When to have the 1st Dance – Things to consider
Don’t just blurt out any time. There are certain aspects you need to consider before setting a time for the 1st dance. I get asked what time should I do the 1st dance and obviously I’ll say whenever you want. But some things to bear in mind…..
Too Early
Your 1st choice for your 1st Dance
This is the most common mistake, and I’ll tell you why. First thing you need to bear in mind is the 1st dance signifies the start of the party. I.E. once you’ve done the 1st dance, usually the party gets going. You’ve just finished a lovely 3 course meal, and listened to the speeches for the last 2 hours. Everyone, and especially the Bride & Groom, can finally relax. After being told to go here, do this, pose for that and the speeches, it is time to relax, have a drink and chat, stretch your legs, meet and greet the evening guests. If you force it and start too early, you’ll only end up wasting good music.
Too late
Wedding DJ Specialist
This can happen more often and not when it’s an earlier bar, say 11-11.30. Everyone gets chatting, taking it easy and enjoying the mood, and that’s fine. But if you and your guests are party people, leaving it until 10pm to leave an hour of dancing is only going to leave everyone wishing for more.
What do you mean the Buffet?
When is your evening buffet due? I only ask this because if you do your 1st dance at 8.45pm and the buffet is due at 9pm, basically we’ll get everyone on the dance floor for 5min then loose them to the food. You might be better waiting until after the buffet in this occasion? It does depend on your finishing time as well. Usually during the buffet the music is lowered but I can and have played through even thou the dancefloor is rarely used / full. It just wastes good music again 🙁
So when?
Your Wedding DJ
Bearing in mind if you don’t start until 10pm and it’s a 1am finish that’s still 3hrs of non-stop tunes to make sure you and your guests have the best time – That’s more than enough time for most people at the end of a long day. As mentioned, these are things to consider there are no hard and fast rules, and you can have it at any time. But you do need to consider whether you and your guests are either dancefloor abusers or more chat and chill people, to maximise the most out of your party time!
Questions, opinions and comments…
As always I really appreciate your thoughts and comments so please comment below, I’d love to hear from you. 🙂