The first dance: one of the key moments of a wedding and one often feared by the bride and groom! When it comes to your first (and quite possibly only) public dance as husband and wife there’s one key decision to make before your reach the big moment: are you going to go choreographed or make it up as you go along? Time to put it to the debate!
In the Red Corner, arguing for a bit of heartfelt improvised dancing cheek to cheek, in fact her own wedding first dance was so improvised that to this day we still don’t know what song it was to, it’s Dom “The Tog” Bride
In the Blue Corner, arguing for a choreographed routine although his only experience of trying to actually learn a dance routine was at the age of 17 to dance to “Rocky Robin” with his colleagues at the Christmas party cabaret… it’s Matt “The Gormless Groom”
First Dance: Choreographed Vs Improvised
FIGHT!!!
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Dom: It’s your first dance as a married couple, not Strictly Come Dancing! it doesn’t matter whether or not you can dance properly, it’s just a chance for you and your new husband or wife to enjoy a nice romantic dance together to a song you love.
Matt: But all eyes are still on you and you are expected to make everyone else want to get up on the dance-floor! To some degree it is a performance – everyone will be watching and will want to be entertained!
Dom: If you’re not a great dancer then learning a routine (and being able to remember it after a few drinks) is going to be a nightmare!
Matt: But at the same time if you can’t dance then learning a few moves together even if it doesn’t look like a full routine means you’re not going to be completely embarrassed and end up doing the dreaded “Dad-dancing”!!
Dom: No-one cares if you can’t dance – it’s just about the romance! If you pick a slow dance you can’t really go wrong, and you can always instruct your ushers and bridesmaids to get up on the dance-floor quickly so you’re not dancing on your own for too long!
Matt: I’ve seen some brilliant routines done at weddings, you can even have a joke with it: at my brothers wedding they started the dance with the DJ saying “Will Fred and Ginger please take to the dance-floor” and my Red-headed new sister-in-law proceeded to dance the first part with my 2 year old nephew Freddie before Martin cut in and completed a comedy dance routine!
Dom: But sometimes rehearsed routines can look really forced and just not come off at all which is far more embarrassing than just dancing closely together without a routine! The photographer will be there to capture that moment and a look of concentration and confusion is not the image you want captured for prosperity!!
Matt: But as long as you rehearse it properly you shouldn’t need to concentrate that hard and can just enjoy yourselves rather than worrying you’re making a fool of yourself! Or go for a comedy routine that deliberately makes fun of yourself a little: still a little embarrassing if you’re quite shy but at least it’s on your terms and designed to make everyone laugh!
Dom: If you are naturally good dancers then there’s no real need to choreograph it, you spend enough time worrying about the speeches on the day, don’t give yourself extra stress for the dance!!!
Matt: But if you are good then why not let your talents show with a choreographed routine? How often do you get the chance to do a full-on formal routine with your partner? Rehearsing it can also be great fun and a really nice thing to do together in the build-up to the wedding!
And so, as the DJ plays the final song and the inevitable group hugs and clambering for an ever elusive taxi begins, so this dance-off draws to a close. But you can keep the party going in our comments section below! We’d love to hear your thoughts on choreographed vs improvised, so don’t be shy, hit the floor and show us your moves!
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