A Groom’s Realistic Expectations for Wedding Dance Lessons
When getting married, a guy has a great many difficult decisions to make in order to create the meaningful and memorable wedding his bride deserves. Rest assured that deciding to take wedding dance lessons should not be one of them. Let’s figure out what you can expect from dance lessons, and maybe in the process you’ll gain insight if they are a right fit for you (and your bride). Once that’s done, you can get back to the difficult stuff like seating charts and appetizer pairings.
No experience required
Unlike applying for a job posting, taking dance lessons doesn’t require you to have any previous dance experience or talent. It’s actually the opposite. Your dance teacher should be the one harnessing their teaching skills and technique to make sure you learn how to dance with your bride. Consider going to a dance lesson like going to new restaurant where the chef cooks right in front of you. The chef does the work, and you enjoy the meal!
Expect to be taught, because heck you’re the student, not the teacher.
Yes, there is such a thing as too much of a good thing
Throw away that worry that you’ll lose all your free time due to your wedding dance lessons. There is such a thing as too much of a good thing, and it applies to dance lessons too. Each private lesson is just 45 minutes long, and ideally scheduled only once per week.
Within 2-3 lessons, you can expect to be moving around the floor with your bride in your arms, leading her into some simple turns and spins which surely ignite a smile from ear to ear. Already by the 4th or 5th lesson, a decision will be made with your teacher to either add more moves to your list of steps or focus on polishing what you’ve already learned. Past the 7th or 8th lesson, the only benefit you and your bride will get will be further confidence and clarity if you still need it. Therefore, through our experience teaching hundreds of couples over the years, the most popular JC Dance Co. wedding lesson package is our 4-Lesson Package.
Expect a lot more return for just a little time commitment.
Practice is optional
Since there is an ideal limit to dance lessons, so too is there a limit to your practicing. Yes, you’ll remember a lot more from one lesson to the next if you get off the couch and shuffle around the living room, but hours of diligent practice is not realistic or expected. If you can move the coffee table over and squeeze in two 10 minute practices between your weekly lessons, you would be better than 99% of couples out there. And believe it or not, even these 99% of couples do have a great time dancing at their weddings.
Expect to practice less than the time you spend brushing your teeth.
You’re not Fred Astaire
These are wedding dance lessons, not prep training classes to audition for Dancing With the Stars. Your dance teacher will know this and therefore won’t have the goal or expectation that you’ll be dancing like Fred Astaire by the end of the lessons. The goal for wedding dance lessons is to get you to be comfortable enough dancing with your bride so that you don’t look like a scared cardboard zombie. Don’t put high expectations on yourself, and be confident to know that your dance teacher doesn’t have them either. If you’re smiling and moving with your bride to the music, you’ve already impressed your dance teacher, and you’ll definitely impress your bride!
Expect to be able to move around the dance floor with your bride, without the pressure of being the next hollywood dancing star.
Neither are you the centre of the Dance World
If you’re worried about making a fool of yourself in front of dancers at the ballroom, get over yourself. Yes, there will be much more experienced dancers zipping and twirling around the dance floor at the same time you’ll be taking your lessons, but rest assured that you are not the focus of their time at the ballroom. They are so focussed on their own lessons and practices, with enough technique, musicality and performance challenges for themselves, that they honestly don’t have a spare moment to pay attention to you in your wedding dance lessons. If anything, you may get a nod of respect from a veteran dancer, because they know it takes some guts to take dance lessons for the first time.
So expect your pride to be well intact with other students dancing at the ballroom.
Wedding dance lessons, maybe for you?
Expect wedding dance lessons to be fun and pressure free, with little time and energy commitment. Guys end up having a lot more fun learning the little tricks and techniques than they anticipated before starting lessons. When it comes down to it though, the only one that really matters isn’t you, but is actually your bride. And believe it or not, when you step up and commit to a few dance lessons, she’ll be instantly impressed.
