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Beginner August 2019

First Dance No First Dance... Formal reception, without the formal?! Help!

Ashleigh, on July 15, 2019 at 1:37 AM Posted in Wedding Reception 0 6

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Wondering who's done or planning to do a reception with next to no formal stuff;

We have a proper 3 course meal, band etc, all the usual stuff.

We have a first dance song picked that we love, with our wedding coming up quickly,

I still can't get past the fact I'm not going to be comfortable doing it, and hubby to be aswell.

We'd written a time line with first dance into cake cutting because he we don't have a photographer for the entire reception,so we also don't really have time to relax, we've thought about the idea of doing a very short bit by ourselves & inviting bridal party & their partners (still only 2 couples) Maybe everyone else- but I worry about it being too early into the reception to get everyone up. Leaving it later as an 'open' of the dancefloor we will then miss the photo opportunities.

We have no problem with doing a cake cutting on entering, Bouquet toss

(as i have a spare mini bunch for ordering before we decided to not have a flower girl) & a couple of really short, straight to the point speeches.

How do you fill the time between courses & open the dance floor without any of it?

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6 Comments

Latest activity by Susan, on July 23, 2019 at 9:06 PM

Super October 2020
Brittany · on July 15, 2019 at 2:41 AM
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Ashleigh, what do you have so far? You have the grand entrance then the first dance then three course meal then cake cutting then the toss? It's totally fine if you do it all within the first hour of the reception, then your guests can enjoy the dancing/food after all the "big" photos opportunities are done. Usually the MC let's the guests know what is going on. They usually announce everything before it happens and tell people to enjoy the dance floor too when it's ready.
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Beginner August 2019
Ashleigh · on July 15, 2019 at 4:21 AM
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I am not worried about getting photos of the bouquet toss at all, I am only doing it cause I have the spare flowers, otherwise I wouldn't bother tbh. We only have our photographer for the first half hr of our reception- which is why its basically cake cutting & if we do the first dance, then entree served & our photographer will finish- We have a photo booth for the rest of the night anyway, so we'll get plenty of guest photos.
Main issue is weather we do or don't do a first dance, because i don't think when people have been seated for a whole maybe 10-15 mins, that they're going to get up & dance. But sametime I don't know if I am even comfortable enough to do it, so it could just be nice to have the song come on later in the night, but that obvs means we miss the photos.
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VIP September 2019
latasha · on July 15, 2019 at 6:27 AM
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We are not doing a first dance, we aren’t doing the cake cutting, we aren't doing the bouquet toss or the garter toss. We aren’t doing a lot of traditional things. We will fill that with a couple speeches and also some fun games.
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Super October 2020
Brittany · on July 15, 2019 at 10:44 AM
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Okay well it's up to you if you would like to do the first dance or not. Like Latasha said you could do toasts or speaches or something that you would want to have fun with. If you do the first dance within the first few minutes of the reception doesn't necessarily mean your guests have to dance after that. They could always eat then when the time comes could dance.
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Super February 2020
Jeanie · on July 16, 2019 at 1:45 AM
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You don’t have to do anything you don’t want to do. If you are uncomfortable with the first dance, have the dj play your song mixed in with the music and tell the photographer that’s when you want your first dance pictures done. Until you are ready to dance, just have the dj start playing music. People will get that it’s time to get up and dance even if you haven’t done a first dance. I’ve been to a lot of weddings recently, and more often than not people are taking out all the traditional stuff we normally associate with weddings. And I’ve never missed any of it.
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Dedicated August 2019
Susan · on July 23, 2019 at 9:06 PM
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We are doing speeches during dinner, then a first dance and dancing for the rest of the night! No bouquet, no cake cutting, no garter.
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