father/daughter dance

It really is up to you to decide - but it sounds like you want to dance with your Dad!

I think a full first dance with your new husband is lovely, and then you could have a father/daughter and mother/son dance as a separate thing. I don't think it is old fashioned at all, and even if it is, who cares, weddings are all about the traditions! If you decide to do a separate dance, just make sure your dad knows this before hand so he doesnt think he is meant to come on midway through your first dance! Also, a set father/daughter dance really would honour your Dad as it is his time to be with you.

Personally, I am having my first dance with my husband, and then a Boston two-step with my dad - Others will join, that is the idea, but it is my dance with my dad and it means something to us.

S x

Its your wedding Laura and I think its a lovely thing to do. Sounds like you are really up for it and I don't think 'old fashioned' comes into it. Its your day - so do as you wish!

As a photographer, its quite rare to see many Father of the Bride dances these days. In fact in the last 4 years I only recently photographed my first one. But that one instance delivered one of the best wedding photographs I have taken to date! The FOTB lives in the States and he had a real close connection with his daughter ( it showed in the dance with the tears shed).

Some couples i work with dont even have a first dance, so dont let others attitude dictate what you do. If it feels right and you want to do it - go for it. Its a lovely aspect of the wedding day, tradition or old fashioned dont worry! do what you feel is right, to reflect you and the relationships you share. It certainly isnt cheesy!

Hope this helps.

Linus

We did our first dance, which was joined by family and friends, then I danced with my dad to the next one.

My dad wouldn't dance if I paid him I'll be honest, I thought a father/daughter dance was more of an American thing. That's not to say you shouldn't do it if you want to, of course, I've just never really seen or heard of it over here.

I hasn't actually heard of one before seeing it on my big fat gypsy wedding. I've never seen one at any wedding I've gone to over here either. Are they a thing now then?

I danced with my dad by default on the wedding day but there was no 'special' dance.

There are lots of different traditions depending on culture, generation and where in the world you come from. My OH is Scottish and although our first dance wasn't anything to do with Scotland, we then had a Ceilidh band taking over for dancing afterwards and my OH's mum wanted to us to follow a tradition where the couple promenade around the floor, gathering up the guests in a line so that by the end of it, everyone was on the floor ready for the first Ceilidh dance. That was a new one on me, and we didn't do it because I had already planned a cheesy ending to our first dance where some of our friends came and joined in for a Jive at the end anyway! But that was what she considered to be traditional and I had never heard of it.

In the years I have taught wedding dances I have very rarely come across the father-daughter dance and only ever seen them on TV, not in real life. However just last week I was asked to a mother-son dance lesson and that was a first for me.

With all of these things, you must do what you want to do and not worry about traditions because often people have a different idea of what is traditional anyway. Do you want to dance with your dad, and is your dad up for it? If so then go for it - if not (or it feels too OTT for you) then just grab him for a dance later in the evening anyway.

My dad is super excited about doing a father and daughter dance and has been researching already! He wants us to take secret lessons! I think it's a lovely idea and now I've thought about it - how great will the pics be?! Go for it xx

Hi Laura,

We have played a couple of father/daughter dances. This has been after the first dance, usually joined by best man,MOH etc. Then followed by (and announced) the father/daughter dance.

As I recall both were really personal choices. One being 'Great balls of fire' the other was 'Brown eyed girl'. Both being the brides favourite song when they were children.

Just go with what you want!

James,

The Spectrum.

I would hate to have a special dance between me and my dad, mainly because I know how uncomfortable it would make him being the centre of attention.

I will most likely dance with him at some point though. Well, dance alongside playing air guitar at least!

Why don't you just dance with him at some point during the evening but don't clear the floor and announce it if you're worried about it being cheesy. Just make a point of finding him when a special song comes on or even just any song and dance alongside others. This is probably what I'll do, I too am a bit of a daddy's girl but don't like the idea of making a big show of dancing with him.

This^^^^^^ it will just happen, after your first dance people will join in and that's when the father of the bride normally steps in, but its up to you if you want one, ask your father how he feels about it. For me I wouldn't do it unless there were other people up and dancing but then that me.?

I think in America they might have crossed over from quinceaneras, which are obviously something many people have attended there due to the size of the Latin American community. That's an educated guess though!

Me and my dad are having a dance after the first dance. We are currently learning a waltz to surprise all my guests. Im so nervous about it but my dad really wanted to do it and I think I will be glad we did it after xx