Weddings - Dollar Dance - Page 7

AGDee · #91 09-29-2005, 10:27 PM

I had a band for the $20,000 wedding and a DJ for the $5000 wedding. I wasn't planning on a band for the first one because most of the wedding bands I'd heard made every song sound the same. But then I found this awesome band who was very talented and could do a variety of music really well, so I used them. The DJ for the second wedding was free and was a friend of the groom's. He is a DJ as a side job and did a really great job.

It really can be hard to find a band that can do the traditional polkas that the family expect, the sweet slow dances you want for the bridal dance and the good dance music for when the old folks all go home. I can imagine that the bands in NYC are better and more talented than in other parts of the country because so many talented people go to NYC to try to make it big.

Dee

bluefish81 · #92 09-30-2005, 12:17 AM

For the most part, I don't have a problem with the dollar dance. If I don't feel comfortable trying to make idle chit-chat with the groom for two or three minutes, I'm not going up there. I don't think it's cheap, I think it's a cultural and most likely a regional thing. It's a freaking dollar and as some people have pointed out, it is an opportunity to talk to the bride or groom. I've known lots of women, who've used the opportunity to dance with the bride, just because they may not get to talk to her otherwise, other than the 30 seconds in the receiving line. Most of the weddings that I have gone to throughout my life have involved a dollar dance.

However, I have an interesting dollar dance story from a wedding I attended this last weekend. First off, the DJ sucked. Her music selections throughout the night were awful. That said, the DJ made an announcement that the last song for the Dollar Dance was on. The song ends and out of nowhere comes the drunk, annoying mother-in-law of my co-worker/the bride, yelling, "I DIDN"T GET TO DANCE WITH SCOTT YET!" Becky is looking positively mortified because the lines are gone, the floor is empty and the DJ's stammering to say, "Of course we'll be having one more song. This will be the last song." So in this instance I found this particular point of the dollar dance to be a bit awkward.

Xylochick216 · #93 09-30-2005, 08:12 AM

We had a DJ who has an amazing reputation. I gave him a specific list of what not to play (i.e. Chicken Dance, Macarena) and what I definitely wanted him to play. After a lot of the older people left, our friends were still around and made lots of requests. He played what everyone wanted, and we all had a blast.

I don't think people in our area have bands for weddings. I don't know of any bands in the area good enough for a wedding, and I've never been to a wedding with a band. For the actual ceremony, though, most people use quartets or ensembles. I HATE canned music for a wedding ceremony. One wedding I went to last year of the daughter of my in-law's friends had a CD player for the wedding march. Apparently someone scratched the CD so it was skipping as the poor girl was wandering down the aisle.

PM_Mama00 · #94 09-30-2005, 01:44 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by AGDee
I had a band for the $20,000 wedding and a DJ for the $5000 wedding. I wasn't planning on a band for the first one because most of the wedding bands I'd heard made every song sound the same. But then I found this awesome band who was very talented and could do a variety of music really well, so I used them. The DJ for the second wedding was free and was a friend of the groom's. He is a DJ as a side job and did a really great job.

It really can be hard to find a band that can do the traditional polkas that the family expect, the sweet slow dances you want for the bridal dance and the good dance music for when the old folks all go home. I can imagine that the bands in NYC are better and more talented than in other parts of the country because so many talented people go to NYC to try to make it big.

Dee

My brother had a band for his wedding, and after that ALL the Italians around here started booking them too. I think they're called Intrigue. They are really really good and sing in a bunch of different languages, but mostly English and Italian. They sing any type of song. They also do outfit changes. For our family friend's December 12th wedding, they sang Christmas songs during dinner while wearing those sexy Ms. Clause dresses (red velvet with white fur trim... not skanky you know). You wouldn't think Italians would like that cuz usually it's Julio playing on the band's dj equipment, but it everyone loved it.

AGDee · #95 09-30-2005, 01:55 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by PM_Mama00
My brother had a band for his wedding, and after that ALL the Italians around here started booking them too. I think they're called Intrigue. They are really really good and sing in a bunch of different languages, but mostly English and Italian. They sing any type of song. They also do outfit changes. For our family friend's December 12th wedding, they sang Christmas songs during dinner while wearing those sexy Ms. Clause dresses (red velvet with white fur trim... not skanky you know). You wouldn't think Italians would like that cuz usually it's Julio playing on the band's dj equipment, but it everyone loved it.

Do all the old guys get up and sing Volare together when the band takes a break? <sigh> We haven't had a wedding in so long.

Oh! That's another advantage of DJ over band. Bands take like 15 minute breaks every hour. DJs don't. I know some folks who have hired a DJ to cover the breaks the band takes.

moe.ron · #96 09-30-2005, 01:57 PM

Went to a friend's wedding. DJ was horrible. He only played songs he wanted to hear. After the bride and groom left, the party died. To make it worst, the open bar closed early.

PM_Mama00 · #97 09-30-2005, 01:59 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by AGDee
Do all the old guys get up and sing Volare together when the band takes a break? <sigh> We haven't had a wedding in so long.

Oh! That's another advantage of DJ over band. Bands take like 15 minute breaks every hour. DJs don't. I know some folks who have hired a DJ to cover the breaks the band takes.

Lol no I've never seen that but when I was alot younger, my next door neighbor at the time (also Italian... his son is getting married next month) used to sing this one Italian song that sounded like he was saying "red pa pa". I can't remember teh song.

sugar and spice · #98 09-30-2005, 02:01 PM

I think DJs can be done tastefully, but I have to admit that if I had one, he would pretty much be limited to Frank Sinatra, Ella Fitzgerald, big band stuff and that their ilk. I don't think I could deal with, like, Mariah Carey at my wedding.

Heather
-- I mean, after Luda's "What's Your Fantasy?" as my first dance with my husband, obviously.

aephi alum · #99 09-30-2005, 03:03 PM

At most of the weddings I've been to, there has been a band. I can only remember a DJ at two weddings I've attended in the past five years. In the first case, money was the driving factor (and the DJ, accordingly, sucked - you get what you pay for); in the second case, it was a small garden party (second wedding for both bride and groom) so they didn't want to do anything too elaborate.

My husband and I had a band. We'd heard them play at a friend's wedding, and they were very good, so we booked them. They had a pretty extensive repertoire - IIRC, they gave us a list, and we could indicate "must play" and "do not play" songs, as well as specifying songs for the first dance, exit dance, etc. I don't recall them taking any very long breaks, except of course during the meal.

Since we're talking about tackiness, I'll add that neither choice (band or DJ) is necessarily tacky. Honestly, I'd rather hear a good DJ than a bad band.

BetteDavisEyes · #**100** 09-30-2005, 03:37 PM

Our music tastes are so varied, I don't think there's a band out there that can play everything we like. I want to hear some 80's stuff like Depeche Mode, Duran Duran, as well as country b/c my sorority sisters & I do an amazing job dancing to Toby Keith. My fiance wants to hear newer music like Kanye West. A DJ can definitely take care of all our music wants as well as not play the crap that I hate like the Chicken dance, the Macarena, & the Electric Slide.

Munchkin03 · #**101** 10-01-2005, 09:39 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by Peaches-n-Cream
I thought people had bands at weddings, not DJs.

People can have whatever they want at their wedding. I've been to some with excellent DJs and others with terrible 5-piece bands.

It's probably cheaper to find a good band in a larger city than it is in small towns, too.

IluvSirFidel · #**102** 10-04-2005, 01:49 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by Munchkin03
People can have whatever they want at their wedding. I've been to some with excellent DJs and others with terrible 5-piece bands.

It's probably cheaper to find a good band in a larger city than it is in small towns, too.

Hee, hee...I don't even know if there IS a band in my hometown, unless you want the kind that comes with uniforms and trombones or you really, really like gospel.

When I get married, I'll have a DJ.

BobbyTheDon · #**103** 10-04-2005, 02:50 AM

How awesome would it be if a bride screamed " One Dolla make you Holla!"

But she said it in a asian fob lady accent.

Lindz928 · #**104** 10-04-2005, 11:13 AM

Most of the weddings around here have DJs too. Some of them are great and some are terrible. Not that it matters at this point, but I would probably go with a DJ, but would want to personally go through and cross out songs that I would not want played. I like whoever had the idea of putting it in the contract that if he played a song on the "no" list, then no money.

The last wedding I went to that had a band.... Well the band just SUCKED!!!! And this is Austin... Supposedly the "Live music capital of the world".

SapphireSphinx9 · #**105** 10-04-2005, 04:28 PM

I don't want a stuffy wedding reception! I want to have fun, and I want all my friends and family to have fun, too!

In my family, it's a tradition to have the dollar dance. At the bridal shower, the bride gets a satin drawstring purse that matches her color scheme, and that is used to put the money in.

It's also a tradition for everyone in the family to get up and go dance to the Chicken Dance and YMCA. (Yes, I went there! haha) It's fun, and since everyone else does it too, you don't feel like a complete idiot.

We also tap the water glasses with our knives to signal the bride to kiss her groom. I think we're the only ones that do that, because it's always funny to see the other family looking around, asking each other what we're doing.

I understand how this may seem tacky, but it's fun and that's all I care about.