Comments on: Dancing at a dry wedding

By: How to Have a Dry Wedding! « The Wedding Lens Blog – Wedding Planning Tips & Advice

Mon, 03 Aug 2009 13:05:30 +0000

[...] if you have an evening wedding, I promise you can get people to dance, assuming you want them to! Try using games, like Dance Dance Revolution or a hula hoop, or other [...]

By: LIZ

LIZ — Mon, 03 Aug 2009 02:47:08 +0000

Most of the weddings I've attended did not serve alcohol, and there was no problem getting people to dance.

By: Natattack

Natattack — Fri, 24 Apr 2009 07:27:43 +0000

I think having coffee, teas and fancy sodas or juices is a good idea.
I don't think you need alcohol to get people to dance, but you might need someone to encourage them; e.g. a compere with dancing games, or maybe have an instructor who helps teach some basic ballroom moves – it would be a lot of fun and really memorable. Also get friends who are more extroverted to pull people up onto the dance floor.
I'm going to get married in Poland and they have a really nice thing where the compere for the band gets everyone to play dancing or party games – it really breaks the ice and gets people on the dance floor. (Yes they are a bit drunk, but I've been to many an English wedding where people get drunk and STILL don't dance)

By: Dixie, again

Dixie, again — Wed, 15 Apr 2009 21:03:02 +0000

Hey, I like these soda bar ideas a lot! I'll have to keep that in mind!

By: Patricia

Patricia — Wed, 15 Apr 2009 13:32:30 +0000

You could fake it? Serve fun cocktails and maybe non-alcoholic beer. After all, I'm sure most people equate dance with alcohol because you chat and loosen up while having a drink. So I'm sure the appearance of a drink would have the same effect.

By: jenn

jenn — Tue, 14 Apr 2009 00:11:25 +0000

I'm in a similar situation with the recovering alcoholic finance, and we just went to a friends wedding who was also in the same situation. Their wedding was dry and had a dance floor, but you're right, nobody danced and everyone left early.

We decided not to do dancing at all, but instead have some planned activities… it's a summer wedding so we have some games set up that match our "theme" (think retro & western games). We have a relay game planned that would involve everybody and get people moving around, and some photo opportunities set up for our guests to play with as well.

By: Ann

Ann — Sun, 12 Apr 2009 17:34:02 +0000

I'd like to really repeat this (and I mean really): YOU DON'T NEED ALCOHOL TO HAVE A GOOD TIME. Just this whole mentality that people won't dance or have fun because you're having a dry wedding is frustrating. Isn't choosing to have a dry wedding pretty independent and offbeat anyways?

Yes, I am actually a pretty good drinker, but I'd rather people remember my wedding and not stumble away from the reception. You know. You guys can always drink later, y'know

By: Cinzialee

Cinzialee — Sat, 11 Apr 2009 01:10:11 +0000

My wedding is at a local park and we arent allowed to have alcohol and I dont drink much as well as my fiance doesnt either so we are serving non alcoholic drinks and mixed drinks like ice tea n lemonaid or something in that fashion, so as far as our wedding is hawaiian/costumed theme so hopefully people will dance and have fun. sounds like ur wedding was fun and congrats to you as well! Its okay to have your own style at your own wedding!! best of luck in ur marriage!

By: Alex Davies

Alex Davies — Thu, 09 Apr 2009 11:24:16 +0000

Maybe you can loosen up the atmosphere by playing some simple games – nothing too cheesy. I think a live band would also be better than someone playing records. Don't worry too much, if you have the people who care about you both and understand they aren't going to bolt at the first opportunity Good Luck!

By: Heather H

Heather H — Wed, 08 Apr 2009 21:50:24 +0000

I'll be honest – open bar was my only requirement for the wedding. I didn't care if it was outdoor, indoor, in a zoo, whatever. But if a dear fried of mine was in a situation like this, I think it would be really fun to have a slurpee bar of nonalcoholic drinks, complete with all the fruity embellishments. Rootbeer floats, costume pieces like boas, sunglasses, cowboy hats, etc would all help get the party started!