First dance - before or after food?

First dance after food, I'm going to be starving and will not want to dance. lol

We are doing ours after dinner. Dinner is starting around 6-6:30 so we expect to allow about 2 hours for that, and then have the first dance at 8 and then open the dance floor. We actually are planning to have a smooth transition from our first dance ('I Don't Want to Miss A Thing' from 1998's 'Armageddon') into a song that will get the dance floor open and 'get this party started' (we are using Dan Davidson's 'Found' for this one).

You are totally right. When we planned my friends wedding they came right in and did the first dance and the cake cutting. It flows well. The elderly relatives love to see that stuff, and will often already be eyeing the door by the time dessert rolls around, so they appreciate it when it's earlier in the event too.

We are planning a "special dance" so we will transition right from our grand entrance into our first dance-I agree it makes with others that feel it makes the most sense.

Hi Jenny,

A wedding that my fiance and I went to a couple months back, the Bride and Groom did a transition right from their grand entrance into their first dance song, and that is what we're going to do as well. Seeing that from a guests' perspective, it definitely made sense because dinner opens the table for your guests to converse with one another, meanwhile, if you do your dance beforehand, it allows for all the attention to be on you

I can almost guarantee you that if you have your dance while guests are seated and there's something on the table for them to eat or drink, almost no one will pay any attention to you. They'll likely be stuffing their mouths or chatting with one another. That might be fine if you're the shy type and don't want the attention but personally, I would find it incredibly awkward to be dancing in the middle of the floor while everyone is ignoring you. And the pictures/video will be weird if you see people eating/talking in the background while you dance. But that's just me though.

We kind of have to do dinner before the dance because we are doing the ceremony at around 4 or 4:30 as my dad has to eat fairly early. I guess we could try to squeeze our first dance in as we weren't planning a long ceremony but I hired a harpist for it and the first hour of the reception and that would make it awkward for her I think. I thought it would make it a little easier if we did the ceremony, let her take a break and everyone eats and then did the dances. We are doing the traditional father/daughter, mother/son dances and breaking out to everyone else. I really think it would flow better too if we didn't break that up.

Still trying to figure this one out myself - we are having a bit of a later day in general, and I know I hate when I need to wait to eat but were still trying to decide if we have a dance at all lol

BUT - I have seen it done both ways.

The time I saw it done PRIOR to dinner, it kinda worked perfectly with their venue - their dance floor was in a separate space than where we ate, but we had to walk through the dancefloor to get to the dining area, so we waited there - bride and groom entered, did their dance and then we went and ate. I dont think they did any family dances so also worked out for them.

When it was done after - it was done a while after the dinner - so I can't say how the bride felt but I feel like it was a decent amount of time for her food to settle. We kinda did all the speeches and stuff first then they danced.

I am doing the first dance before dinner! I personally find it flows better. Especially for our venue.

Our venue coordinator suggested we do before dinner when we do our grand entrance. When she told us and I had the chance to think about it, to me it seems a lot better of a timeline. She also said that every wedding she has done, most of them follow what she says and they ended up loving the idea.

We will be having ours before the first course. We have a cocktail hour where hors d'oeuvres will be served so guests will be fine. The dance is less than 5 minutes. When I attend a wedding, I have a little snack before I leave my house, and I keep a small granola bar in my purse just in case. If you want the attention on you and your partner, go for the dance before the food. Who cares if "that's not how it's done", I am forgoing the whole garter thing because I think it's super creepy. Just because something was done for a long time does not make it the correct way.