SMRT IDEA: Wedding Edition- Get Your Groove On!

It’s time to continue the wedding themed SMRT IDEA series.  


This go round, we are going to share what went down on our dance floor.

For our first dance, we were originally planning an epic, completely-choreographed routine to a large collection of our favorite dance-able songs.  But we simply ran out of time.  We still choreographed out a routine, complete with a “hook and fish” move, some fake swing dance moves, and even a nice dip.

We danced to Let Your Love Flow by the Bellamy Brothers.

We purposely did our first dance immediately after we were arrived and were introduced on site at the reception.  We wanted our guests to be certain they could get their groove on as soon as possible.  We decided to have this schedule because this has been a scene in our wedding experience:

-  We arrive to the lovely decorated reception location.

- We enjoy some yummy drinks and appetizers (oh, why hello bacon wrapped scallops).

-  We find our reception table and pick the best seats.  We continue to enjoy said food and drink while listening to the music.

-  We hear a song we LOVE and continuously fight the urge to get up and start grooving.  We don’t want to be “those guests.” But trust us, it takes all of our will power.

We didn’t want any of our guests to experience this scene.  Once we arrived, if they heard a song they loved, they could get on the dance floor and move since we had “officially opened” the dance floor as soon as we arrived.

Aside from our first dance, we also had the father-daughter dance, mother-son dance, and dollar dance.  For the first dance, Jill and her dad did a little bit of an interpretative dance to “My Girl.”  It was a great fit for them, as they didn't want to cry their faces off in front of a bunch of people.  This dance was a perfect way for them to have a good time and make a great lasting memory.

Eric danced “Forever Young” with his Mom.
  

She wasn't thrilled with dancing in front of everyone, so once they had their moment to shine, everyone else in the family (aka Eric’s dad and sister and Jill’s parents and brother) entered the dance floor and switched around to dance with each other while the song finished up.  It was a great way to keep everyone happy and made for some nice photos.

For our Dollar Dance, we had it introduced by one of our friends as the Dime Dance.  Here’s the story, back in high school, Eric and one of his friends (the one who introduced the Dime Dance, more about how our friends were the DJs, here) read an article about a guy who had collected one million pennies.  Eric decided he was going to attempt to collect dimes and his friend decided he would collect nickels.  Anyone who has been around Eric and watched him pay for something with cash knows he gets pretty excited when it appears as though the change will return a dime or two.   Anyhow, some people knew about Eric’s love for dimes and gave him a few dimes.  We of course were also gifted with dolla-dolla bills.  It was a fun song (we played “If I Had A Million Dollars.”) where we were able to dance with a lot of guests.

In terms of the music we played, we had held a brief discussion with the DJ of songs we loved and specifically requested a list of songs we wanted him to play, but we also agreed that people could make requests and asked him to play some of his best recommendations based on the flow of music and interest from our guests.  


The only main request we made was for the Electric Slide to be played.
  

It was actually played twice in honor of Jill’s dad.  It’s kind of his favorite wedding song and this one time we were at a wedding where the Electric Slide was placed on the “Do Not Play List.”  Jill’s dad was very bummed by this news and decided he was just going to do the Electric Slide to whatever song was playing at the time.  The most amazing part?.... over half of the dance floor started to do the dance moves with him.  Yes, that is right, the music sounded nothing like the Electric Slide...at all. It was quite something to witness.  Needless to say, Jill’s dad and everyone else had a great time doing the Electric Slide.  Really what is a wedding and all its cheesiness without the Electric Slide.  Haha.

We really enjoyed the dance aspect of our wedding.  Our recommendation- do whatever fits your personality.  For us, dancing was a must.  We are those crazy people moving and grooving awkwardly at every wedding, so it was only fitting for us to have a lot of wedding.   But we have also been to weddings where there was very little dancing to weddings that were pretty much all line dancing (like country line dancing).  We have had a wonderful time at all the weddings we have attended because the bride and groom were having a great time.  We think your guests will also have a great time, not matter what you decide to have happen on your dance floor.  They are afterall your friends and family.

Anyone else a fan of the Electric Slide?  Or was there another song that was played more than once at your reception?