OUR WEDDING DANCE BLOG

February 26, 2010

Words to the Wedding Show Wise

Wedding Shows

Two words that conjure up images of lots of people, lots of noise and lots of choices!

Is a wedding show good for you to attend?  I believe it is but first let me qualify that.

Having been a participant at over 25 wedding shows in the Orange County area during my many years as a wedding dance instructor I can tell you from experience they are not all created equal!

There are gigantic ones at the Anaheim Convention Center all the way down to intimate ones at various wedding reception venues all over Orange and LA Counties and the Inland Empire.

In fact this Sunday, February 28th from 11am-3pm I’ll be dancing at a lovely local complementary wedding show in San Clemente, 111 Avenida Vista Montana San Clemente, Ca 92672.  Visit this link for more information.

Some are expensive to get into, others are free.  Some feel super high end, others feel home town and local.  Some are run by conglomerates who do three to six shows a year in several counties and even many states and others are offered by reception venues and cater to brides and grooms who have already decided to use their services.

Whatever the show, you’re sure to find lots of cake, food samples and vendors of every type to satisfy your wedding planning needs and maybe even a fashion show or two.

But be prepared…

Bring a large bag since the show might not provide one for you to collect paperwork and you don’t want to be balancing a lot stuff as you walk around and sample food.

Some really on-the-go brides and grooms even bring their own address labels complete with their wedding date on them so if they want to fill-out a raffle ticket or info card for a vendor they don’t have to waste time and tire themselves out writing but just stick one of their labels instead.  :-)

Definitely wear comfortable shoes.  You will be walking and standing a lot.  Keep in mind too, if you’re bringing along your groom his comfort as well.  I see more and more grooms coming to wedding shows and I always try to make them feel especially welcome and not like they just stepped into a “girls only” sector.

If you are just getting started in this great big task of putting on a wedding (read that – you’re a year away from your big day) you might want to attend what I call the “overall picture” wedding show.

This show is usually fairly large about seven dollars or less per person for entrance and held in a local hotel.  Be sure to take a look at the vendor list in advance and see where the vendors are based out of and what kind of web sites they have.  You can tell a lot about a vendor from their web site and also the testimonials listed on it.

Often you can call a vendor listed on that particular wedding show list and they might have a few free tickets available for the show they’ll be at and they can send you some or leave them at the door.

Keep in mind, if the show has a lot of vendors based out of your area that might not be a good show for you to attend if you’re looking for local people so you don’t have to drive too far for consultations and follow-ups.

During the early planning stages you want to attend shows that will give you the maximum amount of knowledge for your time spent researching.  Other considerations include how big your wedding and reception are going to be and what your budget is for them.

If you know you’re having an intimate ceremony and reception for under a hundred you don’t need to go to a giant wedding show.  In fact you might only go to a wedding show in this case just for the fun of it.

Yes, guys – wedding shows can be fun.  Where else will everyone be really nice to you because you’re getting married and ply you with goodies and cake to eat and freebies and coupons to take home??  Just think of all the brownie points you’ll get to use when you need to have guys poker night or game practice.  ;-)

At any rate, I’ve only just touched on the giant area of wedding shows here. I’ll post more later on this year so check back often to see what’s up!

Email me at Jillian@OurWeddingDance.com if you have questions.

You can also visit my wedding show page on my web site to see more of my experiences at wedding shows.

Jillian at the Richard Nixon Library Wedding Show

February 20, 2010

Calling all Dads…

So Dads not only have to “help” with the wedding but they have to perform at it  too??

What’s up with that… ;-)

Well, just in case you’re wondering the Father/Daughter dance is a hot topic these days.

Should it be short?

Should it be done after the Bride and Groom’s 1st Dance?

Should it be choreographed?

Should Dad be allowed to wing it or will he look silly and do that flapping chicken move he loves so well?

Well I don’t know about the chicken thing but I do know that I’ve noticed a few commonalities emerging  with the Father/Daughter dance.

Dads are choosing their own songs.  Songs that were popular the year their lovely daughter was born.  Songs that they used to love to dance to in their youth and songs that just make them want to get up and dance!

Just recently I had a fantastic Father/Daughter song, “Isn’t She Lovely” and my bride floated along in Dad’s arms looking just that.

Her Dad had some disco moves but he hadn’t really done the foxtrot in years so we set about getting him up to speed.

He learned some fun underarm turns from the box step and the promenade to show off his daughter and her amazing gown.

We put a cuddle on the end and a twirl with him doing a quick sleight of hand switching trick that ended with him pointing out a la John Travolta.

“That’s so Dad”, my bride exclaimed and I think Dad got a hundred brownie points right there on the spot!

He said now that was a dance when he could incorporate some of his moves from his days of “doin the hustle”.

Of course after the wedding Dad now has some fancy footwork for Mom and can wow her on their night out on the town.

Ah, two gals happy with one dance lesson… too bad everything can’t be this easy.  ;-)

Call me at 949.400.7347 and I’ll see that you’re not only the “founder of the feast” but also can turn in a Father/Daughter dance to be proud of!

In the meantime look up some of those favorite songs of yours and visit my Father/Daughter dance page at:

http://ourweddingdance.com/fatherdaughterdance.htm and let’s get started today.  :-)

February 10, 2010

“Blue-tiful” First Dance

Well if you’ve picked up any wedding rags lately you’ve probably seen the 2010 trend earmarked by Shane McMurray of The Wedding Report (theweddingreport.com) and the verdict is in for wedding color theme for 2010.

It’s going to blue, blue and blue!

Any shade of blue… from the lightest, palest blue to the hottest tourquoise blue to the deepest azure ocean blue.

Brides are choosing blues for their colors.

You’ll see it on the bridesmaids, on the bride’s feet, on the table decorations, on the cake, on the mother of the bride, on the bridal bouquet and… on the groom!

With that in mind how can you keep your color in your first dance?

Here are a few song choices to get you thinking.  (Click on the links to see lyrics and hear YouTubes.)

“Blue Suede Shoes” by Elvis Presley (YouTube)

“Blue Moon” by The Marcels (YouTube)

“Blue Hawaii” by Elvis Presley/Frank Sinatra (YouTube – Elvis)

“Blue (Da Ba Dee)” by Eiffel 65

The Blue Danube Waltz by Johann Strauss Jr.

Rhapsody in Blue by George Gershwin

True Blue by Madonna

Blue Eyes by Cary Brothers (YouTube)

Crystal Blue Persuasion by Tommy James and The Shondells (YouTube)

Mr. Blue Sky by E.L.O. (YouTube)

and for you retro eccentrics out there…

“Cold Blue Steel and Sweet Fire for the Roses” by Joni Mitchell

**

And don’t forget you can always shine a beautiful blue gobo on the floor with your initials intertwined in it to dance on or how about giving the groom a pocketful of blue confetti he can throw up in the air to start your magical first dance?

Whatever your choices I know that you’ll have good luck with blue since we all know the charming old Victorian saying…

Something old, Something new, Something borrowed, Something blue…

Happy Wedding and let me know if I can help you with your “blue-tiful” first dance.  ;-)

OurWeddingDance.com

949.400.7347

February 5, 2010

Valentine’s Day Is Coming Up!

The sweetest of holidays is just around the bend and what will you get your loved one?

I checked out Sees and yum those red hot hearts looked enticing.

Victoria’s Secret has some sexy, lacy little nothings too.  ;-)

There’s always the adorable stuffed bear holding a tiny bag of chocolate hearts or a “chocolate long stemmed rose” or just a beautiful card.

But I say how about dance lessons for your honey?

Our Wedding Dance offers gift certificates in one lesson, three lessons and five lessons.

You can give them to yourself, your fiance or a bride and groom you know.

You can even give them to your Mom & Dad as a special thank you for all the wedding prep help they’ve been giving!

Whomever the recipient I am sure they’ll appreciate your wonderful idea and may even thank you for a) not putting anything enticingly chocolate and fattening in front of them and b) not adding to their probably constantly increasing collection of “stuff”.  :-)

Dance lesson gift certificates can be redeemed up to a year from purchase and come to you either quickly over the internet in a file that you can print out or by snail mail in a hard copy certificate form.

Either way you can share in the sweetness of the holiday or just give a “sweetheart of a gift”.

Contact me at Jillian@OurWeddingDance.com or visit my Gift Certificates page or call me at 949.400.7347 and get started now on a Valentine’s Day gift that will be remembered for a long time!

February 3, 2010

Let’s Hear It For Some Web Stats!

We all know that the web is here to stay.  Where else can you shop for Valentine’s boxers for your fiance, find out the latest chick flick movie times for her romantic date and contact ten wedding vendors in five minutes for price quotes??

The internet is a great way to find what you want, need or have to have… in a hurry!

Today I thought I’d pass along some interesting stats to let you know just how big this thing called the web has become.  These figures certainly took my breath away and I bet they will yours too.  :-)

**

234 million – the number of web sites as of December 2009 (from Netcraft)

90 trillion – the number of emails sent on the internet in 2009 (from Radicati Group)

47 million – added web sites in 2009 (from Netcraft)

252,908,000 – internet users in North America (from Internet World Stats)

126 million – blogs on the internet (as tracked by BlogPulse)

350 million – people on FaceBook (as tracked by FaceBook)

62.7% – use Internet Explorer (from Net Applications)

2.6 million – amount of malicious code threats at the start of 2009; viruses, trojans, etc. (from Symantec & McAfee)

**

So next time you turn on that favorite piece of electronics that connects you to the web remember you’re not alone. When you send an email remember there is a real person on the other end who is excited to hear from you.

Happy Surfing and don’t forget to surf on over and inquire about a few dance lessons for that big day!

Email Jillian at Our Wedding Dance

January 21, 2010

Be An Early Bird…

It’s January and lots of inquiries are coming in for first dance lessons right now!  Maybe it’s the rain deluge we’ve been having and everyone is stuck inside and looking at the internet… but regardless…

The excitement is contagious and I can’t wait to work with these fantastic brides, grooms, moms, dads and wedding party participants.

2010 looks like a “bumper year” for weddings!

I’ve had questions about father/daughter dances, first dances utilizing musical numbers, wedding party group dances and beautiful bride and groom waltzes, swings, foxtrots and rumbas.

So far May and July are going to be big months for saying, I Do. 

The average sized wedding is coming in somewhere between 100-175 guests. 

Brides and grooms seem to be trimming their guest list so they don’t have to trim their wish list!

Popular right now…

The bride’s shoes in a color to match her bridesmaids dresses and her wedding colors.

Currently I have one dancing bride wearing gorgeous deep purple high heeled sandals with a rhinestone circle and another wearing red pumps to kick off a Valentine’s Day wedding!

Grooms are getting even more of that traditional “to do” list to do than in years passed.  At least 50% of my calls and emails have been from grooms this month;  fitting since they’ll be doing the leading in the first dance, I say!

So if you were thinking about dance lessons but putting off getting some info and firming up some evening or weekend dates… the time is now!

Be an “early bird who gets the worm” and email me today or call me at 949.400.7347 and start getting some dance figures and technique in your muscle memory today.

Happy almost February!

January 17, 2010

How Cool Is That?

I raced off to see Young Victoria the other night and was met at the Lido by a nice ticket attendant asking me if I was with the special event?

Hmm, what special event?

Guess not – we bought our tickets and found a seat in the nostalgic black light fish festival mural theater on the pennisula.

The preview came up and then suddenly shut down.

Another employee said they were experiencing technical difficulties… not unusual.

Then another “preview” came up and I noticed that the two people in it bore a huge resemblence to a man and woman who had entered the theater and sat four rows down in front of us.  The longer it played the more I thought “wedding video” as it showed the blond gal doing lots of fun things with her handsome man all over the world. 

Minutes later the film screen went to black and four wonderful words popped up on it, “Will You Marry Me”?

The lights came up in the theater and about fifty people in the balcony (yes, this theater is one of the last I know of with a balcony!) started shouting and whistling and throwing streamers.  The bride-to-be was totally surprised and her fiance got down on his knee and proposed right then and there.

What did she say? – came the shouts from above.

Yes, Yes, Yes the bride responded, tears running down her face. 

And then, Oh you poor people who just came to see the movie!, she added.  :-)

We didn’t mind and after the movie a couple of people announced with a laugh, Anyone else want to get married?, as they left the theater.

So… how cool is that?

**

Remember after you say “I do” say – “Let’s dance”!

Call Jillian at 949.400.7347

January 12, 2010

“Pimp Your Bride”

I simply can’t resist this!

Just last Friday evening I was out on the dance floor, as the sun made its way into the Pacific ocean, working with my brand new couple and their wonderful wedding dance.

She’s a beautiful Irish lass with red/blond hair and he’s a joy to work with, with an incredibly great dance attitude; and they both brought leather soled shoes on their first lesson!  Neither have ever danced before and that night they were ready to jump in with both feet and get going.

We were learning some beautiful fluid figures to move across the floor, some sweeping boxes and some fun figures in place and all of a sudden he came up with the best one liner I’ve heard in a long time!

After “cuddling” up his bride he zinged her out in a whip and I looked over to see this handsome groom “flick” his imaginary tux shirt collar.   I think I’m going to do this every time, he said with a smile.

I’m going to pimp my bride with this fancy move and then flick my collar like Wow, look what I just did. :-)

I couldn’t stop laughing.  It was great!  So guys – why not, “Pimp Your Bride” and do a little fancy footwork in that first dance?  Take some dance lessons together and we’ll come up with the moves that will make your crowd cheer.

She’ll look hot and you’ll feel like the coolest guy around…

January 8, 2010

Party Like It’s 2010!

It’s January and I woke up on the first day of this new decade and guess what -  we’re still in a recession, it’s still kind of cold (ok can’t really complain – the rest of the US in under tons of snow!) and what was that drink called???

If you’re like me you’re having lots of fun getting going and back into the swing of things so to speak.  So, what a joy it is for me to go through my giant stack of to-do items and post this amazing testimonial from a fabulous couple I taught last year.

**

Dear Jillian,

Thank you so much for helping us make our first dance so memorable.  We were pretty proud to have “nailed” our routine, although we’re still waiting to see our video!  :-)   You helped us make our Big Day even more special… so Thank You!

We will absolutely tell all of our friends and family about your services.  You were extremely patient, professional, and encouraging.

You were the perfect dance teacher!!!

We’ll email you some pics :-) and we wish you a joyous holiday season and blessed New Year!

Best Wishes, Michael and Jaime

(Married: September 6, 2009, Song: “It’s Your Love” by Faith Hill and Tim McGraw at the Irvine Hilton.)

**

Below you can see their adorable card:  “Wishing You A Very “Marry” Christmas!” :-)

Now get ready to party like it’s 2010 – on the greatest day of your life, your wedding day!

Jaime and Michael's Adorable Christmas Card

December 30, 2009

Happy Almost 2010!

New Year’s resolutions come in all shapes and sizes.  I’m sure you’ve got a few of your own ready for 2010!  There are always the tried and true good old standbys:  lose weight, make more money, travel, worry less and find a fun hobby.

But what about something that could combine all of the above?  Now that would be one heck of a New Year’s Resolution!  How about dance lessons???

  • Dancers can lose weight…
  • Dancing can get those endorphins going which can make for happier people in the workplace and who knows - ripe for that promotion…
  • Dancing brings out the travel bug to find fun social spots for doing your latest steps…
  • If you’re dancing, you can only think about the figures and your movement not stressing about the latest…
  • And dancing could be your next fun hobby…

It’s that time of year and I’m getting lots of inquiries from 2010 brides and grooms and also people who just want to take up dancing!  It’s easy to get started and really all you need are your feet, some leather soled dance shoes and a willingness to learn.  So what are you waiting for?  Oh, that’s right two more days!  Well, let’s start 2010 right!

Have a wedding?  Have a special event? Have a desire to do something fun and frolicsome with your mate?   Email me and we’ll start that music and get you moving.  Until then, I found this quote rather amusing since it hits both sides of the coin:

“An optimist stays up until midnight to see the new year in.  A pessimist stays up to make sure the old year leaves.”  — Bill Vaughn

Happy New Year to all from Jillian of OurWeddingDance.com

champagne-glasses

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