Get Our FREE Wedding Dance Made Easy Starter Guide (For Beginners!)
Feel More Confident On The Dance Floor, Improve Your Skills + Rock Your First Dance!
Welcome to the ‘How To Dance To Your Wedding Song’ series, where I will be showing you how to plan your first dance, and set up your moves in a way that makes sense for your song.
You’ll learn how to create a complete start to finish plan for your first dance in three simple steps, so you feel prepared for special moment in the spotlight.
In this training I’ll be using the song Forever Like That by Ben Rector as an example, so you have something to listen to and reference. And if you stick around until the end, I have something extra special for you that I think you’re going to love.
Alright, let’s get started!
This post includes affiliate links so you can listen to the song and follow along with convenience (this means by clicking, I may earn a small commission without any extra cost to you, which helps keep this blog up and running.)
This Week’s First Dance Song
Why Do You Need To Plan Your Dance
So, why do you need a plan for your first dance? Can’t you just live in the moment and see what happens?
The answer is absolutely, yes. As a matter of fact some people thrive in the moment and can improvise as they go.
But most of us are uncomfortable with the unknown, and we appreciate having some sort of a plan to help us feel prepared so we know what to expect.
It’s the same reason why builders have a blueprint before building a house. Or, why bakers have a recipe before baking a cake. And, it’s the same reason why brides have a plan before the wedding day.
The reason they like to have a plan in advance is simple.
A builder wants their building to be strong.
A baker wants their cake to be delicious.
And a bride wants her wedding to be the most beautiful and special day of her life.
They all want a plan so they’re successful in what they’re about to do, and so they feel confident that they won’t run into any unwanted surprises that might get in the way of their success.
If you feel like having a plan would be helpful in making you feel more comfortable and confident on the reception dance floor, lets get started planning your one of a kind first dance!
Lyrics That I Love
First off, there’s something I always do before I even think about how to dance to a song. And that is to listen to the song from start to finish and pay special attention to the lyrics.
This helps me visualize the dance before I begin putting it together, and it also gives me a chance to pick out the special moments of the song that I want to highlight with special dance moves.
Here are the lyrics that I fell in love with when listening to Forever Like That.
“Well, I’ll be your shade tree in summer. If you’ll be my fire when it’s cold.”
“Will carry the burdens and be the wind at your back. Well, I want to spend forever, forever like that.”
“Well, I’ll be the words on the pages. If you’ll be my sweet melody.”
YOU CAN LISTEN TO THESE LOVELY LYRICS RIGHT HERE >> Forever Like That by Ben Rector
Alright, now that the inspiration is flowing, let’s move on to the beginning of your dance.
When To Begin Your Dance
The first step is to decide when you’ll be starting your dance.
There are two parts of your song to pay attention to, which will help you know when to begin.
The first part is to listen for your songs introduction. The introduction is usually that soft instrumental music in the very beginning, before the artist begins to sing.
This introduction part of the song is a perfect time to make your entrance onto the dance floor. As the music is transitioning into the beginning of the song, it will give you a smooth transition to the center of the floor to start your dance.
When you listen to the song ‘Forever Like That’ you will notice that the introduction music lasts around eleven seconds (:11).
The second part of the song that will help you decide when to start your dance is right after the introduction, when the lyrics kick in. When you hear the artist begin to sing, that is your queue to start dancing.
In the song ‘Forever Like That’ the dancing will begin around twelve seconds (:12), when you hear the lyrics, “Well, I’ll be your rainy day lover.”
Now that we have the beginning of your dance planned out, let’s talk about step two, which is all about your highlight moments. This is where things gets exciting.
The Highlight Moments In Your Song
Step two is to pick out the highlight moments of your song.
The highlights of your song will be the moments that really stick out and feel special.
These special moments might be when your song gets louder and builds with more energy. Or it might be when the artist starts singing with more emotion. Or, it might be during the chorus when the artist (or a group of singers) repeat certain lyrics over and over again.
Any moment that catches your attention and feels special will be considered your highlight moments. And since these moments really stand out when listening to your song, it makes sense to add moves that stand out when watching your dance.
These will be your highlight moves, or as I like to call them, the ‘wow the crowd’ moves. It’s the fancy dips and the flashy twirls that impress your guests and grab their attention, getting them to break out in applause.
Now, I should mention that these highlight moves are completely optional. You can still enjoy a beautiful dance experience without them. But if you’re wanting to break out the bells and whistles and get your crowd excited, then adding highlight moves will take your dance to the next level.
There are a few highlight moments that really stick out for me in the song Forever Like That.
They are…
At the one minute nine second mark (1:09), where you’ll hear the lyrics start with “Well, I wanna love you, forever I do”
The second moment is when the chorus repeats again, which happens at the two minutes twenty one second mark (2:21).
And the third highlight moment that stood out for me is when the music continues to start and stop at two minutes forty nine seconds (2:49)
You’ll hear the lyrics start with “when the rain comes, I’ll be your shelter, yeah”
Now that we’ve talked about your entrance and highlight moves, lets dive right into the end of your dance, which is where you’ll be leaving a lasting impression on the dance floor.
When To End Your Dance
The very last step is to decide when you want to end your dance.
This will be the very last moment of your first dance, and it’s your chance to leave a lasting impression on the dance floor.
You have two things to consider here, and that is…do you want to dance until the end of your song? Or, do you want to end it early?
If you want to dance for your entire song, it’s pretty self explanatory of what you need to do. You’ll be dancing throughout your entire song and ending your dance when the music ends. At the end of most songs there’s a natural moment to end your dance, because the energy fades and the music slows down, which is exactly what you’ll be doing with the end of your dance.
But if you want to end your dance early, you’ll need to decide when the best time is to do that. Which means that you’ll want to listen for another natural moment to end your dance somewhere else in your song.
Sometimes you’ll notice a moment where the music will get more quiet. Or maybe there’s a moment that the artist stops singing all together and soft instrumental music takes over. Any moment like this that feels like a natural time to end your dance is a good choice.
As you listen to the song Forever Like That, you’ll notice a really nice ending where the music fades out and things get more soft between the time frame of three minutes forty six seconds and four minutes fourteen seconds (3:46 - 4:14) You’ll hear the lyrics, “Well, I’m gonna spend my forever, forever like that.”
Recap
Alright, let’s do a quick recap of what we covered. We talked about…
When To Enter The Dance Floor
Enter the dance floor right in the beginning of the song, when the instrumental music begins…
[0:00 - 0:11] Instrumental Music
When To Start Your Dance
Start dancing when the lyrics begin…
[0:12] “Well, I’ll be your rainy day lover”
What To Do During The Highlight Moments
Break out the ‘wow the crowd’ moves during the highlight moments…
[1:09] “Well, I wanna love you, forever I do. I wanna spend all of my days with you. Will carry your burden and be the wind at your back. Well, I wanna spend my forever, forever like that.”
[2:21] “Well, I wanna love you, forever I do. I wanna spend all of my days with you. Will carry your burden and be the wind at your back. Well, I wanna spend my forever”
[2:49] “When the rain comes, I’ll be your shelter, yeah. When the wind blows, lover, we’ll be together. When the storms, they rise, well, I’ll be right there by your side. And I’ll sing.”
When To End Your Dance
End your dance either at the very end of your song, or during another natural moment when the music is more soft and quiet.
[3:46 - 4:14] “Forever, like that”
And there it is, how to dance to your first dance song, using our example song ‘Forever Like That’ by Ben Rector.
The Next Step To Your First Dance…
I want to thank you for following along, and reassure you that this plan you just created is the road map to your confident success on the dance floor.
If you enjoyed this training and want to keep going further into learning your first dance, I would like to personally invite you to download my FREE Wedding Dance Made Easy Starter Guide, for beginners. You will get tips and tutorials on how to feel more confident, improve your skills and rock your first dance as husband and wife!
You can get it for free right here: [CLICK HERE TO GET MY FREE WEDDING DANCE GUIDE]
