How to Offer Dance Lessons at Your Wedding Reception

Some brides and grooms take dance lessons in the months leading up to their wedding so they’ll look great on the dance floor. Why not offer guests the same benefit? What keeps many wedding guests off the dance floor during the reception is not knowing how to dance. Offering dance lessons to guests is a terrific gift for the people who are supporting you on your big day.

Difficulty: Moderate

Instructions

Things You'll Need:

• Dance teacher(s)
• DJ or band

1. Decide what type of dance lessons you’ll offer. If you’ve hired a big band-style group to play at the reception, offer swing lessons. If a Latin band will perform, offer salsa lessons. If there isn’t an obvious dance style, ask potential dance teachers what they would advise.

2. Find a teacher. If you know people who take dance lessons, you’re halfway to finding a candidate. Ask them if they like their teacher, whether he or she is patient and easy to follow, and if they have fun in class. If you have no leads on a potential teacher, check with your local park district. They typically employ several teachers in different styles of dance.

3. Advise your guests about the lessons. You can tell them in the wedding invitation that lessons will be provided at the reception, or the DJ or band leader can make the announcement at the beginning of the reception.

4. Determine the best time to offer the lessons. If there’s going to be a big gap between the wedding and reception, it might be a good idea to offer lessons then. But if the wedding couple will arrive shortly after the guests, wait until it’s time for the dancing to start after the bride and groom’s first dance and any other special dances on the docket.

5. Get everyone on the floor. Some guests will line up for the free lessons, but to get as many people involved as possible, the bride and groom should be the first “guinea pigs.” The teacher can use the couple of the hour to demonstrate the basic moves and show guests that it’s a painless, fun experience!

6. Let them demonstrate their new skills. Make sure the band or DJ plays a lot of songs that allow guests to show off their moves.

Tips & Warnings

• Depending on the size of your reception, you may want to consider hiring more than one teacher. If you’re expecting more than 100 guests, you’ll probably need at least two teachers to keep up with demand.
• This will be a new request for most dance teachers, and they may not know what to charge. Start by offering to double their typical hourly rate, and negotiate from there.
• Don’t brow-beat your guests into taking advantage of the lessons. There’s nothing worse than being a guest who’s forced into something--whether it’s taking dance lessons or participating in the Funky Chicken.