Organizing the Dancing at Your Reception

Your first dance should kick off the dancing for the evening. Consider staging your first dance immediately after the bride and groom's announcement into the reception hall from the receiving line. This allows the newlyweds to open the dance floor before dinner. In this case you would walk directly to the dance floor as you enter the reception area. Alternatively, you can wait until after your guests have finished dinner.

Plan what will happen after your first dance. Will your wedding party join you? Will you invite everyone onto the dance floor or just your parents? Although there are no hard and fast rules regarding the order of presentation of the participants, here are some general guidelines.

1. The bride and groom must dance first! This is your first official act as husband and wife.
2. Both sets of parents join them on the dance floor.
3. The bride and groom dance with the parents of the bride.
4. After time for pictures, the bride and groom dance with the parents of the groom.
5. Change back to original partners and the wedding party joins the couples on the dance floor.
6. The bride and groom dance with the best man and maid (or matron) of honor, take some pictures, and change back to original partners.
7. All guests are invited to join the bride and groom on the dance floor.

Right before the cake is cut, the bride and her father may dance together to special music, followed by an honor dance of the groom with his mother.

It is important to decide before the ceremony what your order of presentation will be, and to notify the participants when and with whom they will be dancing. Depending on the number of people who will eventually be dancing, you may need to ask the band to play an appropriate medley in order to have sufficient music for the exchanges and pictures.