Your first dance will be one of the most romantic and memorable moments of your wedding reception. To ensure that you both look natural, comfortable and impressive during your spin on the dance floor, it’s a smart idea to take dance lessons.
A great many of our New Jersey brides and grooms are so inspired by television shows like Dancing With The Stars and fun first dance wedding videos on YouTube that they’re hiring first dance choreographers to help them create their first dance. Why hire a dance pro? An expert dance instructor – we have many near our Northern New Jersey location — can assess your and your groom’s natural dancing ability and comfort level, and choose steps, spins and dips that suit your skills. And you get to say if you’re not confident in a move, which will lead your choreographer to make an adjustment. You can’t get that type of customization from a DVD or online dance video. You’ll often attend three to four dance lessons at a dance studio, either privately or in a group wedding dance class, in order to perfect your wedding’s first dance with grace and style.
A rising wedding first dance trend is foregoing the swaying slow dance in favor of a more exciting dance such as the rumba or the tango, the cha cha cha or a faster dance with club choreography. Wedding guests cheer when your music begins and you wow the crowd with your moves, and your beaming smile as you perform them. It’s far better than just swaying back and forth to a slow song, ‘like at the 7th grade dance,’ say many of our happy wedding couples.
Other First Dances
One wedding trend we like very much is when brides and their fathers, and grooms and their mothers, take a dance lesson or two to choreograph the Father-Daughter dance and the Mother-Son dance. This way, when “Fly Me to the Moon” begins, you and your father can ‘show everyone how it’s done,’ says one of our recent wedding couples.
Avoid that ‘we didn’t prepare for this’ awkwardness that occurs when a groom and his mom chose a song to dance to, but never gave any thought to how they would dance to it. With a choreographed first dance, everyone feels more confident and comfortable, which makes the dance more fun to perform, and to watch….especially again and again, as captured on the wedding video.
A highlight of any wedding reception is the Mother-Son First Dance, and we’ve seen some truly wonderful moments between mothers and sons at the start of the couple’s big day. It’s such a special moment when the groom and his mother take to the dance floor, smiling as ‘their song’ plays, and tears of joy often flow for both of them. This is a moment when both mother and son thank each other for being so special, so loving and supportive, and for the mother-son dance, a very special song is played.
Here are some of the most popular mother-son dance songs, reported by some of the top New Jersey wedding entertainment experts that we’ve had the great fortune to host here:
“What a Wonderful World” Louis Armstrong
“How Sweet It Is (To Be Loved By You)” James Taylor
“Because You Loved Me” Celine Dion
“She’s Got a Way” Billy Joel
“Through the Years” Kenny Rogers
“Unforgettable” Nat King Cole
“You Raise Me Up” Josh Groban
“Thank You For Loving Me” Bon Jovi
“Kind and Generous” Natalie Merchant
One trend that we’re seeing for Mother-Son dances is the groom choosing a song as a surprise for his mother, sometimes playing a song that his mother has always loved, one they’ve held close as a special tune between them for years. Dancing to that wedding song now, in front of all of their family and friends at such a special celebration is a wonderful tribute to the mother’s special place in the groom’s heart, and he in hers.
When the bride and groom step onto the dance floor for their first dance, the song they choose to dance to is more than just a pretty tune. It’s ‘Their Song,’ a deeply-meaningful first dance song that reflects their relationship, their joy, their new life together. First dance songs are now being chosen from a list of songs that have played a big part in the bride and groom’s love story, perhaps the first song they ever slow-danced to.
Wedding deejaysand wedding bands in our North Jersey region say there is a trend toward perennial favorite first dance songs, and that many wedding couples say they’re choosing their first dance song together as a team. They’re also reporting that the couple is now choosing two special songs for their wedding reception’s spotlight dance moments: one for the First Dance and another for the bride and groom’slastspotlight wedding dance of the reception.
Here are the top First Dance Songs that you may wish to consider for your own big moment:
Amazed Lonestar
At Last Etta James
Beautiful In My Eyes Joshua Kadison
Because You Loved Me Celine Dion
Breathe Faith Hill
Can You Feel the Love Tonight Elton John
Can’t Help Falling In Love Elvis Presley
Can’t Take My Eyes Off of You Frankie Valli
Come Away With Me Norah Jones
Embraceable You Nat King Cole
Everything I Do (I Do It For You) Bryan Adams
Faithfully Journey
Fly Me To The Moon Frank Sinatra
From This Moment Shania Twain
Groovy Kind of Love Phil Collins
Have I Told You Lately Rod Stewart
Here And Now Luther Vandross
I Can’t Help Falling In Love Elvis Presley
I Could Not Ask For More Sara Evans
I Cross My Heart George Strait
I Only Have Eyes For You Flamingos
I Swear John Michael Montgomery
I’ll Be There Michael Jackson
It Had To Be You Harry Connick Jr
It’s Your Love Faith Hill/Tim McGraw
Just The Way You Are Billy Joel
Someone Like You Van Morrison
The Best Is Yet To Come Frank Sinatra
The Way You Look Tonight Frank Sinatra
To Make You Feel My Love Garth Brooks
True Companion Marc Cohn
Unforgettable Nat King Cole
Wedding Song (There is Love) Petula Clark
What A Wonderful World Louis Armstrong
When A Man Loves A Woman Percy Sledge
When I Fall In Love Celine Dion
When I Said I Do Clint Black
Wonderful Tonight Eric Clapton
Some songs are contemporary, some are classic, some country, but all – and so many more — are open to your consideration as the soundtrack for your lovely first dance as husband and wife.
In today’s world of personalized weddings, brides and grooms have arranged for their wedding entertainment to include specific songs from their much-loved playlists. Now, our New Jersey brides and grooms are following the top wedding entertainment trendsand planning multiple song dedications for their receptions.
Here are some of the most sentimental and crowd-pleasing song dedication trends that you might wish to incorporate into your big day:
At the Start of the Reception
After the first spotlight dances of your reception — including your first dance as husband and wife, your bride-and-father dance, the groom-and-mother dance, if you choose to include these – many wedding entertainment experts invite all of the couples onto the dance floor to enjoy this first spotlight dance, then remain on the dance floor for additional slow dance songs to follow it.
If you’d prefer, you can instruct your wedding entertainment professional to read your song dedication made to your and your groom’s parents, inviting them to their own spotlight dance, as your thank-you for their help in planning your wedding. You choose a meaningful song for this dedication, and both or all sets of parents are invited to share it the moment, regardless of which parents paid more for the wedding. It’s fine etiquette and good family diplomacy to acknowledge all parents as equals.
End your song dedications here, so that guests can take their seats to enjoy the first course of their dinner, and so that your song dedications don’t become an endless string of songs where all guests stand and watch someone else having all the fun. Spread out your song dedications over the course of the evening.
At the Start of the Fast-Dance Wedding Entertainment
When the wedding entertainers, deejay or band, are ready to transition from slow-dance dinner music to dance music for the reception’s higher-energy portion, a great way to start the action is to have the first fast-song announced as a dedication from the groom to the bride, or vice versa. It may be one of your favorite songs of all time, or the song you always play when getting ready for a big night out.
Dedicate fast-dance songs to others, including:
Your bridal party members
Your friends, in an all-inclusive song dedication announcement, not a naming-of-names in a small circle, making others feel left out or diminished
Your cousins, also a strong trend that we’re seeing here at family-centric New Jersey weddings
To your kids, if you’re blending families or have children as a couple
At the Big, Symbolic Moments
When the cake is wheeled out in the dramatic presentation for the bride and groom to cut their first slice as husband and wife, you may choose this moment as the perfect moment for a song you’ll dedicate to your guests, as a very special thank-you for the ‘sweet’ gift of their traveling to share this day with you.
When you present your bouquet to your mother, grandmother or other special female, or toss your bouquet to your awaiting single female guests, choose a special song dedication that pay tribute to all of your women friends and relatives.
When you have your wedding entertainers play special cultural songs, the inclusion of those important rituals becomes a tribute that adds so much to your wedding celebration. At our West Orange wedding venue, we’ve hosted a large variety of cultural wedding celebrations from Indian to Italian, Japanese to Jewish, Polish, Colombian, Irish, and all manner of heritage-based weddings. Wedding entertainment for these festive weddings often includes special song dedications.
At the End of the Reception
Your wedding entertainment comes to a close with the last dance of the evening, and as bride and groom you may choose to propose a song dedication for this last number. This may be another of ‘your songs’ or a song that’s special to your family. At this point, you might take the microphone to propose your song dedication directly to each other, to your families and friends, and we’ve even enjoyed the surprise of our brides and grooms thanking us for bringing their wedding dreams to life. That’s music to our ears.
Your wedding entertainment isn’t just a focus for your wedding reception alone. At the many pre-wedding parties hosted for you, music is an important mood-setter, giving your guests lovely sounds to enjoy during your rehearsal dinner, engagement party, bridal shower, even during your wedding morning breakfast or bridal brunch.
At the Pleasantdale Chateau in West Orange, we’ve hosted some of the top NJ wedding entertainers, including wedding bands and DJs, and our wedding ballroom has been filled with romantic slow songs, club dance music, and cultural wedding music from the tarantella to the hora. Our network of preferred vendors includes entertainment companies that also offer talented solo and small-group musical acts that you can book for your pre-wedding parties.
Some of the most popular solo artists, duos and other musicians you’ll find through professional wedding entertainment agencies include pianists, guitarists, harpists, cellists, flutists and singers. And our New Jersey wedding couples have also found fabulous, multi-talented musical performers through our many nearby universities such as Rutgers in New Brunswick, Drew University in Madison, and other colleges that have music departments. Our couples called the university and were soon auditioning talented performers and groups that they booked for their pre-wedding parties. Some couples tell us they fell in love with the pianists they saw at local jazz clubs and guitarists in performance at local bookstores. These gifted musicians are happy to book engagement parties and rehearsal dinners as well as rehearsal dinners and garden weddings, so they may be ideal for your own star-search as you arrange your wedding entertainment for all of your celebrations.
For your at-home, informal parties such as casual engagement parties with friends or friend and family gatherings when you return from your honeymoon, of course you might arrange your own music using your iPod playlist, as a free option that allows you to personalize your song selections. As a fun wedding gift idea from a teen or budget-crunched friend, it’s a new trend for that loved one to custom-mix a playlist just for you, both as the party entertainment and as a treasured gift that’s actually quite priceless.
Some wedding couples feel that traditional line dances are too cliché for their wedding entertainment, that line dances don’t fit in with their elegant wedding setting, and they may request that their wedding entertainers eliminate all line dances from their reception playlist. However, the line dance is making a comeback in wedding reception entertainment here in the New Jersey region, as it is across the country.
Wedding Entertainment
• Here are the top trends in wedding reception line dances:
• Guests know the steps and moves to the most well-known line dances, and they may feel more confident on the dance floor doing these dances than they do dancing to club music or other ‘free-form’ music.
• Guests love to rush to the dance floor in groups, to do line dances together.
• Kids enjoy line dances tremendously, since they perform them at minor league ballparks such as our nearby popular ballparks in Newark, Bridgewater, Lakewood, Atlantic City, Montclair and also at professional baseball games. When the stadium deejay plays the “Cha Cha Slide” or “Cotton-Eyed Joe,” the kids rush to the aisles to perform the dances, and adults join in as well. The same group thrill can fill your dance floor and give your wedding videographer fabulous footage as guests have a fantastic time showing off their line dance expertise.
• Country line dances may be well-known to your group, especially if you enjoy line dancing nights at your favorite country-western bar in the tri-state area.
• A new trend in wedding entertainment is to include a number of retro line dances such as the Bus Stop and the Hustle…dances that your guests in their 50s and 60s know well, and are happy to perform as a fun-loving group on the dance floor.
A great line dance is a pleasing surprise in wedding entertainment, not a dance floor-clearing loss of your reception’s momentum. So be sure to think about recent friend and family weddings and how line dances were received by your same guests, and if your personal wedding website features a polling tool, ask your guests to cast their votes – line dances or no line dances – to help you decide if you’ll include the wedding reception trend or if you’ll give your wedding deejay or wedding band the ‘do not play’ directive for line dances at your reception.
A highlight of any wedding reception is the Mother-Son First Dance, and we’ve seen some truly wonderful moments between mothers and sons at the start of the couple’s big day. It’s such a special moment when the groom and his mother take to the dance floor, smiling as ‘their song’ plays, and tears of joy often flow for both of them. This is a moment when both mother and son thank each other for being so special, so loving and supportive, and for the mother-son dance, a very special song is played.
Here are some of the most popular mother-son dance songs, reported by some of the top New Jersey wedding entertainment experts that we’ve had the great fortune to host here:
“
What a Wonderful World” by Louis Armstrong
“How Sweet It Is (To Be Loved By You)” by James Taylor
“Because You Loved Me” by Celine Dion
“She’s Got a Way” by Billy Joel
“Through the Years” by Kenny Rogers
“Unforgettable” by Nat King Cole
“You Raise Me Up” by Josh Groban
“Thank You For Loving Me” by Bon Jovi
“Kind and Generous” by Natalie Merchant
One trend that we’re seeing for Mother-Son dances is the groom choosing a song as a surprise for his mother, sometimes playing a song that his mother has always loved, one they’ve held close as a special tune between them for years. Dancing to that wedding song now, in front of all of their family and friends at such a special celebration is a wonderful tribute to the mother’s special place in the groom’s heart, and he in hers.
When the bride and groom step onto the dance floor for their first dance, the song they choose to dance to is more than just a pretty tune. It’s ‘Their Song,’ a deeply-meaningful first dance song that reflects their relationship, their joy, their new life together. First dance songs are now being chosen from a list of songs that have played a big part in the bride and groom’s love story, perhaps the first song they ever slow-danced to.
Wedding deejays and wedding bands in our North Jersey region say there is a trend toward perennial favorite first dance songs, and that many wedding couples say they’re choosing their first dance song together as a team. They’re also reporting that the couple is now choosing two special songs for their wedding reception’s spotlight dance moments: one for the First Dance and another for the bride and groom’s last spotlight wedding dance of the reception.
Here are the top First Dance Songs that you may wish to consider for your own big moment:
Amazed by Lonestar
At Last by Etta James
Beautiful In My Eyes by Joshua Kadison
Because You Loved Me by Celine Dion
Breathe by Faith Hill
Can You Feel the Love Tonight by Elton John
Can’t Help Falling In Love by Elvis Presley
Can’t Take My Eyes Off of You by Frankie Valli
Come Away With Me by Norah Jones
Embraceable You by Nat King Cole
Everything I Do (I Do It For You) by Bryan Adams
Faithfully by Journey
Fly Me To The Moon by Frank Sinatra
From This Moment by Shania Twain
Groovy Kind of Love by Phil Collins
Have I Told You Lately by Rod Stewart
Here And Now by Luther Vandross
I Can’t Help Falling In Love by Elvis Presley
I Could Not Ask For More by Sara Evans
I Cross My Heart by George Strait
I Only Have Eyes For You by Flamingos
I Swear John by Michael Montgomery
I’ll Be There by Michael Jackson
It Had To Be You by Harry Connick Jr
It’s Your Love by Faith Hill/Tim McGraw
Just The Way You Are by Billy Joel
Someone Like You by Van Morrison
The Best Is Yet To Come by Frank Sinatra
The Way You Look Tonight by Frank Sinatra
To Make You Feel My Love by Garth Brooks
True Companion by Marc Cohn
Unforgettable by Nat King Cole
Wedding Song (There is Love) by Petula Clark
What A Wonderful World by Louis Armstrong
When A Man Loves A Woman by Percy Sledge
When I Fall In Love by Celine Dion
When I Said I Do by Clint Black
Wonderful Tonight by Eric Clapton
Some songs are contemporary, some are classic, some country, but all – and so many more — are open to your consideration as the soundtrack for your lovely first dance as husband and wife.
