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| When should we start? |
|
It is always nice to have six months before the wedding to
start working on your first dance together as man and wife.
Many couples don't have this luxury and a wonderful dance
can still be accomplished within 2 weeks if motivated! Generally,
couples take 1-2 lessons a week to develop some repetition
and muscle memory and, of course, confidence to perform it!
My wedding package is five 50-minute private lessons for the
wedding couple for $395 (one package price for the couple).
By the end of 5 lessons, the couple will be able to walk on
the floor with confidence and perform a specially choreographed
dance to their favorite song. Many couples add on lessons
to enhance the confidence and choreography for their first
dance together. Sometimes the fiancé comes in alone,
just to work on leading his future wife proudly through the
number (back-leading is discouraged!) Many times, I also work
with the wedding party for their first dance together and
just to have some fun before the wedding
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| How should we
choose our instructor? |
| When choosing an instructor,
one should look for instructors who teach wedding couples as
a full-time job. Beginning wedding couples are looking for that
one special performance, and are running on empty trying to
get it all done before the big day. A professional teacher who
has considerable experience can tame those nerves and make all
feel great about dancing, even when they walk in the door with
two left feet. Recommendation: ask the potential instructor
how many wedding couples he/she has taught in the past 6 months
and how many wedding couples do they have now as students. How
many years of experience in total? I have more than 20 years
of professional instruction experience and teach many wedding
couples every week along with my social and competitive dance
students. |
| How should we
pick our wedding song? |
| The wedding song really expresses
special feelings, experiences and mood for each wedding. Many
couples come in with that special song. Other couples know what
dance they wish and need good music suggestions, such as something
for foxtrot. Finally, an experienced instructor will have on
hand many great selections from which to choose. Some couples
think that if they are really novice dancers, that they should
pick a slow song. Actually, dancing slow is harder because more
body movement is required to fill in the slow music. In contrast,
a medium tempo song is easier to pull off successfully. By far,
the most popular wedding song these days is "At Last"
by Etta James. Although not the easier dance for beginners,
novice dancers can still perform it with an experienced instructor.
After that, the Sinatra standards come in a close second ("The
Way You Look Tonight," and "Fly Me to the Moon,"
etc.). Again, I have done it all with music ranging from "Great
Balls of Fire" to music from Enya, Sade, Celion Dion, Faith
Hill, Julio Iglesias, Sting, etc. Generally, the music should
not last more than 2 minutes, because of the need for more choreography.
Music can always be "faded out" when you have a DJ
on hand if the selection runs longer. |
| What should we wear to our
lessons? |
| When working on your wedding
dance, the suggested practice clothing is loose, comfortable
clothes that move. Shoes should be thin-soled, preferably lace-up
or with a strap. Athletic shoes, sandals, mules and clogs are
not recommended. For the brides, I recommend that they bring
in their wedding slip to get the feel of the beautiful dress
width and length and their shoes to break in (with tape on them
to protect from black scuff marks-white satin is difficult from
which to remove stains). Dresses that have a very heavy bustle
take some practice to move around in! Also, dresses that have
narrow skirt bottoms can limit how much one can move! |
| Can anyone really look good
after 5 lessons? |
| Anyone can learn! I have had
many women drag their men in with very skeptical feelings about
a wedding dance! The goal is to make the men feel confident
in their moves (without backleading!) and actually have some
fun. Many of my couples continue ballroom dancing for fun and
exercise and "real date nights" after their wedding,
as a result of their first fun experience. It is important to
remember that most people do not feel comfortable on the dance
floor, so even very simple, elegant moves can impress the wedding
guests! Of course, the wonderful expressions that you convey
also really get the crowd going! |
| What will make us look better
in our special dance? |
| Anything well practiced will
be evident in your performance. For example, a rehearsed entrance
and exit and perhaps dip with a hug can make a great wedding
dance moment and wonderful photo for your album. Dance photos
are often the favorite shouts of the wedding couple because
they are in each other arms and moving, not posed for endless
shot angles! Eye contact and posture also conveys confidence
and ease with each other and really helps cover any small mistakes
in the choreography! Choreography that does not become overly
complicated and matches well the music also really adds to the
overall effect. I also take into consideration any cultural
issues/wishes that are special to you and your family and guests.
It is important to make everyone feel comfortable with your
special first dance. |
| What if we have to cancel
our scheduled lesson? |
| You are welcome to cancel
and/or reschedule your appointment and will incur no charge
as long as you call to report the cancellation within 24 hours'
notice. I can be reached 24/7 at 248.343.8337. If I do not answer
the phone, you can leave a voicemail, which will be time-stamped
for the 24 hours deadline. Since I guarantee that time for you
and turn away others who would like that spot, I need at least
24 hours to rebook that lesson. So if you do not give sufficient
notice, or are a "no-show," your lesson will be deducted
from your package. Sorry to have to take such a tough stand,
but I can only accommodate "true" emergencies at the
last minute. I will do my best to help you remember the lesson
dates by appointment cards and after-lesson reminders. It is
also important to be on time for your appointments, since I
teach back-to-back lessons with only a 10-minute break for scheduling
and returning phone calls. If you arrive late, I can only make
up a couple of extra minutes in consideration for the next waiting
student. |
| What form of payment do
you accept? |
| I accept payment in person
in the form of cash or check only. I accept credit card payments
on my website through PayPal before the first lesson. We do not refund any or all of your pre-paid wedding packages and recommend that
you schedule all of your lessons at your earliest convenience to avoid
last-minute scheduling conflicts. |
| Will you ever sell our contact
info to other people/businesses for mailing lists? |
| NO! I firmly believe in your
privacy and will not release this information to any other business
or individual. |
| Can we have a recommendation
from one of your recent couples? |
| Please click
on the wedding package page to see the beautiful photos
of a recent wedding couple, Gary and Susan, married in Sept.
2004 in an Italian castle (their dream wedding location). |
| I
really look forward to working with you and your wedding party!
I hope these questions help you get started in dancing wonderfully
on your special day! |
