Make the Most of Each and Every Moment
Before we get everyone up dancing for the party portion of your Wedding Reception, there are usually a few traditions to take care of, such as the Cake Cutting and the First Dance, but is that it? Here are a few ideas of just some of the formalities you may wish to include to kick-off your Evening Reception.
Cake cutting
Some Brides and Grooms choose to cut their cake before the Wedding Breakfast, others choose to cut it immediately before the First Dance – the decision is entirely up to you.
Cutting the cake before the Wedding Breakfast is a nice way to introduce you into the room as the new Mr & Mrs and gives your guests a great photo opportunity usually with lots of natural light as it will be during the day. It also gives your venue/catering staff plenty of time to cut up your cake ready for serving to guests. The disadvantage to this, is your evening guests don’t get to see this key Wedding moment.
Cutting your cake immediately before the First Dance means that both your day and evening guests will be there to get this fantastic photo. It also acts as a great advance warning for the First Dance, bringing everyone together and focusing the attention back on you and your Wedding. Remember your photographer will probably take a mock-up shot of your cake cutting during the day as well.
If you do choose to cut your cake immediately before the First Dance, you can choose a special song to play in the background just to add to the atmosphere and create a memorable moment. In the past, couples have chosen songs such as “A Thousand Years” by Christina Perri, “Everything” by Michael Buble and “This Will Be (An Everlasting Love)” by Natalie Cole.
First Dance
The First Dance has been a Wedding tradition for centuries, however, it has evolved over the years and can now be as formal or informal as you wish. In the past, it was almost compulsory for the Bride & Groom to dance the whole track themselves, but now it is perfectly normal for the Bride & Groom to dance themselves for the first half of the track and then invite their Wedding Party up to join them.
Your First Dance track should be something that is special to both of you and usually involves a lot of discussion and indecision. Don’t worry if you change your mind a few times during your Wedding planning, it’s perfectly normal! You may decide on a song early on in your Wedding planning and then nearer the time you hear a new song in the charts that you both love. Just let us know your final choice around 3-4 weeks before your big day. You can add your First Dance choice to your playlist using our Online Planner or simply email us and we’ll update your playlist.
Over the years, we have had a number of very unique First Dance involving various tracks mixed together, often going from a traditional slow dance to a non-traditional dance or rock track – the sort of thing you see on YouTube! We love these out-the-box First Dances, so if you are thinking about going down this route, then please get in touch to discuss how we can help make it happen.
Wedding Party Dance
After your First Dance, we often encourage our couples to choose a second song that they would like to dance to with their Wedding Party. This is often an upbeat party track to get the party portion of the evening started. The Wedding Party Dance may start with just the Wedding Party but all your guests can then be invited to join you on the floor.
Popular Wedding Party Dances include “Shut Up and Dance” by Walk the Moon, “I Gotta Feeling” by The Black Eyed Peas and “Marry You” by Bruno Mars.
Again, you can request your Wedding Party Dance by logging into your Online Planner via our website.
Father Daughter & Mother Son Dances
The Father Daughter Dance is often considered an American tradition, but it is becoming more and more popular in the UK. It gives the Bride and her Father the opportunity to share a dance to a special song of their choice. Like the First Dance, you may choose to dance with your Dad for the duration of the song, or you may wish to invite you guests up to join you part way through. Usually the Father Daughter Dance would take place immediately after the First Dance.
Popular Father Daughter Dances include “I Loved Her First” by Heartland, “Dance With My Father” by Luther Vandross and “Because You Loved Me” by Celine Dion.
The Mother Son Dance is also an American tradition, but it is a little less common in the UK. The sentiment behind it is exactly the same as the Father Daughter Dance, giving the Groom the opportunity to dance with his Mother. Rather than having a separate Mother Son Dance, what we often see is the Groom dancing with his Mother during the Father Daughter Dance.
Other dances
Over the years we have had couples ask to add other special dances to their big day, such as a grandparents dance, a hen party dance and a dance with their children. This is no problem at all and we would encourage you to make your Wedding as personal and unique to yourselves as you can. Just get in touch to discuss exactly what you are looking for and we’ll make it happen!
