Wedding Dance Lessons
Chicago Oak Brook Naperville Schaumburg
Service area
Deals
Custom discountPermanent
Introductory Wedding Lesson
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Jessica
OWNER
Typically responds within 24h
AWARD WINNER (12X)
Thanks to recommendations from couples on The Knot
SERVICING DOWNTOWN CHICAGO | NAPERVILLE | OAK BROOK
At Windy City Wedding Dance we specialize in custom wedding dance lessons, ballroom dance lessons, latin and salsa lessons. We make it exciting for beginner, intermediate, or advanced level dancers. Singles, couples, and groups are welcome. We can't thank everyone enough for all the love and support through Covid. We couldn't be more proud to celebrate our 10 year anniversary in the heart of downtown Chicago.
We welcome you into our warm inviting atmosphere. Come share some laughs and maybe even a cocktail.
Woman-owned Business
Details
Music Genres
African
Arabic
Bluegrass
Bollywood
Caribbean
Celtic
Classical
Country
Dance
Disco
EDM
Flamenco
Folk
Hip-Hop
Indian
Jazz
Klezmer
Latin
Mariachi
Persian
Polka
Pop
R&B
Rock
World Music
Awards and Affiliations
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Meet the team
Showing slide number 1 out of 3
- JessicaOwnerI'm Jess, founder of Windy City Wedding Dance. Want to know more about me? You'd probably never guess that I quit my corporate job and took a big risk to follow my passion for dance. I opened Windy City Wedding Dance in 2014. We survived covid and we are stronger than ever. I like cold beer, Micheladas, fishing, and I played a college sport. Can you guess which one? Actually soccer. I am currently competing nationally and dancing professionally in Chicago. Recently Emma Slater from Dancing with the stars came to see us at the dance studio and she invited us to see the show live in LA.
- Stanislav HavrylchenkoLead Entertainment Event ChoregrapherStanislav Havrlychenko joined the Windy City Wedding Dance team at the end of 2023 and now you can find owner Jessica Mays and Semi Final World Champion entertaining couples in the USA and competing internationally. Havrylchenko has been instrumental for the teams entertainment division. Owner Jessica says he is irreplaceable. His experience and energy is magnetic.
- Jessica MaysOwner and Wedding Dance ExpertAt 2 years old her mother sat her in front of the TV to watch the Olympic trials. It just so happened that gymnastics was the event being shown on the TV. Jessica didn’t make a peep for hours. Her mother signed her up for gymnastics, tap, ballet, and baton as soon as the dance schools would take her. Like many younger sisters, Jessica was more interested in what her older brother was doing so she moved on and explored other sports. Jessica attended college with a 4 year athletic scholarship to a Division 1 college and won a conference championship during her first year. Jessica went on to play soccer semi professionally and then decided to retire. Her passion for gymnastics and dance resurfaced a little later in life and she began to train as a ballroom dance instructor. She participated in an accredited training program through Divida called Ballroom University with Blackpool World Champion Tommye Giacchino. Today Jessica educates and teaches dance lessons in Chicago at Windy City Wedding Dance. As the owner, she is commited to having an all inclusive environment that makes everyone feel special and important.
Reviews
5.0
out of 5.0251 reviews
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Review Summary
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Windy City Wedding Dance offers fun, patient, and skilled instruction that turns non-dancers into confident couples with personalized, show-stopping first dances. Lessons became favorite date nights—flexible, supportive, and tailored to each couple’s song and ability. Highly recommended.Review photos
Showing slide number 1 out of 9
Carleigh R
5.0
4/01/2026
Windy City Wedding Dance was the most perfect place for our first dance. Amber was so amazing and made learning our dance so fun! The dance was also a huge hit at our wedding and I...
could not recommend them more!
Chase H
5.0
3/30/2026
Amber was so helpful, creative and patient. Neither of us have a dance background but we were able to pull together a beautiful first dance with her help.
Any questions?
Xiao W
5.0
2/19/2026
Jessica helped us coordinate our first dance for our 1/24/26 wedding, and it was so magical! Even though both of us have two left feet, she managed to get us comfortable with a cho...
reographed dance, and we were really happy with the results. Dance practices even became our favorite date nights in the months leading up to the wedding! We had so much fun working with her, and fully recommend the experience
Jared W
5.0
10/22/2025
If I could give Amber 10 stars, I absolutely would. My wife, Taylor, and I went into this experience with so much excitement — and a fair amount of nerves — about learning our firs...
t dance for our wedding. Like most couples, we wanted something special. Something that felt like us. We wanted our first dance to be memorable, meaningful, and (hopefully!) look at least somewhat coordinated. What we didn’t realize at the time was how much we’d end up looking forward to our lessons every week — and that’s 100% because of Amber.
Amber was our dance instructor at Windy City Wedding Dance in the Loop, and from the very first lesson, we knew we were in incredible hands. She didn’t just teach us dance steps — she gave us confidence, helped us find joy in the process, and turned what could have been a stressful “to-do” item into one of the absolute highlights of our wedding planning journey.
We’re endlessly grateful for her time, her patience, and her positivity. It’s not an exaggeration to say that our first dance wouldn’t have been half as special without her guidance.
Amber — if you’re reading this, thank you from the bottom of our hearts. You crushed it. You made us feel comfortable, confident, and capable from day one. You took two non-dancers and turned us into a couple that couldn’t stop smiling every time we practiced.
We’re going to miss you, but we’ll be forever grateful for everything you taught us and the joy you brought to this experience.
To anyone considering lessons — don’t hesitate. Whether you’ve got two left feet or just want to elevate your first dance to something magical, Amber is the one you want by your side.
We walked into Windy City Wedding Dance hoping to learn a routine.
We walked out with so much more — confidence, laughter, memories, and a new love for dancing together.
Thank you, Amber, for making it all happen. You’re the best! ❤️
Sarah B
5.0
10/20/2025
Our instructor Amber was so patient, funny and kind. It was the perfect combination for us as we tried dancing for the first time. Even the stressful days had fun parts and we alw...
ays left smiling or talking passionately about the dance. It was a great experience. Would recommend to everyone!
Elizabeth B
5.0
10/01/2025
We loved working with Amber on our first dance! We had a unique song and no experience and she helped us choreograph a perfect dance for it. She was so fun and easy to work with. I...
t became a fun thing to do after work leading up to the wedding. Highly recommend!
Naomi B
5.0
9/07/2025
We got a package of 7 lessons with Amber, and she was so fun to work with! She is a very knowledgeable dance instructor, and she made it so easy to learn the steps for our first da...
nce at our wedding. Both me and my partner had never done a choreographed dance before so we were extremely nervous, but Amber was able to teach us relatively simple moves that still looked elegant and effortless.
Samantha H
5.0
8/20/2025
We had a wonderful experience working with Amber on our first dance. She was super accommodating of our busy schedule and we had a blast working with her!
Lauren D
5.0
7/28/2025
We worked with Eduardo over 4 lessons to choreograph our first dance and it was an AMAZING EXPERIENCE!! Took us from 0 to 100. We're so excited to show our guests our first dance!!...
!
Elizabeth M
5.0
7/14/2025
We absolutely loved working with Amanda for our wedding dance lessons! She was incredibly patient, skilled, and made each lesson so much fun. We genuinely looked forward to seeing ...
her every week and now truly miss going. Thanks to her guidance, our first dance turned out amazing and looked so beautiful on our big day. We’re so grateful for her help in making that moment unforgettable!
Meredith H
5.0
7/03/2025
We worked with Vanesza for our 2-minute dance to Dancing with the Moonlight. She was kind, patient, exceptionally talented! We are *definitely* not dancers by trade, but wanted to ...
give our guests a fun "show." Vanesza was able to work within our dance capabilities and was open to our feedback on moves that "worked" and those that didn't. She made us look so good! We would hire her over and over again. Our first dance was one of the top 3 complimented features of our wedding by our guests. Easiest $500 we ever spent to take our wedding to the next level!
Katia B
5.0
6/16/2025
We worked with Jessica at Windy City Wedding Dance to help us choreograph our first dance and were incredibly happy with our experience! Jessica was very personable, patient and he...
lped us learn the dance in a way that was appropriate for our level of experience to get to a great final product! Jessica also helped us with a few wedding vendor referrals. We could our day-of coordinator thanks to her and couldn't have been more happy with our experience. Would highly recommend Windy City Dance to prepare for a wedding!
Danielle D
5.0
5/19/2025
Amber is the best!! She choreographed our dream dance, incorporated all of the details we wanted, and tailored everything to perfectly fit who we are as a couple. She was also so f...
lexible in accommodating our last-minute changes. We are so thankful we found her and couldn’t recommend her enough!
Laurel W
5.0
5/02/2025
Amber is AMAZING!!! We had zero rhythm and now we have a dance we LOVE! She’s so fun and has so much energy! Highly highly recommend!!
Anonymous
5.0
4/20/2025
We had an absolute blast taking dance lessons for our wedding. Amber was amazing to work with - tons of laughs and for two people who walked in with zero dance experience we felt c...
onfident and ready for our big day. Would recommend to anyone!
Leanna B
5.0
2/05/2025
Whenever people ask us what our favorite part of the wedding day was, our answer is always our first dance. We weren’t sure if we should do a choreographed dance, but we are so gl...
ad that we did. Amber did an amazing job preparing us for our first dance that we will remember forever. Neither of us had any prior dancing experience, so Amber truly coached us from the ground-up. She also choreographed the dance in a way that perfectly matched our styles and always made sure we were comfortable. We would absolutely recommend Amber & Windy City Dance!
Martina P
5.0
11/15/2024
My husband and I worked with Veneza for our wedding. She is truly and amazing and fantastic instructor! We did not have much time before our wedding because my husband kept putting...
off dance lessons for the longest time. I'm glad he finally agreed on a choreographed first dance. Vaneza was able to choreograph a beautiful routine that was perfect for our special day. I would recommend her to anyone for their wedding.
susan l
5.0
11/15/2024
Highly recommend. Great teachers & they really make you feel comfortable. So glad I found them.
Luis G
5.0
11/15/2024
Thank you Windy City Wedding Dance for their care, patience and flexibility in ensuring I did not embarrass myself :) and gave my wife the first dance she deserved.
Tracy S
5.0
11/14/2024
My husband and I decided last year to have an actual wedding for our 10 year anniversary and part of that experience was the first dance. My husband has 2 left feet but Vaneza made...
him dance like a pro. She showed us the Viennese Waltz and created a dance for Rhianna's song, Love on the Brain and it worked beautifully and seamlessly. We would not change a thing about our dance and our experience. Vaneza also showed my husband how to properly dip me without dropping me and now he just dips me randomly since lol. Thank you!!!
Violeta C
5.0
11/14/2024
Vaneza Perez helped my husband get over his shyness of dancing. She helped make my wedding day a day I will never forget!
Justin P
5.0
11/14/2024
I was nervous and apprehensive about taking dance lessons for my first dance with my wife. I really wanted to avoid it at all cost but I was outvoted 😂. Vaneza made my whole exper...
ience amazing and fun. I'm glad I got outvoted and actually took these dance classes. It made my confidence go through the roof and I had a ton of fun dancing with my wife on our wedding day. If you have any reservations please just take a chance and try a class. I'm positive you will have a blast doing it!
Mireya G
5.0
11/14/2024
I’ve had the privilege of taking several classes at Windy City Wedding Dance, and I can honestly say that Vaneza Perez is an exceptional instructor who has made my experience unfor...
gettable. She can break down complex movements in a way that makes them accessible and enjoyable for dancers of all levels.
Her teaching style is both challenging and supportive, always pushing you to reach your full potential while also creating a positive, encouraging environment. She has a keen eye for detail and offers personalized corrections that help improve technique without feeling overwhelming. Whether you’re a beginner or more advanced, Vaneza ensures that you will feel confident and capable.
What stands out the most about her lessons is her genuine passion for dance and her ability to share that passion with her students. She fosters a sense of community and camaraderie, making each class not just a workout but an experience.
Overall, Vaneza Perez is a standout instructor who truly invests in her clients growth, both as dancers and as individuals. If you're looking for a teacher who combines expertise, enthusiasm, and a genuine love for dance, I highly recommend taking a class with Vaneza at Windy City Wedding Dance.
Elijah S
5.0
11/14/2024
Phenomenal experience from start to finish!
My fiancée and I came to Windy City wedding dance with zero dance experience. I was nervous about our first dance but Vaneza made it so...
simple and so much fun. We left our first lesson confident and excited to learn more. The lessons became a fun date night leading up to our wedding day.
For anyone that is reluctant on taking wedding dance lessons, this is your sign, do it! Highly recommend!
Venessa M
5.0
11/05/2024
We had an amazing experience at Windy City Wedding Dance with our instructor, Amber. From our very first lesson, Amber listened carefully to our preferences and choreographed the m...
ost beautiful first dance that felt uniquely ours. She was incredibly patient, using every minute of our time wisely, and her sharp wit kept us laughing and relaxed throughout each session. Amber’s teaching skills are top-notch—she has a way of making learning fun and accessible, even for beginners like us! We couldn't have asked for a better instructor or a more enjoyable experience.We even want to come back for other dance lessons in the future! Highly recommend Amber and Windy City Wedding Dance!
Madisyn V
5.0
10/01/2024
My now husband and I went to Windy City Dance for our wedding dance lessons three months before the wedding and had six amazing sessions with Amber! We are not very coordinated or ...
rhythmic, but she helped make anything possible. It was so much fun, a great date night activity, and a beautiful location in Chicago. Our dance was amazing at the wedding and everyone commented on it. It made the first dance more of a statement piece than a wedding tradition. It was something we will cherish forever!
Corey N
5.0
9/15/2024
Amber was truly amazing she made our wedding dance lessons so much fun.
Brianna B
5.0
9/05/2024
We worked with Amber for about a month leading up to our wedding. We had no idea what to expect, we just knew we didn’t want something that looked overly choreographed or cheesy. S...
he hit it spot on and we had a great time with her every lesson!! It felt like the time went by so fast, she always had us laughing and learning at the same time. We got SO many compliments on our dance! It was such a fun experience for my (now) husband and I and we still talk about Amber now and how much we loved her! If we had another excuse to need dance lessons, we would definitely go back just for her.
Fyi, she really likes boston cream donuts 😊
Michelle F
5.0
8/26/2024
We worked with Amber on our wedding first dance. It was such an amazing experience. Amber was prepared for our lessons and gave thorough instructions for the moves. She made us fee...
l so comfortable for two people who had minimal experience with dancing.
Samantha G
5.0
8/19/2024
Eduardo was absolutely amazing. We had so much fun and love our dance. We would recommend this dance studio to anyone!
Robert C
5.0
8/18/2024
Mackenzie and I had a fantastic experience with Amber from windy city wedding dance! We went in ready to have some fun (not serious dancers) and Amber put together a fantastic chor...
eography for us! We had so much fun and learned so much in just a few lessons. We are now confident and excited to show off what we learned for our first dance!!
Amber was very thoughtful about our music choice and also made sure we were putting together a dance that would wow our guests and make sure the important people at our wedding would have the best views for our biggest moves!
We would highly recommend Amber for anyone looking to have a fun experience putting together a dance for your big day.
Whitney H
5.0
8/15/2024
Amber was incredible! She choreographed a BEAUTIFUL dance for us and helped us execute it perfectly through 6 lessons. The dance moves were more complicated than we initially thoug...
ht they would be, but through Amber’s guidance we learned all the steps and are so excited to show our friends and family our dance! Amber helped us have a wedding dance that was better than anything we could’ve have imagined! I would recommend this to anyone getting married!
Alie L
5.0
8/12/2024
Amber was the absolute best instructor for our choreographed wedding dance. I cannot emphasize enough how amazing she was to work with. Amber was incredibly patient and explained t...
hings clearly. She clearly has a lot of dance and teaching experience and served as a great instructor for my fiancé and I who had no prior dance experience. Her humor and quick wit made each lesson the most fun. Working with her and learning our dance was the highlight of our summer. She exceeded all expectations and we loved getting to know her!
Anna P
5.0
8/11/2024
Jessica was our dance instructor for our wedding, and it was the best decision we made for our dance lessons! Jessica not only helped us with our first dance, but also how to enter...
onto the dance floor for our grand entrance, dips, etc! She was so always so helpful and made us feel at ease and as comfortable as possible when learning how to dance!! Thank you Jessica for everything!
Jane R
5.0
8/09/2024
We worked with Amber, she was FANTASTIC!! She always kept our lessons light and fun which is great since neither of us have ever taken any ballroom dance lessons. She was a joy to...
work with and we are so happy with how our dance turned out! Cannot recommend Windy City enough for couples!
Jack T
5.0
8/06/2024
Amber is the absolute best! She made our dance lessons so much fun while also staying on task and keeping us on time with what we needed to learn. Neither my fiancé or I had any pr...
ior dance experience and we left feeling like we could compete. Dance nights quickly became our favorite date nights and we cannot thank Amber enough! This is the perfect place to learn a wedding dance and we couldn’t be happier!
Mike B
5.0
7/24/2024
We did lessons for our first dance (Francis and the Lights ft. Chance - May I Have This Dance) and the customized lessons here are fantastic. Vaneza Perez was our instructor at the...
Michigan Ave. location. She was great!! We started 5 weeks out from our wedding and did the introductory class plus six personalized lessons. It worked out great! We were able to learn our full dance (~90 sec) in 5 lessons which allowed the last lesson to be a mix of putting it all together and practicing the dip for exiting the isle. She was so friendly and welcoming to learn with. She was also GREAT at teaching dance moves to us, non dancers. Overall great experience and was the best part about the tail end of wedding planning. We used each lesson as an opportunity to go on a date during the home stretch of planning. We would highly recommend dance lessons and this studio is perfect for any couple of any skill or background!
Gina W
5.0
7/23/2024
Working with Amber was a highlight of our wedding planning process and something that we looked forward to each week! She is a fantastic teacher and made each and every lesson fun...
and enjoyable! We cannot recommend Windy City Wedding Dance and Amber enough for any couples who are interested in a choreographed first dance!
Julia K
5.0
7/11/2024
My husband does not enjoy dancing, and was really dreading our first dance--thankfully, we decided to take a few lessons at WCWD to get comfortable! Our instructor Eduardo was so h...
elpful in tailoring the dance steps to our abilities, while still helping us choreograph a memorable and beautiful first dance. We are so grateful to WCWD for helping us pull off our first dance as a married couple, and would recommend them to everyone in Chicagoland!
Justin L
5.0
7/09/2024
Amber was absolutely amazing. We had our wedding yesterday and I felt ready and confident going into our first dance thanks to her! Would highly recommend anyone who’s on the edge ...
of taking dance lessons for their first dance to JUST DO IT. You’ll stand out from your friends and your guests will be delighted too. Thank you Amber!
Kimika P
5.0
7/08/2024
We loved working with Vaneza for our wedding first dance!! Both bride and groom were beginner level, and Vaneza choreographed and taught us a dance to match our custom song remix (...
~3 mins) which included elements of bachata, salsa, and rumba. It was a hit with our guests, and most importantly we will treasure the experience of learning and dancing together forever!! As beginners, we were not expecting to pull off fancy lifts and dips in our first dance, but with Vaneza’s patient and helpful coaching we felt really confident with our routine!! We enjoyed working with her so much that we plan to come back for un-choreographed dance lessons too!
Jennifer O
5.0
6/27/2024
We loved Windy City Wedding Dance! We wanted a simple and easy choreographed first dance and that is exactly what we got! Amber was a phenomenal dance instructor for us! She was pa...
tient with us as beginners and we were very comfortable in the lessons from the start! Would highly recommend the company and Amber for those looking for an introduction to dance or something simple planned for a special occasion!
Taylor F
5.0
6/27/2024
We worked with Amber, and our dance couldn't have looked better! She was awesome, so intuitive, and able to adapt to us. We loved her and can't recommend her or Windy City Wedding ...
Dance enough.
Joan T
5.0
6/16/2024
Amber was such an amazing teacher. She made the whole dancing process so fun & easy! It was like a date night for us instead of another chore to get done for the wedding. She not o...
nly made personalised choreography to our song, but also came up with such awesome moves. She was also very accommodating when a move doesn’t work out (because we have two left feet haha). She is so so patient and explained all the technical details in every move to help us understand the move easier & faster! Would 100% recommend Amber to any friends & family!
Courtney C
5.0
5/22/2024
Amber took a couple with 4 left feet and taught us the most beautiful Viennese Waltz for our wedding over the course of 6 months, with tons patience, kindness, understanding and a ...
lot of humor. She even brought in her own fiancé to help teach when we were struggling with steps on our Viennese Waltz. We grew to love our weeknights at Windy City Dance and will miss the studio and Amber dearly now that we’ve made it to our wedding.
Jaime B
5.0
5/22/2024
Amber is amazing!!! She choreographed the most lovely wedding dance in only 6 short lessons. Neither my fiance nor I are dancers at all, but we are so happy with how it turned out ...
and would recommend her to any couple looking to choreograph their wedding dance!
Claire S
5.0
5/07/2024
Amber is the absolute best! We learned a ton from her and had a blast doing it.
Megan K
5.0
5/01/2024
Amber is the best instructor EVER! We were so intimidated at first, but she made us feel comfortable and each lesson we made progress. She choreographed a killer routine for us!! O...
ur dance lessons were the perfect date night because Amber made it fun! I’m am recommending her & Windy City Wedding Dance to all my friends with weddings coming up.
Laura R
5.0
4/29/2024
We had the most perfect first dance thanks to Amber! She was very patient with us at each lesson and made myself and my fiance feel comfortable and supported. She even went above a...
nd beyond to accommodate a last-minute lesson for us on the week of our wedding. All of our guests were blown away by our first dance! It was so worth it to approach our first dance with confidence, and it is something that we will remember for the rest of our lives. For us, the process of learning how to dance together meant even more than having the perfect first dance. My now-husband even wants to take a few more dance classes now that we are married :)
Ashley M
5.0
4/24/2024
We don’t have enough fabulous things to say about Amber and Windy City Wedding Dance! Professional, personable and a great value for what we got, thank you again!!!!
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Chicago Oak Brook Naperville Schaumburg
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Windy City Wedding Dance
Jessica
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Windy City Wedding Dance
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