Ah, our first dance! What a fun and special moment to share together, and also for all of our guests to experience. Don’t worry- I share a bunch of photos and even a little video later in the post. Growing up dancing my whole life, I knew I would be excited for this part of our wedding day. You could say Tim’s also a big dancer when he’s at a party, but I didn’t want to overwhelm him with too much choreography. There’s already so much going on during the day, that we wanted to feel comfortable with our dance while still showing off some moves.

After researching different options, we worked with Jersey City Ballroom to take a few lessons before the big day! We opted to do three lessons after the introductory session with Shimkiri, the instructor and Co-founder. It was SO much fun! We’ve never done a dance class together, and it had been a whileee since I’d been in a studio. They just made us feel so comfortable and ready for our first dance.

We picked the song, You by Dan and Shay, since we didn’t feel that it was overdone and we liked how some parts were upbeat. Fun fact- they also went to my high school! I told Shimkiri that we wanted a dance that was “loosely” choreographed, so she worked with us to put together some steps that we could repeat during different parts of the song. Let’s just say the box step became our bestie. She also helped us focus on the big moments in the song, like leaning in for a kiss and Tim getting down on his knee. PS- the crowd went wild! Here’s a video of us showing off our moves.

Jersey City Ballroom believes that dance makes lives better. We specialize in building a community of dancers. Whether you’re interested in Latin, ballroom, salsa, swing, tango, or wedding dance lessons, we are here to help you. We offer group classes, private lessons and specialized workshops for all ages.

I definitely recommend taking a few dance lessons with your partner before the big day, even if it’s just to feel comfortable not stepping on each other’s toes. If you’re in the Jersey City/Hoboken/NYC area, we couldn’t recommend Jersey City Ballroom enough!! Thank you again to Shimkiri and her team for working with us and making our wedding day extra special.

details: photos by Shannon Moffit | dress by Sarah Seven | planning by Kate Philips Events