Why every couple should dance at their wedding.

The raw candid emotions your photographer captures is why you should dance at your wedding – no matter how small the event. 

When couples contact Simple I Do’s about doing their elopement, micro wedding or small wedding, they often claim that they “do not dance” and that the blue tooth speaker we provide as a no cost benefit is “not necessary.” To which we always chuckle and say, “Well, just consider that a first dance is in keeping with tradition.” But there is much more to it than that as I will reveal in this column.

I have been photographing weddings since 1997 and was doing professional portraiture long before that. I lost count a long time ago, but I have now photographed well over a thousand weddings and thus have encountered almost every kind of Bride and Groom pairing imaginable. The outrageous, extroverted, and wildly gregarious to the quiet, shy, prim and proper types.

But out of all of those weddings, only a few Brides honestly have had prior modeling experience, so that really only amounts to a handful or two over hundreds of events. Even less of the Grooms have ever professionally posed for the camera. As an experienced photographer in both portraiture and wedding photography, I will tell you that you can immediately spot those who have modeling in their background. From the outset, the fluidity of their posing is very apparent. They already know about head tilts, body angles, “S-curves,” and have the trained skill to alter their poses, eye directions, vary their smiles and even their moods slightly after every camera click.

For instance, I immediately knew that the bride below had been a model, which she confirmed…

But the vast majority of Brides and Grooms have no modeling experience, and other than posing for selfies, have no idea what makes a beautiful portrait much less one that captures the true, raw emotions they are experiencing at the time. 

I love the portrait below, but every aspect is posed and directed by the photographer.

That is why at Simple I Do’s, we send couples some Pinterest Boards we have created to help them think about or even select poses that interest them. We are able to recreate the poses they select in most cases. Even then, the photographer spends a fair amount of time assisting the couple to make the pose portrait worthy.

But, in contrast, when a couple dances, their inhibitions release and almost without fail, their real, raw emotions burst out. They smile, giggle, cry, cuddle, kiss and hug with natural abandon.

And the photographer steps away from directing their every movement to simply recording what is naturally occuring before their lens. It is poetry in motion and a beautiful thing to behold. Capturing these candid, un-self-aware moments are a delight for a photographer.

So on your wedding day, whether your wedding is an elopement, a micro wedding, a pop up wedding, a small wedding, a big soirée or an elaborate formal affair with thousands of guests, do yourself a favor… and dance! Your photographer will love you for it, and you’ll love the images that you get from your dance.