Celebrity DJ Company Interviews The Wedding Dance Specialists

Yeah We Think We Can Dance - by Dave Armon of Scratch Weddings (Image courtesy of FOX)

When it comes to the first dance that couples share with one another on their wedding night, the Waltz immediately comes to mind for bridal purists. But two popular TV shows have stoked interest in far more challenging dance floor moves.

ABC’s Dancing With the Stars and FOX’s So You Think You Can Dance?, have led to far more lofty aspirations among couples planning to demonstrate their fancy footwork. The result: a booming business for professional dance instructors who specialize in weddings.

Deborah Joy Block, an industry pioneer whose team trains close to 1,000 engaged couples annually, credits the dancing reality shows for convincing couples that an investment of time and energy can make a wedding reception more memorable. Although The Wedding Dance Specialists’ claim to fame is working a miracle in ONE lesson by providing a basic but complete routine, she cautions against procrastinating.

“Realistically, a lot of couples tend to delay taking lesson until a month or two before the wedding day. And they don’t leave themselves enough time or budget to allow for an elaborate routine and a lot of lessons,” said Block, who operates multiple The Wedding Dance Specialists studios in the Washington, D.C., area.

The musical preferences among couples learning dance from The Wedding Dance Specialists match up closely with Scratch Weddings clients. A recent review of first dance song selections reveals 70% opt for slow songs – mainly Top 40 slow love ballads. Examples range from At Last by Etta James to Sade’s By Your Side, to You Are The Best Thing by Ray Lamontagne.

For the 30% of couples who want their music – and their feet – to move a bit faster, we’ve seen plenty of merengue, salsa and swing, along with memorable rock tracks like Modern English’s Melt With You, and The Zombies’ This Will Be Our Year.

For those who just want to survive their moment in the spotlight regardless of the song’s tempo, the experts offer these words of reassurance.

“If you have a really good instructor who understands the unique needs of engaged couples, you should be able to look natural, elegant and relaxed in a very short period of time and still impress everybody even without an elaborate routine,” Block said, adding, “If a studio tells you need 10 lessons when your goal is just to avoid the ‘high school prom sway’– that’s excessive.”

One real-life example of how a working with a professional can make a novice into a respectable dancer involves Los Angeles Times business reporter Dawn Chmielewski, who prepared in just two weeks for a one-time guest appearance on Dancing With The Stars in 2009. She wrote a page one column about the experience
Granted Chmielewski’s partner was professional dancer Jonathan Roberts, not a groom with two left feet. To compensate for that, we’d recommend an extra week of lessons.

Celebrity DJ company and training academy Scratch Weddings was founded by Grammy Winner Jam Master Jay of Run DMC, trains thousands of DJs nationally and internationally, won numerous wedding industry awards, executed events for top national corporate brands, Their DJ training software Scratch DJ Academy MIX software is sold at Best Buy and the video game DJ Hero 2 features their curriculum. The original post of this article can be found on the Scratch Weddings Blog at http://www.scratchweddings.com/yeah-we-think-we-can-dance/

Here are a few Scratch Weddings DJ's DC bios. They include high-res photos, video interviews and demos, and mixes:

n DJ As-One http://www.scratchweddings.com/dj-biomix.php?r=REoxMDAyMQ==&e=MTMx

n DJ Bounce http://www.scratchweddings.com/dj-biomix.php?r=REoxMDAyMw==&e=MTMx

n DJ Premonition http://www.scratchweddings.com/dj-biomix.php?r=REoxMDAzOA==&e=MTMx

Selecting Your DJ or Band for Your Wedding Day

MUSIC CREATES AN AMBIANCE

Make sure you have heard your band or DJ's style in advance. Ask for referrals and follow up to see if other customers were satisfied with their services. Check their play list and ask for a cassette or CD of their music. DJ's have different styles, some are able to motivate the crowd while staying behind the scenes, others are highly visible and interact with the crowd, teach line dances, give out party favors, etc…Additionally, to guarantee your favorite songs are played, provide a list of “MUST PLAY” songs. To prevent inappropriate or unfavorable songs from being played on your special day, provide a “PROHIBITED SONGS” list.

HIRE APPROPRIATELY

Find out what is included in the band's repertoire so that there are no surprises or disappointments. Most bands and DJ's have a song list. Some bands may specialize in a particular genre like Rock & Roll or Big Band music. To create different moods, some weddings incorporate a live trio during the ceremony, one instrumentalist during the cocktail hour and a DJ during the reception. With enough notice, the band may be willing to learn a song (maybe two) by special request. But it would be unrealistic to expect them to change their entire repertoire.

THINK ABOUT YOUR BUDGET

Look into the various pricing options. If a large band is not within your budget, a smaller sub grouping may give you a similar sound at a more affordable rate.

SAME VERSION?

Verify that the music played during your dance presentations is the same version as what you have practiced. Be aware that intentional tempo variations in a song is a method band's use to express their unique style. Before signing a contract, ensure that the band agree to play your song at your preferred tempo provided you give them some advanced notice so that they can be prepared. Your dance instructor can figure out how many measures or beats per minute there are in a particular song. A slight modification in tempo is not difficult to adjust to but more than 5 measures per minute can make a dramatic difference in one's ability to dance comfortably. Another simple solution is to email a digital copy to the band to listen to or snail mail a CD.

BE PREPARED

 Ask your bridal coordinator or Best Man to bring the DJ an extra copy of your wedding song on CD. Make sure you have clearly labeled the song - "FIRST DANCE # x" so that there is no confusion. Providing the DJ with the song is a good idea because the DJ may have a different version of the same song and not realized it.

The Wedding Dance Specialists provide complimentary bridal consulting services by pre-screening the area's top wedding vendors. Most of these vendors do not normally offer discounts but due to our strong professional rapport they have allowed us to negotiate a special offers that are exclusively for the benefit of our clients and website visitors. In order to redeem these exclusive discounts please let the vendor know we referred you by printing this page and present it to the vendor upon purchase of their products or services (in cases where prices are not posted, it is suggested that you present coupon after a price has been quoted).

Click here for the special offer discounts from top D.C. area wedding vendors.