ning dis­play then there are plenty of dance teach­ers out there who can help you to develop and prac­tise a prop­erly chore­o­graphed rou­tine. Again, Google is the place to head.

3. Liais­ing with your wed­ding band or DJ

If you’ve booked a band to play at your recep­tion then you’ll need to check whether they’re able to play a live ver­sion of your cho­sen first dance. Because mod­ern pop songs are often pro­duced solely within a com­puter it can some­times be hard for a band to do the song justice, particularly where the band’s line-up in terms of instru­men­ta­tion doesn’t lend itself to the song in ques­tion. In which case the band may sug­gest that they play the song via their CD player instead — or you may pre­fer to pick a song from the band’s exist­ing set-list.

Bear in mind also that the first dance song you’ve cho­sen may have been cov­ered by a num­ber of dif­fer­ent artists — so it’s worth check­ing with your band or DJ that they’ll be play­ing your favourite version.

Photo credit: Twen­ty­Four Seven wed­ding band

4. First dance tim­ings and lighting

There’s noth­ing wed­ding guests like more than tak­ing pic­tures of the happy cou­ple dur­ing the first dance. So make sure you know in advance exactly who will be announc­ing your first dance and at what time. Often it will be the band or DJ as they’ll be the one’s respon­si­ble for play­ing the music but alter­na­tively it could be your Toast­mas­ter (if you’ve hired one) or the father of the bride. Either way your guests will need to be given suf­fi­cient time to gather round with their cam­eras. Give some thought also as to whether you want your band or DJ to encour­age your guests to join in – per­haps half way through.

Don’t for­get to liaise with your pho­tog­ra­pher too – he or she will need to be ready to cap­ture your spe­cial moment and may also want to speak in advance with the band, DJ and/or venue to get the right lighting.

5. Don’t for­get to enjoy it!

After all that organ­is­ing it’s impor­tant not to lose sight of what your first dance is all about — a cel­e­bra­tion of your feel­ings for each other. This is yours and your partner’s spe­cial moment at your Recep­tion so make sure you enjoy it to the max. You never know, you might even get a per­fect 10 from Craig Revel Hor­wood darling!

The author is a mem­ber of 24–7, one of the lead­ing party bands & wed­ding bands in Kent. If you’ve got a spare 5 mins head over to their web­site to find out more about them, read their FAQs and dis­cover some of the extras they offer.

Photo credit: Twen­ty­Four Seven wed­ding band