Over the course of the year leading up to our wedding, the size of the ceremony and reception grew until -- two months before the wedding -- my now-husband followed this to its natural conclusion and realized that people were going to expect a ...first dance.
So, six weeks before our wedding, I was dragged off to Arthur Murray Philadelphia over my objections so that my husband and I could do something other than the "middle school sway" on the dance floor. We walked in with no song, no preferred dance styles, and I honestly had no idea what we were doing there or what we hoped to accomplish (other than my husband's goal of not feeling like a total idiot).
We took 11 lessons -- at a rate of 2-3 per week, plus group classes and practice sessions. By our wedding date, we were able to survive not only our wedding dance, a Rumba, but also able to navigate the floor for Waltz and Swing.
We didn't tell anyone, and his family was shocked when our first dance was actually a first dance.
We enjoyed our lessons so much that we continued attending after our wedding -- we were married in 2010. Six years later, I still attend on a regular basis and my husband attends as his schedule permits.
The instructors are terrific and really know what they are doing when it comes to wedding couples. Even on our tight six week timeline (which was shorter than ideal, for sure), the instructors gave us plenty of material and never left us feeling like we needed to do more.