Thursday, March 15, 2007

Oh, I know! I forget 'and'!

Last night I was reading a wedding-planning guide, trying to get a handle on this whole project I have ahead of me. At the end of a chapter about music, the author devotes a couple paragraphs to the couple's first dance. See if you can spot the trouble with this advice:
One image is of the couple gliding out onto the dance floor, waltzing gracefully with the bride's gown billowing like Anna's dress in the famous waltz scene in The King and I. If that's your fantasy, it's sure to take some work to pull off. Some words of warning: Not every ballad is a waltz.
I may not know much about planning a wedding reception. I may know very little about dancing. But I do know my showtunes. It is certainly true that "Not every ballad is a waltz," and guess what? Neither is "Shall We Dance." It's a polka. (Right now I'm hearing Constance Towers in my head: "Oh, it's really veddy simple, the polker, it goes 'one-two-three-and one-two-three-and one-two-three-and one!")

Anyway, I would never aspire to anything so grand. I think we'll be doing the Laendler instead.

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

What's the Laendler?

Mollie said...

Generally speaking, it's an Austrian folk dance. But I'm thinking specifically of that great scene in The Sound of Music where Maria and the Captain are dancing outside at the party... Very much like the "famous [polka] scene" in The King and I, except this time it really is a waltz! I wonder if our band will be able to play it?

Susan Rose Francois, CSJP said...

On the topic of wedding planning, I'll share this tidbit. I saw it at a friend's wedding and shared it with my sister and a few other friends who have continued the "tradition."

Instead of pelting the poor single women with flowers (aka throwing the bouquet), this is the idea:

At some point during the reception, ask all the married couples to come onto the dance floor. After a few minutes, couples married 1 year or less are asked to leave the dance floor. Then 5 years or less, 10 years, etc... until you get to the couple who have been married the longest (often grandparents or other relatives). The bride then presents them with the bouquet.

It's a way to honor the longevity of marriages, focus on what the wedding is really about, and give the single girls a break.

Just a thought! Happy wedding planning.