This Is the Best Time to Do Your First Dance

There's so much emphasis placed on your first dance: the song choice, dance moves, and any surprise elements—but when's the best time during your wedding reception to actually have your first dance? Putting together your wedding day timeline can be challenging, but luckily, there are really only two good times to do your first dance.

The first time we recommend doing your first dance is immediately following your grand entrance into the reception. You can enter to a fun song while your guests clap and cheer, and then you can head straight to the dance floor to keep the momentum and excitement going. It also makes it the first thing you do at the reception, which is great if you're both nervous and want to do it without further delay, or if you're doing a surprise dance for your guests and want to show it to them or involve them early on. (You can also cut your wedding cake after that too, if you want.) And if you want to get all of the dances done upfront, you can do any parent/child dances after the first dance as well. What can follow is everyone sitting down for the first meal course.

The second time we recommend doing your first dance is after the meal is over. Everyone will be paying attention (you may not get the same type of crowd if you do the first dance while salads are being served), and you can easily segue into everyone being welcomed onto the dance floor right after (or after the parent/child dances, if you do those then too).

Your wedding planner, DJ, band, or entertainment can also help you with your first dance timing for any other factors.