To Do #6: Learn to Dance

The real dance of the wedding day has nothing to do with the right shoes or the smooth moves.

My husband and I were very much aware of our dancing handicap. We knew quite well that our first dance on our wedding day would be a shocker. 

A picture of awkwardness; like two clumsy clowns trying to find their feet after colliding into one another.  If we did not get some timing to our step and flow to our bodies we would be an embarrassment to all.

As if I did not have enough pressure already. Friends were flying in from all over the country, the last minute details were coming together. Being a determined bride, no box was going to be left unchecked.

But I was afraid time was running short. The “learn to dance” box was still empty days before our wedding.

 I felt the pressure from countless bridal websites telling me that the first dance should be so well choreographed that everyone is left gasping at its beauty.

Most couples seemed to have planned their every move, practiced for hours each day, and got professional lessons. They looked like an old married couple waltzing across the floor, like they foreknew the other’s step before it was even taken.

However, more important than the fancy steps, the swing dance flips over his shoulder, or the wows from the crowd, is the dance called marriage.

This is the dance that you want to practice, starting now while you are engaged.

Work on being in sync with one another, by that I mean, getting to know one another better. Know what makes the other person’s day. Know how to please one another in every way.

Learn the “fancy steps” of marriage.  Loving one another unconditionally, forgiving and forgetting, encouraging and serving one another.

As for the “swing dance flips,” you will learn these with time. These are the mountain tops of marriage that come as you get in rythem with each other. Marriage is overflowing with moments such as these, but they only come with practice and a willingness to always keep moving forward together.  

This is a well choreographed marriage that will truly “wow the crowd.”

I am sure you are wondering what happened on my husband and I’s first dance.

We got in a short practice with some of our gifted swing dance loving friends, but I cannot say those 30 minutes were a success.

We only realized once more that our dance moves are naturally dreadful. Everyone else seemed to be floating around on the wood floor, while were like two elephants with four heavy feet each. We were a tangled mess.

However, the first dance did not resemble the style we were so prone to exhibit.

Surprised hardly describes how we felt on our wedding day as we whirled around in the backyard like no one was watching. We were not performing, or trying to impress. As newlyweds we were enraptured with one another.

 These clumsy clowns realized the secret to dancing. It lies in looking into one another’s eyes not just while the music is playing but for a lifetime.

This is the marriage dance. It is the dance that we will persistently pour our effort and time into practicing.  

If you are feeling overwhelmed by needing to have a first dance at your wedding, let it worry you know more! Coming from a bumbling bride, you will have a lifetime to practice “dancing.”