Nobody Puts Baby in a Corner
July 11th, 2008 @ 12:09 pm by Miss Pinot Noir
My favorite movie between the ages of 10 and 13 was Dirty Dancing. I think I must have watched this movie over 200 times during this three year period. I thought Patrick Swayze was the most handsome man on earth and I loved their summer romance and forbidden love! Mr. Pinot Noir and I started dance lessons last night and all I could think was “Spaghetti Arms” and “Keep that Chin Up.” Read more…
Songs to Waltz to
June 30th, 2008 @ 10:33 am by Miss Gingerbread
Miss GB 2.0 and I decided to take a few dance lessons before the wedding so that we could avoid the old sway-back-and-forth junior high version of slow dancing. We were really excited when we found a dance studio in Vancouver called Not So Strictly Ballroom, which specializes in same-sex ballroom dancing. The only beginner’s class available that fit our schedule was the slow waltz so we signed up for it. We had a blast at the class, but then we realized that most of the songs we considered for our first dance are not waltz appropriate. The song that comes up when you google “first dance” and “waltz” is Ann Murray’s “Can I Have This Dance.” I do have a soft spot for Ann Murray since my mom used to listen to her when I was a kid, but I think this is probably one of the cheesiest songs ever! (No offense meant if this is your first dance song).
I Can Do the Molly Ringwald Dance, Does That Count?
June 25th, 2008 @ 3:16 pm by Miss Candy Corn
Top (L-R):
Me dancing to Rufus Wainwright in my nightie (sparkly pink legwarmers not pictured) while playing kazoo and using a bra as my dancing partner, Mr. CC dancing while toasting marshmallows at a wedding reception, Mr. CC making his scary “smack dat ass” face (in mockery of course)
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My Girl
June 25th, 2008 @ 1:16 pm by Miss Hydrangea
Last weekend Mr. H and I attended his cousin’s wedding at The Oasis in Austin. Talk about an amazing view!
Picture from here. We weren’t at this particular part of the Oasis (it’s huge), but the views were like this everywhere.
Bust A Move
June 9th, 2008 @ 12:50 pm by Mrs. Canary
A few weeks ago, I convinced Mr. Canary that we needed a dance lesson because we picked an up-tempo first dance song and I wasn’t comfortable doing the sixth grade mixer rock and sway for all 2.5 minutes of it. Let me preface this by saying that I love to dance, but it’s usually to top 40s pop or old school hip hop in the confines of my bedroom! I have never had formal ballroom dance instruction, while Mr. Canary participated in 8th grade social dancing.
Since time is not on our side, I researched private dance lessons at various studios in New York. The lessons ranged from about $80-95 for 45-60 minutes. Most of the lessons took place at a dance studio in Manhattan and although they were “private” we would not be guaranteed a private room. Then I remembered bookmarking a dance Web site where instructors would come to your home to teach. The site was for Start Dancing and after browsing the site some more, I decided to make an appointment for an Emergency Dance Lesson. I got to talk to the owner, Erin Bomboy, who was very sweet and informative. The cost of the lesson would be $95 for 75 minutes. We let her know our song selection and she asked us to have it queued up and ready when she arrived. She also asked me to wear the actual shoes I would wear to dance with on the wedding day.
Our private dance “studio” aka the living room!
The Playlist That Never Was
May 30th, 2008 @ 6:16 pm by Mrs. Tulip
Thanks for all your kind comments on our iPod disaster, everyone! As long as I mentioned my much-obsessed-over playlists, here they are. If they can help anyone else’s song-choice process, maybe they’ll serve some purpose!
But first a story/tip. By now, most everyone knows the standard music advice like “pay attention to the lyrics” (some seemingly romantic songs are actually quite depressing when you listen to the words), and “choose short songs” (you don’t want to be dancing for ever … and ever … and ever). But one that’s often overlooked is to pay special attention to the START of each song.
This is particularly true for key songs like processionals, recessionals, and the first dance. People respond best if the song catches their attention from the start. For example, for our recessional, we considered “So Happy Together,” by the Turtles. But there’s a whole verse before it hits the happy, uplifting chorus. By then we would have been down the short aisle and gone.
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Pure Cheese
May 27th, 2008 @ 2:43 pm by Mrs. Toucan
Hi Hive! Sorry I’ve been a little MIA. Mr. Toucan and I have been in the process of moving into our new place so that it will be ready for us after the wedding. Whether or not this was a good idea or not is undetermined. However for now I will say it’s a bad idea because we have no internet yet and I am going through serious withdrawals. 
Anyway, during our breaks from packing and unpacking, Mr. Toucan and I have been doing some serious song-listening. Since Mr. Touc and I never really had “a song”, we’ve had quite a bit of trouble picking one out for our first dance. Finally, and literally almost the last minute (our wedding is soooo close now it’s crazy), we’ve finally agreed on one… and it’s pure cheese. And I love it.
******DRUMROLL*****
Elvis Presley’s The Wonder of You
Dancing Queen (and King)!
May 20th, 2008 @ 2:35 pm by Miss Cream Puff
Mr. Cream Puff and I suck at dancing. Actually, I don’t know that for a fact, as Mr. Cream Puff has pretty much refused to dance with me at the weddings and Bar Mitzvahs we have attended together. No more, I say! So we’ve decided to start dancing lessons (I swear, I did not force Mr. Cream Puff into this–he wanted to do it).
Last week we had our very first lesson at Two Left Feet in Danville, California. It was…hard. Actually, let me clarify: it was hard for Mr. Cream Puff, because the man’s part is the hardest. All I have to do is follow (and I am very good at it, haha!). Right now we are learning East Coast Swing, but we’ll be learning a lot of other dances as our lessons progress.
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Our Dance, No Song
May 15th, 2008 @ 5:27 pm by Mrs. Flamingo
Our first dance song choice has been a source of debate for the longest time, but being almost a month away from the wedding, I think it’s time to make a decision. I wanted to use “our song” - I truly love it and it would have so much more meaning if we danced to it on our wedding day. It’s not a popular song and that’s what I love about it. I’m really into unique song choices and Lifehouse’s Take me away (acoustic version) is just that.
Shall We Dance?
May 6th, 2008 @ 2:45 pm by Miss Tiramisu
Choosing a first dance song was one of the toughest decisions Mr. Tiramisu and I have made so far. We are both really into music, and we wanted to choose the perfect song for the occasion. There is no “our song” in our relationship, although there are a lot of songs that have been important to us over the years.
Here we are dancing the night away at a wedding last summer. I shortly after dumped that martini down the back of some poor unsuspecting wedding-goer. Mr. Tiramisu now makes me finish my martinis before hitting the dance floor 
