Wedding Blog
What kind of entertainment will you be having at your wedding? Miss Emerald’s Post got me thinking about this. Because other than the traditional slideshow (which I have been procrastinating making), I am also considering having a few performances at my wedding.
From when I was about 8 years old up until college, I have been part of my temple’s music and dance troupe. As far as I can remember, Thai traditional dance has been a part of me growing up. Whether it was waking up early for practice, or staying up waaaay late for more practice before a big show. We performed everywhere: The Metropolitan Musesm of Art, Harvard, Rutgers, Concert Halls–even overseas. The list goes on and on. All of the money we made went to the temple, and to charities for children in Asia (mainly Thailand); but there were some proceeds that went elsewhere.
I could not imagine not having at least one Thai cultural dance for my wedding. There’s one in particular that I would like to be performed at my wedding. It is called ’Lao Duang Duern’, and it is about a courting couple, and the boy is professing his love to his girlfriend. It is not only a fitting and a very sweet dance; but it was a favorite of my late grandmother. And I also want it to be a small tribute to her. It’s very sentimental to me. Here are some pictures of Thai dances. (No, none of these are me. But I’ll scan some & post some when I get the albums from my mom’s house to show you all later)
Another type of performance that I am still considering is a Chinese Lion Dance. Yes, the kind that you see during Chinese New Year’s. This would be in honor of my husband’s heritage. And he was also once part of a lion dance troupe so I’m sure it would be something he would really love to have. I love the upbeat drumming and the liveliness of the lion dance. I’ve contacted some lion dance troupes already, but I’m still debating wether to do this or not.
Do you think it would be overkill? As a guest would you enjoy seeing these performances at a wedding?
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Wow, that would be amazing to see at a wedding reception! Last lion dance I saw the lion was eating the red envelopes of money from the crowd — might not do that part of it unless it’s a cultural norm or dollar dance substitution?
i would LOVE seeing those. i love lion dances something fierce. i’ve been actually toying with the idea of having a korean fan dance at our reception…now if i could only find a troupe. how much do stuff like this run? does anyone know?
My (very young) aunt had a lion dance at her wedding when she got married. it was really neat! plus all the kids LOVED it. i think it’s a great idea to incorporate any kind of dance into your wedding.
I would love that! We’re planning to have classical Indian and bhangra dance performances at our wedding– I’m hoping our guests will enjoy it!
I think either or both would be awesome, although I especially like the thai dancers ’cause I love the sentimentality for dedicating it to your grandmother…not to mention those outfits are super-gorgeous!!
Anything with that much color and movement is going to bring a lot to the party–if you were a toddler, how much would this blow your mind?!–and the fact that it relates to you personally is a great incentive to do it. Years ago I went to a wedding that included dancers from a local Panamanian cultural education group, and it was a great way to bring the bride’s heritage into focus.
It’s times like this I wish I had some culture in my blood so I could do cultural things at my wedding. Unfortunately, I don’t know any Jewish dances, nor am I a practicing Jew (I’m Jewish by heritage moreso than religion) so that kills that.
I saw one lion dance at a Chinese themed New Year’s party (at a Mormon church dance, nonetheless!) and loved it. How neat it would be to have someone perform.
I didn’t make it to my brother’s rehearsal dinner because of my college finals (flying in and out for the wedding was the best and saddest 24 hours I ever spent in California) but from stories and pictures I know there were bellydancers there (it was an Indian RD). It would have been really neat to see that, and I’m sorry I had to miss out.
love it, love it, love it!!
I’m hoping hoping hoping to have a lion dance at our wedding! It’s still early but I’ve contacted a few lion dance troups just to get an estimate of the cost. If we have enough left in our wedding budget we’ll be doing this - especially, since our ceremony and reception are a few hours apart, it will provide some entertainment and kill some time at our long cocktail hour(s)!
I’m having a lion dance group perform at my wedding after seeing it at my distant cousin’s wedding. The crowd got really excited. There’s something about the drumming that really pumps your blood.
BTW, it was pretty difficult finding a lion dance group. My local knot board didn’t have any leads. Luckily, I found this website which lists regional lion dance groups: http://www.geocities.com/lionscave1/?20074
I think that’s awesome! GO FOR IT! =o)
I’m having lion dancers for our entry, my Lebanese friends had belly dancers and they were awesome.
I would love to see Thai dance.
As for Lion dance, my only advice would be not to allow it to be too long. There was a Lion Dance performance at a wedding I went to last year, and I think many guests, myself included, felt it dragged on too long… especially since we were at that point captive and wondering when dinner would be served.
I’ve never been a fan of weddings with lots of perfomances. The particular dance you mentioned is adequate without being too much of a “number” than a wedding celebration. The last wedding I went to there were so many performances from the bride’s side of the family that by the time they were all done nearly half the guests left!
i love the idea of having preformance to reflect your background.
i would love to do a lion dance at my wedding right before or after the tea cermony.
does anyone know of a good company to contact and how much it cost?
A lot of people know that I teach ballroom but have never seen me dance so I plan on performing 1 number for the guests to see. I know a lot of the older guests like watching stuff like that. Plus it’ll briefly entertain the non-dancers.
When did everything shift to having to entertain the guest? I am not saying it’s a bad thing just wondering when did this all happen. I am planning a destination wedding so I hadn’t even considered any type of entertainment.
my friend had a lion dance performance at her wedding and i personally loved it. i had never seen one before and thought it was so wonderful! i really love cultural/personal touches though to weddings. i say go for it!
Wow! What great ideas. Why they certianly aren’t for everyone, they seem perfect and personal for your wedding. I would love it as a guest.
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Mrs. Orchid, New York
Age and Occupation in 07: 28, Database Programmer/Analyst
Fiance's Age and Occupation: 27, Physician
Engagement Date: November 19, 2005
Wedding Date: September 29, 2007
Venue: Ocean Jewels Restaurant in Flushing
About Me: Asian woman of Thai/Chinese/Japanese decent, although I am raised Thai. Born and raised in NY. I graduated from The City College of New York with a Graphic Design degree, however I'm doing database programming. (I know go figure!) I'll be marring my college sweetheart of 6 years next September. I have 2 furbabies ages 1yr and 8 months. I'm born on the cusp of Capricorn & Aquarius, I guess that accounts for my diligence and streak of creativity!
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