JABQ04 said:

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Is this really a thing? I swear I don't think I've even heard of this much less seen this.

*Edit*. Just asked my wife and she said this is a very traditional thing. In my defense at weddings I'm usually headed for the booze as much as possible so who knows

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I've seen it at dozens of weddings over the last decade.

If you want a serious recommendation, Welcome to Earth by Josh Grider is damn good. It was mine back a few months back

Waltz across Texas

There is a mother-son and father-daughter dance at nearly every wedding where the bride's father or groom's mother is still alive. It is rarely skipped. That's my experience in ~250 weddings in the past decade.

If you really love your mother:




If you love her to death

Surely you meant daddy-daughter dance.

We are using Aaron Watson's "Bluebonnets."

"In My Life" by the Beatles is a lovely song. Bonus: It's less than 2 1/2 minutes long.

The procession of dances we did was:

1st song - Groom & bride
2nd song - Father of bride & bride AND Groom & mother of groom
3rd song - Father of groom & bride AND Groom & mother of bride
4th song on - free for all, open dance floor

we didnt' do it at our wedding, but I've seen it done lots of times.

I think it's a nice gesture regardless. Generally your parent's names are the ones at the top of the invitation you sent out, so it shows a little appreciation for everything they have done.

I think it's fairly common to have it these days. The father/daughter and mother/son are certainly going to be one of the more awkward moments of the wedding. I would suggest the following:

• A) Tell the DJ to cut the song short, 3-5 minutes can feel like a lifetime, 1.5 to 2 minutes is plenty of time to get pictures in and move on. Most DJ's will generally ask you if you want to do a short version
• B) Do both the father/daughter dance and mother/son dance at the same time. Two birds with one stone, minimizes awkwardness.

Song Choice:

Beach Boys - God Only Knows (There are a ton of covers as well, Natalie Maines of the Dixie Chicks does a pretty solid one)
Spice Girls - Mama (real on the nose and super cheesy)

Sidenote, you can literally skip any of these "traditional" parts of a wedding almost no one will notice or care. The only thing people will remember is if the DJ was bad (just tell them to play a lot of 90's pop and classic rock and asses will be on the dance floor all night) or if there was no booze.

Quote:

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Sidenote, you can literally skip any of these "traditional" parts of a wedding almost no one will notice or care. The only thing people will remember is if the DJ was bad (just tell them to play a lot of 90's pop and classic rock and asses will be on the dance floor all night) or if there was no booze.

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this is a fact. it's definitely only for the parents, to show them respect and appreciation. no one else will care or remember. bad DJs are the worst. bands are the worst-worst. I know people who have spent thousands and thousands on bands, and it is the biggest party killer in the world.

so...NO BANDS.

Presley OBannons Sword said:

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Quote:

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Sidenote, you can literally skip any of these "traditional" parts of a wedding almost no one will notice or care. The only thing people will remember is if the DJ was bad (just tell them to play a lot of 90's pop and classic rock and asses will be on the dance floor all night) or if there was no booze.

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this is a fact. it's definitely only for the parents, to show them respect and appreciation. no one else will care or remember. bad DJs are the worst. bands are the worst-worst. I know people who have spent thousands and thousands on bands, and it is the biggest party killer in the world.

so...NO BANDS.

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Unless it's Yacht Rock. Always say yes to Yacht Rock.

Best Mother-Son dance of all time.


Sam Cooke's "Having a Party".

"So listen, Mr. DJ
keep those records playing
'cause I'm having such a good time
dancing with my baby

Presley OBannons Sword said:

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Quote:

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Sidenote, you can literally skip any of these "traditional" parts of a wedding almost no one will notice or care. The only thing people will remember is if the DJ was bad (just tell them to play a lot of 90's pop and classic rock and asses will be on the dance floor all night) or if there was no booze.

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this is a fact. it's definitely only for the parents, to show them respect and appreciation. no one else will care or remember. bad DJs are the worst. bands are the worst-worst. I know people who have spent thousands and thousands on bands, and it is the biggest party killer in the world.

so...NO BANDS.

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My brother had an awesome band at his wedding. They played all the jams, and they were cool with an ipod to play in between sets. But the fun wedding songs like Shout, and the classic slow dance songs with a live band is much more fun.

I do agree though that you have to set the ground rules. Bands and dj's naturally want to make it about themselves, so they need to know (or sign) from the start that it's not their night. Play what you're told, and nothing else.