11 Oct Couple of the month: Liam & Pauline
In this article cycle, we will post interviews with some of our wedding couples to help you better understand the preparation process as well as what to expect from the dance on the big day. You can see the dance video at the end of the article!
Dance style: Rumba
Song: Sam Smith’s – Latch (Acoustic)
Amount of Lessons: 6
1. How did you pick a song for your first dance?
We chose Sam Smith’s “Latch (Acoustic)” because it was special to us when it first came out during the early days of our relationship. A decade later and the lyrics still rang true for us. There was no other song that better encapsulated our relationship!
2. What was the most important requirement for your wedding dance?
We honestly just didn’t want to look like dummies in front of all of our friends and family. I tend to have stage fright and dancing is not my husband Liam’s forte, so we knew we needed some classes to give us a bit of confidence on the dance floor. We also hoped to drop a cool dip here and there just to spice it up.
3. How many months in advance did you start? Did you have a dance experience before?
We started about 2 months before the wedding. While I enjoy dancing and have rhythm, neither of us really had true choreography experience.
4. What was the biggest challenge for you preparing the dance and how did you overcome it?
Our biggest challenges were memorizing our steps and trying not to look stiff. The best way to really overcome this was to practice. Sometimes that was difficult in our small NYC apartment, so we booked additional private lessons so we’d have the space in the studio to really commit to the dance moves and more importantly, have our instructor Alyonia provide real-time feedback when we weren’t getting it right but didn’t understand why.
5. Did you feel comfortable on the dance floor on the day of the wedding?
We felt more comfortable because of the dance classes for sure. Any mistakes we made (and there were a few!) were because we didn’t practice enough in the days leading up to the wedding – as you can imagine, there were a gazillion things we needed to do! Luckily, by that point, it was just about having fun and just running through the steps with smiles even if we did slip up here and there. No one noticed except us!
6. Tell our future couples what to expect from the wedding dance on the day of!
The more you practice further in advance, the more confident you will feel
the day of. The days leading up to the wedding can get a little nutty so it’s sometimes difficult to remember to make time for dance practice. The earlier, the better!
7. How did you feel after the performance on the day of?
I personally do wish I could’ve done a better job, but I know we hit the big moments on target like our dips and turns, so honestly no one noticed the minor mistakes I knew I made in my head. Overall though, the first dance was a hit and we were so happy in the moment that the minor mistakes we made weren’t a huge deal in the end.
8. What advice can you give to the couples?
I would absolutely recommend taking a few dance lessons together to learn some steps and dips that will make you feel excited and confident on your special day. We loved our dance lessons with Alyona because not only did she teach us the basics and a couple of cool moves, she was able to quickly (and kindly) point out what was wrong, whereas my partner and I may be scratching our heads at home and disagreeing on what to change. During the additional private lessons, she helped choreograph dance moves for our entire First Dance – something we absolutely could not have done ourselves. Whether you want something more advanced like a choreographed dance set or something more basic like simple spins and turns, dance classes can help build that foundation for you.
9. Are you going to dance after the wedding? 🙂
We would love to! We started to treat our dance lessons with Alyona as little date nights for ourselves and we’d love to continue doing so in the future, even if we don’t have another First Dance to prepare for 🙂
You can see their dance below:
Book your dance lesson here.