I accidentally set a poor girls veil on fire during my First Communion. She had this elaborate veil on that would have made brides weep & was directl in back of her holding my lit candle. That thing went up in flames faster thanI could blink but luckily, a quick thinking godmother saw it & knocked the crown & veil off her head. Everyone at the church seemed to think it was funny once it was known that there was no harm done.

For my First Communion, we had a big celebration that included dinner, dancing, & tons of gifs & money that was put aside for future use (I used it to help buy my first car) but I did my First Communion w/my brother & cousin so there were three of us to share in the day. Still, it was great & the family representing was definitely a highlight for me.

When you convert to Catholicism at 17, you miss out on a lot of those fun "first communion" things. I had a very special, very beautiful, ceremony though, with only 2 other people being confirmed/ taking eucharist. It was easter vigil...beautiful. I didn't get to wear the big white gown, but they gave me a beautiful little orchid to wear...i saved it :)

Edit: It's been a big long while since there's been a family wedding (dads or moms), but I don't remember a "dollar dance" but I remember something similar to a circle dance...where women are on the inside, men on the outside (or vice versa), and the music plays, and the lines bow to eachother, dance side by side (similar to polka), and then the two circles move in opposite directions until the music stops again, bow, music, dance. It goes on for quite a while, but you get to introduce yourself to a ton of people and the bride gets to make her rounds as does the groom.

The one Chicago wedding I attended was probably the swankiest wedding I have ever attended! The reception was at "The Club" on the 60th floor of Sears Tower!

As much as I complain about the cost of real estate in Chicagoland, I think they could have bought a house - a NICE house! - for the cost of that wedding!!

This thread is starting to remind me of the wedding in The Deer Hunter. If my Serbian-heritage friend ever gets married, I have no doubt her wedding will be exactly like that.

You all really don't know the origin of the "Dollar Dance" ?????? Please check with your Sociology or Cultural Anthropology departments to confirm what follows. This is NOT meant to be an inappropriate comment but rather an historically accurate comment. It has to do with a very ancient Middle Eastern custom that spread to Eastern Europe and some other areas. Centuries ago, when the bride came from a not so wealthy family she could not marry until she had a dowery to bring to the marriage. The dowery was raised by her participation in the "Oldest Profession" and the Dollar Dance, or Apron Dance, or Basket Dance where money is given to the bride in exchange for the privelege of "dancing" with her is a sanitized symbolic reference to that long ago custom of raising her dowery.

Yeah I was mad when my cousins got to dress up in pretty dresses when I was little. And I didn't. I converted this last year, but no white dress for me.

I'll have to ask if my bf's parents had a dollar dance. It's apparently really popular in Polish families (according to TheKnot.com)... and my bf's dad is 100% Polish.

Interesting.

I understand that in this day and age, the dollar dance generally has good intentions. However, the bottom line is that people are paying to dance with someone, and I just can't understand how that could possibly be considered a positive thing. I haven't read anything in this thread that would make me change my opinion.

I figured this was Eastern European in nature because I really didn't see it till I started going to college friends' weddings (my hometown is probably around 90% German origin).

http://www.metclubchicago.com/

The Metropolitan Club? People have weddings in that place?? They should have just gone further and held the wedding in a conference room.

-Rudey

ANd here's another thing that is totally your preference. The toys, props and entertainers that come with some djs make me do this :rolleyes: big time. I think it's soooo tacky...My dj played the music I requested and that was it! Thankfully!

Also, we took part in our cocktail hour instead of waiting to be announced after everyone sat down so we got to chat up a ton of people before dinner even started. That was fantastic b/c I danced my arse off at my own wedding - which is what I wanted! :D

...

Interesting that people mentioned Polish and German families as having this custom more. My first husband was half Polish and half German and his family had this custom. The other weddings I've been to who did this were also either Polish or German.

OMG that rocked! My parents still have the one my sister & I used to play with!

It's in the attic now though :p

As far as dollar dances go, like Lindz said, maybe it's b/c I grew up in Texas, but I don't see what the big deal is. I've seen a few of them in weddings here, and they look like fun b/c the band is usually playing fun, upbeat music.

Ick, yeah! A wedding I went to last year the DJ did this. He had tons of props and hats and stuff. Fun for the kids (which there weren't many of there!), but not particularly fun for the adults.

And truthfully, that's all that matters. People are going to judge your wedding no matter what, so it doesn't matter what they (or people in this thread) say. As long as it's what you wanted, that's the main point.

We didn't have it at our wedding, and I've only seen it at one wedding I've attended. People had fun with it, so that was that. It didn't bother me at all, but that's just me.