Dollar dance

Seriously not trying to be snarky here, I'm just completely unfamiliar with the tradition. What is the cultural significance of a dollar dance?

Yeah @sangele I agree. I'm polish and it does have some cultural meaning but it's super tacky. It bothers me that people use it as an excuse. You cut out 1000 other traditions but you need to keep the one that you get cash from "for cultural reasons"... It's bs

@Tayrn, at least the dollar dances that I have witnessed (for cultural reasons) are not about charging the guests to dance with them. Rather, while the couple is dancing guests shower them with well wishes and blessings represented through money. In most of these situations, couples do not even announce the dance, it is something that organically happens at some point during the night. A key difference in many of these rituals is that couples do not ASK for money, but rather guests initiate the offering of money/blessings.

OP, a few users (myself included) that it's tacky and money-grabby unless done for cultural reasons. If you do a search on the forum about dollar dances, you'll see that several others share this sentiment as well.

Alternatives

@babybunnies I don't know about other cultures, but for my family (polish) handing dollars to the bride is to symbolize that you are having a great time and want to contribute to continuing the party. The after party, a poprawiny, is typically held the next day and you usually finish off the leftover booze and etc then use the money from the previous night to supplement with snacks or whatever.

@beachdreams I understand that the people who are actually doing it for cultural reasons are not charging but 99% of the people on this site doing a dollar dance are.

Jalina it's been leaked in to central wv too!

@Tayrn, I totally agree that brides/grooms who are doing this just to get money are super rude, and are also being disrespectful to the cultures who do have this tradition. It is a greedy form of cultural appropriation in my book.

No, sorry, it's not a "Pittsburgh" thing, it just means you have some rude people in your social circle.

Unless your are from an actual cultural background where this dance is a major part of your wedding culture (being from Pittsburgh is not a culture,) then this is incredibly rude to do.

@Taryn -Thanks for the explanation. I had heard it was a Polish tradition.

It's not a Pittsburgh thing. I've been to 3 weddings there and not one has done a dollar dance.

The cookies tables though, yaaassssss!

The fact that you are from Pittsburgh has nothing to do with it. Someone here the other night said that because they were from Michigan that it was cultural, too. It isn't. My family is from Poland where the dollar dance is part of the culture. Everyone does it. That is a cultural reason.

Dollar dances, no matter what, are boring and kill the party mood.

I have an idea! Don't do it! Its incredibly tacky and awkward.

Ew. Don't do this

These comments are hysterical. Lol that was similar to being in the movie mean girls. I love Pittsburgh and our made up traditions! Go Steelers!

I'm actually watching mean girls right this minute and no one is being like them. If anything, they would tell you it's totally cool and then talk shit behind your back.

Please don't.

It's not a tradition that you made up in Pittsburgh...

I started to think about sarcastically cool things to do.

Then I remembered how tacky I think this is.

Bail on it.