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 Mrs. 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 Mrs. 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 
To Dance Or Not To Dance
April 25th, 2008 @ 3:44 pm by Mrs. Flamingo
There will be lots and lots of dancing at our wedding because my whole family loves to bust a move. But there is one dance I’m debating whether we should do… the famous money dance.
” The concept of “Money Dance” is that the male guests pay for the privilege of dancing with the bride, and by extension, female guests pay for the privilege of dancing with the groom. The money is to be used for the bride and groom’s honeymoon or to give them a little extra cash with which to set up housekeeping. ” source
Have You Ever Been In Love?
April 24th, 2008 @ 1:16 pm by Mrs. Caramel
That was the name of our first dance song by Celine Dion! It took us awhile to agree on a first dance song– but once I heard this song on the radio, I loved everything about it! (Thank you 103.5 KOST love songs!) The song isn’t new but for some reason I had never heard the Celine hit before! The reason why I loved the song so much is because it talks about passionate love– the “I can’t live without you” love that Carrie Bradshaw talks about on Sex and the City. I really feel that Mr. Caramel and I have that passionate love, and it was surprising because for the longest time I didn’t really believe it existed!
I especially love the bridge: “The time I spent, waiting for something that was heaven-sent…When you find it don’t let go…” I believe that timing is the one thing we can’t control, so once you feel that you have someone special and they feel the same way— don’t let it go! It is so rare that two people feel that way about each other at the same time. I’ve heard many stories of relationships that never happened just because of timing. And there may be deep regret of “what could’ve happened”.
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Help Choose The Shortcakes’ Wedding Song - Part Two
April 17th, 2008 @ 2:00 pm by Mrs. Shortcake
Our first latin dance lesson, taught by a stern young woman from the Old Country, was definitely an intimidating experience for Mr. Shortcake.
” No! NO! You will put your hands like dese! No! Like DESE!”
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Help Choose The Shortcakes’ Wedding Song - Part One
April 16th, 2008 @ 6:24 pm by Mrs. Shortcake
(source)
Mr. Shortcake was not naturally gifted with the dancing gene. Going out to nightclubs almost guaranteed an appearance of ‘The Crab’ (envision the grumpy crustaceans from the end of Finding Nemo) and some stellar shuffling.
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