First Dances - with a little personality!

First dances don't have to be lovey-dovey. Here is a little collection of some of my favorite wedding 'first dance' performances :-) Which is your favorite?

Pop lock and drop in Oakland:


I like big butts:


California Love... I love how unenthusiastic the audience is:


Jack Johnson, Michael Jackson:


Dirty Dancing in the UK (this was pretty famous, made some TV shows):


And finally, this isn't really a first dance but I LOVE this video. The DJ played Thriller at our reception, but no one really knew the choreography well. I tried to do a couple moves and everyone on the floor tried to follow along, but it was nothing like this video!



Inspired by the videos but thinking, "How in the heck could I choreograph something like this?" Ask a dancer friend to help you out, or better yet -- re-use choreography. You have many options out there... movies, music videos, YouTube videos. The world is your oyster. And if your fiance is on board with the idea, you've already 50% there!

Personal Touches: Tablecards

As mentioned in my introductory post, I feel strongly that the more personal touches you add to the wedding, the more memorable it will be. Tablecards are an easy way to incorporate a personal touch into the day because the possibilities are endless. Some ideas for tablecard themes:

• Reflect a shared hobby. Both basketball fans? Name each table after teams or players. Love dogs? Choose your favorite dog breeds. Hardcore gamers? Name each table after a favorite game.


• Share where you've been. Vacations are always a great source of tablenames - be it landmarks, neighborhoods, cities, countries, favorite restaurants, etc. We went this route, naming each of our tables after favorite spots on our trip to Europe last year (where we got engaged).


• People. I went to one wedding where each table was named after someone in the wedding party. One side of the tablecard featured the name (e.g. "Tony's Table") and the other side had a mini-profile about the person. It was really cute and a nice nod to each bridesmaid and groomsman.

Once you come up with your theme and names for each table, the next step is to figure out how the tablecards will look. You can choose to make all your tablecards, print them up, or get them made. I personally think making them is a lot of fun; it's like arts and crafts all over again. If you're concerned about your artistic abilities. enlist some friends to help you out (or even just have someone design the template). Michael's, Joann Arts & Crafts, and Office Depot should have all the art supplies you will need.

Our tablecards resembled postcards. It was a lot of work, but I had so much fun making each one:
 

Seen any particularly unique examples of tablecard names? Send them my way!