No dancing, but first dance?

Hi Maria!

Are you wanting to know whether no dancing is fine for your wedding? As in, no dancing for you or your guests besides the first dance? If this is the case, it might be a little awkward for your guests to see dancing occur, then be told that there is no dancing afterwards.

Since your venue is an intimate mansion, I would suggest maybe you both having your first dance in a room together with just the two of you? Kind of like a 'first look' moment, but with a first dance! It could be a nice moment for you both to spend quiet time together without all eyes on you, plus it could lead to some very romantic pictures ops!

I do think it's pretty awkward to have spotlight dances and then not follow that up with dancing for everyone (COVID dancing restrictions excepted). You two can have your first dance literally anytime/anywhere so it doesn't sound like your reception is really the place for it.

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Hi Shelly! We're fine with no dancing at our wedding, but I was just curious if it would be odd if we did a first dance for ourselves but not have a big dance for our guests. I LOVE the idea of having a small first dance moment with just us. That sounds so sweet. Thanks for the idea!

I guess I’m gonna go against the grain here and say I don’t see an issue with you have a first dance but not having an open dance floor.
I will add that I attended a wedding where there was no dancing and it was quite boring. A lot of people left immediately following the “meal” that was served. (It was snacks).
I don’t see an issue of having dancing even if you and your FH aren’t fans of it. My husband didn’t dance, but I did. And our guests filled the dance floor the whole time. You and your husband can enjoy yourselves socializing and watching while others dance if they wanted to. Just a thought.

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Gotcha! Some guests may find it odd, but with the state of things right now, it's more common to go to a wedding without dancing at the reception! You're so welcome for the idea!

I don’t think that’s odd at all ... maybe because I am just doing that. Lol! After our entrance into the reception, we are going right into our first dance. And immediately following our dance, we’ll have dinner. There will be no parent dances or any other dancing. We have a small guest list (25 including my fiancé and I) and many of them are not interested in dancing anyway so it works for our crowd.

I got married this past weekend. Our reception was at a beautiful restaurant. They left an open space for us so we could have our first dance. That was the only dancing that occurred. None of our guests thought it was awkward.

I've only seen that once during a daytime church wedding. It was sweet and worked in that particular setting where other dancing was not allowed. But in any other setting, has the potential to come across as awkward if guests are expecting to be able to dance. But do what works for you.

My FH is not a huge dancer other than slow dancing like you. Me, well I will dance if I have a few cocktails just fine! So we are having dancing, but we are including some games and other activities for guests to do so they aren’t just sitting around. Have you considered including some activities if you don’t want dancing? That may help with the guests who are more active and might want something to do. Good luck!

For our minimony my husband and I did our first dance and no one danced afterwards except for the kids. After the first dance we took pictures and then started taking shots lol.


There will definitely be dancing at our big wedding though

I’m a huge advocate of doing whatever you want for your wedding even if others might find it weird or different because it’s you and your husband’s day!!! My fiancé and I are the same way, we don’t dance at all. I’m super reserved and the thought of being on a dance floor actually dancing is mortifying.... However we are hiring a DJ and having an open dance floor at our wedding. Our wedding will be in the evening, more so towards “party time”. You said you’re having a morning wedding, so honestly I don’t think it would be weird at all!

To dance yourselves and not have a dance for guests is odd, and I will say it, kinda rude. Your guests won't say anything because they are your friends and family, but it is strange. And I am a pretty chill wedding guest.

Best wishes- xoxo

Personally, I find weddings without dancing to be very boring if it is the type of wedding that involves a sit down meal in a venue that has been exclusively hired for the wedding. Having been to a wedding held with COVID-19 restrictions in place that meant only 20 people could dance (being the bridal party only) even that was boring despite the multitude of alternate entertainment booked by the bride and groom. I guess the way I see it is that dancing is one of those things that really allows you to take part in the wedding and get your full celebration on, but, that is my personal opinion.

In that regard, I would find it odd if the bride and groom had a first dance but then there was no dancing. That tends to be the event which opens the dancefloor up and my natural reaction would be to go dance after.

We're having a small wedding of no more than 30 people and doing this very thing. After the ceremony/pictures we'll come in, do our first dance, father/daughter dance and then start the meal. My fiance and I are big dancers but the majority of the people we invited aren't and the ones that are didn't get offended or think we were rude for not having dancing afterwards. Your wedding is about what you and your partner want, so if it makes sense to you, do it.

I am in the same boat, me nor my FH dance and our family wont either! We are thinking about having a speaker play a handmade playlist to a volume where people can dance or not. We are back and forth on if we want a first dance. I know some of my friends will want to dance, so we are leaving the option open. But I know at some weddings I have been in they had a 2 hours dancing time and no one danced and the DJ was talking into a speaker and no one would get on the dance floor and it as very awkward, so when not paying for a DJ either a playlist is a safe bet!

Hello Maria

I ask myself the same question about our wedding. My fiancé and I are getting married in February, in the courtyard of an old house, on a Sunday morning. We don't know whether to include the first dance, because we will only have a jazz and bossa nova playlist. Tell me what you decided for your wedding, did you do your first dance without having an open floor?

Greetings,

Lucía