How do you dance to bluegrass music at a wedding?

Question

We went with this great bluegrass band for our wedding but not sure how to do the wedding dance.

Answer 1

Blue grass tends to have a moderate pace - even for slow 'mood' songs.  The best partner dance that will suit most Blue grass is American Foxtrot.  You don't have to do this dance with 'ballroom' style - you can do it with a Latin Style as this dance can be danced to Reggae music (which has a similar 'bop' as Blue grass).  There is a Foxtrot dance called the Peabody which is cute and would be very easy to learn (but I don't think many people know how to teach this one, unfortunately.)

The next genre of dances to look at would be the country dances - the two step (or nightclub two step) can fit some blue grass.  The other dances to look at are polkas (like the 'King and I' dance).

I'm sure your Blue grass Band will have some 'slow dance' music.  See if you can get a repertoire list from the Band so you can see if they have a song that you like.  You could even get a sample tape from them so you can practice your wedding dance to THEIR music beforehand.  (All bands play the same song very differently so it is best to find out how your band plays the song before deciding.)

Answer 2

I am wondering the same thing... having recently decided to have a bluegrass band at our wedding... You could try a modified jig (lots of connections between old appalaichian music and irish folk music) or perhaps a contra dance (kind of like a square dance).  Many bluegrass bands can hook you up with contra 'callers' if you don't think it's too hokey. Perhaps you could work that into the progression from first dance to adding the other dancers to the floor, dancing with the parents, etc...

some of the swing dance steps might be adaptable to bluegrass... maybe...

Another option is to just dance however you feel like dancing - it's your day and you should feel great!