I can’t tell you how much I look forward to hearing news about “the big day”.  I get so excited being included in all the wedding plans that when it comes time to say good bye and send my incredible couples on to wedding bliss I do feel a bit misty eyed. 

Hearing the stories and seeing their smiling and happy faces is just a perfect end to a great time spent teaching dance to my wonderful wedding couples.

***

Hi Jillian,

I know it has been a very long time since we last saw you, and even some time since our wedding, but I have been meaning to write you and send pictures. . .  and I am just now getting around to doing it!

Thank you so much for all your help, it was really so fun working with you and it was perfect to have a simple (yet choreographed) dance to do at our wedding despite our nerves!

Beautiful Cuddle

Actually, Chris did great and didn’t seem nervous at all, but I was – thank goodness he was leading!!

The dance went so well, although it did fly by!

I don’t think we missed a step.

The day was beautiful and our dance must have inspired all our guests because the DJ later told us that our guests did the most dancing he has ever seen at an afternoon (lunch) reception!

We all had a wonderful time and got some great pictures of the dancing.

Check out Mom of the Bride - so excited!

Thank you again for making it all so easy and just being a fun person to hang out with/learn from.

We wish you the best and will contact you if we ever need a brush up lesson!

Sincerely, Caitlin and Chris

(Photographs by Josh Aull.)

***

Remember call now or email Jillian for Fall and Winter weddings!

Reserve your favorite day and time today to look great on the day of your dreams…

Jillian@OurWeddingDance.com

949.400.7347

OurWeddingDance.com

ArgentineTangoWeddingDance.com

BallroomDanceWithJillian.com

Jillian & apples at Riley's Farm

Pictures* hot off the press from Lindsey and Scott’s romantic Summer wedding.

Lindsey & Scott Dance!

Oh my, oh my – I couldn’t wait to post these gorgeous pictures from Lindsey & Scott’s wedding reception July 24th at the Huntington Beach Hyatt.

They danced an adorable foxtrot to “So Beautiful” by Darin Hayes.

The bride was a tad on the shy side so we kept the moves intimate, fun and flirty and all angled toward the groom to keep the couple using the floor lots and showing off Lindsey’s amazing gown.

Lindsey sent me an email on July 26th just two days after the big day saying,

Hi, I just wanted to let you know everyone liked our dance.  We messed up a little but it was ok everyone thought it was cute and really enjoyed it!  So we wanted to thank you so much!!  Lindsey and Scott

And…

Their outstanding and charming wedding planner, Christine Baumgartner of The Perfect Day sent me an email as well!

Hi Jillian,

I wanted to let you know that Lindsey and Scott did a wonderful first dance at their reception.  They looked lovely and happy.  They both told me how much they enjoyed working with you.

Thanks again for helping them, Christine

In Love!

I just love to hear back from everyone about their big day and see all the pictures.

Call me with any questions about your special first dance.

I can’t wait to get started, Jillian

OurWeddingDance.com

ArgentineTangoWeddingDance.com

949.400.7347

Just Dreamy!

*Photography by Priscila Valentina Photography

Visit her web site at PriscilaValentina.com

Sandra and Mike were just such a couple.

Read on to find out about their dream first dance.

They loved the song You’re Timeless to Me from the musical Hairspray and decided to adapt the lyrics of it to their relationship and the year 2010, record themselves singing it and come to me to choreograph and block moves and dancing to this almost five minute ditty.

Click here to see this fabulously funny rendition of it on YouTube from the movie with Christopher Walken and John Travolta.

Well, needless to say, after about ten or so rehearsals and a heap of practicing they were absolutely show-stopping!

They mimed movement to the lyrics of their song and in the middle of it danced a full foxtrot, tango AND waltz with zesty abandon.

They said they nailed it and I believe it from all the fun and hard work we put into the practicing.

Here’s their testimonial and a partial video of their amazing 2nd first dance! on their happiest day ever.

**

Jillian!

We had to get back to you to tell you how our dances [they also did a regular first dance to At Last - can you believe it?] went on Saturday!

WE NAILED IT!

We did not mess up at all!  They were beautiful!  What a surprise the second dance was to our guests!  They were in awe!  We can’t wait to see it on video!

Thank you, thank you, thank you!

It was all because of you we did so well to entertain our guests.  I wish you could have been there!  Rose was great getting that chair on the dance floor for Mike and then removing it.

People were in shock that the CD was us singing!  Once we find out how to send you some pics our friends took of us dancing we will send them!  The nun surprise was fantastic!

It was the perfect wedding!

It was a dream wedding.

Thank you so very much!  Hope to see you soon!

Sandra and Mike

Sandra & Mike

***

Happy Almost June!

Call Jillian at 949.400.7347 for 1st Dance Lessons

Visit Our Wedding Dance for more information.

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

But the fact is a lot of times dancing doesn’t seem like that great an idea.

I’ve got students who take lessons every week to learn whole foxtrot, swing, Argentine tango, salsa, samba and hustle syllabi and still if there aren’t a few people on the floor or if they’re tired or if the music isn’t just right it is hard for them to get out there and just do it.

I’ve had students tell me that they feel like they’re “performing” for others when they get on a less crowded dance floor and that feels like pressure and heaven knows we’ve all got enough of that in our lives!

I’ve had students tell me that they’ll get out there when they “get better”.

I’ve had students tell me that there’s no place to go dancing anyway so they’ll just dance at their lesson and call it a day.

All perfectly acceptable excuses… but do they work in the long run??

Ultimately I believe that the more you dance, the more you start to understand it and feel comfortable within your body doing it. 

In this technological day and age we’re up in our heads a lot of the time.  Getting into your body and doing something that uses your body is not exactly second nature for us.

Sure, it is scary getting out there with just a few steps and techniques under your belt and you need to accept that you will have a few scary feelings and work through them or the next time it will be even harder!

Give yourself permission to feel a bit awkward during your dance lesson…  on when you go out social dancing… or even practicing on your own.

It’s not going to feel “perfect” right away and that’s ok!

Dare to Dance and see what happens… you never know… you might be the a secret swinger or a fabulous foxtrotter in the making, but you won’t know until you at least give it some time.

Are you having your reception for 95 in an intimate setting?

Does the restaurant where your reception will be not want to give up any floor from the tables for dancing?

Don’t despair…

You can still have a gorgeous first dance that is perfect for you both even though you don’t have a 20′ x 20′ dance floor!

I’ve heard a lot of my couples say they can’t do anything for a first dance because their floor is 8′ by 8′ or even 4′ by 4′ or really long and super, super skinny.

But you can do a dance on even the most postage stamp or lap pool size of floors.

It just takes a little creativity!

In fact a lot of my grooms have come away from their dance lessons for an intimate sized first dance saying that they’re glad their floor is going to be small.  There’s less expectation for a dance that moves around like a race or any crazy Dancing With The Stars lifts and dips.

You can do a rumba or swing.

Or some very small foxtroting or waltzing steps and some twirls and dips in place.

Your guests will really feel like you’ve involved them since they’re so close and don’t forget probably no one will be looking at your feet!

Below is a picture of a wonderful bride and groom I had who just got married October 4th on the Newport Princess in Newport’s harbor.  Needless to say they didn’t have a lot of space! 

Hear what the bride’s mom said,

Hi Jill, The wedding was fabulous.  What a party!  Jen and Darrell were gorgeous.  Thanks so much for teaching them how to dance, they did great.  I hope you enjoy the picture!  Sincerely, Diana

Jennifer and Darrell first danced on an intimate dance floor on the Newport Princess!

“I think they were trying to do the box step.”

“She had this forced smile on her face .”

“He was counting the whole time.”

So what’s the deal with the box and why do so many couples try to learn it for their wedding?

Well, for one thing the box is a very universal dance step and the building block for many other steps.  For another, the box is quite versatile.  You can time it different ways for different dances and give it different looks.

Examples:

1)  Waltz: 1, 2, 3  1, 2, 3 where the beats all get equal time with your steps; most often a 3/4 timing 

2)  Foxtrot: Slow Quick Quick, Slow Quick Quick where a Slow is equal to two counts and a Quick to one count; hence your 4/4 timing

3)  Rumba: Same timing as Foxtrot but with a compressed frame and movement and some sexy Latin hips for the ladies

With one simple step you could conceivably dance to three different types of music at your reception – “Come Away With Me” (waltz), “Feelin Good” (foxtrot) and “The Girl From Ipanema” (rumba)!

So what can you do if you want to try the box?

Well, first off wear the proper shoes to dance in.  By that I mean leave the tennis shoes on the basketball court and the flip flops at the beach.  Try learning the box in leather soled shoes that will flow smoothly over the dance floor.

Second, give yourself some time to learn, make mistakes and even look kind of silly as you sort this whole left foot, right foot thing out.  Trying to learn to dance in a few hours only works on TV and even there I’ll let you in on a big secret – they’re practicing 24/7 with every bigwig in the business before their stunning debuts!

Third, practice thinking about walking not dancing.  We all know how to walk, right?  So use those knees and ankles and swing your legs from your hip joints – just like when you walk down the street.

With a little time, patience and practice your box step can look like second nature and everyone will think you’ve been doing it all your life when they see you dancing your first dance. 

It’s not uncommon for me to get phone calls and emails from Moms and Dads saying they want to look good at the wedding they’ll be attending or planning since everyone will know them and be watching them to see how they look!

No pressure, right??

You’re only planning or working on the biggest event ever with your daughter or son… and the last thing you need to be worrying about is dancing lessons…

Well, I tell my Moms and Dads to think of it as one hour a week where they don’t have to think about the planning.  The only things they have to concentrate on are following or leading, a handful of steps and a few technique points.

And it works!

I have a fantastic Mom and Dad right now who are learning Foxtrot and Jitterbug.  I think it’s a bit of a surprise for their guests so I’ll keep their names a secret for now.

Suffice it to say, she’s having a blast getting her husband of many years to finally Jitterbug with her and he’s enjoying “Master and Commander” status as leader and getting tons of brownie points he can pretty much use for the rest of his life!

Their Foxtrot is coming right along with him making gorgeous heel leads and using his leading arm to communicate to her – something she tells me they have never done while dancing together – and she’s following like a dream and gliding across the floor like Cinderella at her very own ball!

I love to see the look of relief as a Mom and Dad realize that they can dance together and that they look good doing it!  Often they haven’t tried dancing together in years or they do try to dance together and it is difficult and not that much fun.

With just five hours of instruction before the big event, Moms and Dads can learn following and leading skills and have at least five to ten steps to show off on the dance floor.

So treat yourself to some “you” time in the midst of the all the pre-wedding excitement. 

You’ll be glad you did – both to preserve your sanity and also your status as the “party giver extraordinaire”.

You had the mega wedding and now you know all the mistakes and pitfalls to avoid. 

Probably 45% of my couples over the years were on their second time around and loving it!

“This time I’m going to wear better shoes”.

“I won’t worry so much”.

“We’ll have a smaller guest list”.

“And a first dance.”

If you’re getting married for the second time why not go for that first dance?    Now you’re older and wiser and wouldn’t it be great to do something to sort of show off to the guests that says we’re a couple who just dances?

Email me with your song thoughts and I can help you come up with some wonderful foxtrot, swing, rumba, waltz or even a little hustle or salsa! 

Right now I’ve got a wonderful couple using a Frank Sinatra song I don’t get very often…

“Then Suddenly Love”, Recorded June 17, 1964, Los Angeles.

I never caught stardust that fell from the skies.
I never saw moonlight in anyone’s eyes,
Then suddenly love kicks in the window,
Love knocks down the door.
Love, it sat down and told me,
Lover, what are you waiting for?

I never heard bluebirds, the songs that they sing,
I never get crazy, not even in spring,
Then suddenly love struck me like lightning,
Love it blew up a storm,
Love suddenly grabbed me, and ooh, was it cozy and warm
‘Cause I found you, now I no longer just exist,
Ooh, what a change, it started from the time we kissed,
(And now we hear bluebirds), they hear bluebirds,
(We’re learning that tune) they like that tune,
(And even yon moonlight) all that pretty moonlight

(Comes down about you) Hotdog, them love, it’s still on a heaven,
Love, it gave me a shove,
[Ding dong Ding], I’m a-hearing those [church bells ring]
‘Cause suddenly [love, love, love, love, love. love, love]

And make that second time around a perfect excuse for a great first dance…