You want your special day to include that first romantic dance together as man and wife, but you feel that you have two left feet. Or you have a special song that you want to dance to as your first dance. Or your father wants his first dance with his married daughter to be perfect.

Glenn will choreograph your wedding dance and make you feel confident as you dance in front of your family and friends. In five 45-minute sessions, he will have you gliding to your own hand-picked music. He also has a wonderful selection of wedding music to choose from.

Packages

Wedding package cost (including choreography) are $395 per couple for 5 private lessons. Packages for entire wedding parties are also available. We recommend booking your lessons beginning 6 months before your wedding date, but last minute calls can be accommodated too!

Gift certificates can be sent out to surprise any lucky couple celebrating their wedding or anniversary!

You’ve made sure that everything else will be wonderful for your special day; feel confident and romantic as you dance into your new life together!

What Our Engaged Couples Say

“Our wedding dance lessons from Glenn were more than special and instructive, they were fun and strengthened our bond and even our love for each other. The lessons also had an unexpected benefit: they helped relieve a lot of the stress of wedding planning! This was truly an unexpected bonus!

When we surprised everyone and did our special wedding dance, people cheered and a few people were so overwhelmed they cried. Somehow our dance conveyed the beauty and joy of our love and, for many, embodied the concept that true love is possible. Perhaps the dance evoked such a strong reaction because it was such a surprise. In any event, even at our wedding in Italy, it captured the essence of the promise of our union and is something that we will always have as a special memory.

This was more than just about one dance for one special night. Glenn covered every detail, including how to make a grand entrance. Several times, before and after the wedding, we have used the Royal Entrance Glenn taught us, to confidently and gracefully enter any room or event as a couple.

Glenn is a great instructor. He helped select our music to fit us and our vision. He listened to what we wanted and relaxed us with his humor and he always had colorful imagery to ease any tension or stress. He gave us the confidence to succeed and to have fun at the same time.

Thanks to these lessons, we have shared something special. We will always have goose bumps and warm feelings every time we hear our special song. We heartily endorse Glenn and we plan to come back and take more lessons – just for fun!”

– Gary and Susan, Married in Italian Castle

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)

When should we start?

It is always nice to have six months before the wedding to start working on your first dance together as man and wife. Many couples don’t have this luxury and a wonderful dance can still be accomplished within 2 weeks, if motivated!

Generally, couples take 1-2 lessons a week to develop some repetition and muscle memory and, of course, confidence to perform it!

Our wedding package is five, 50-minute private lessons for the wedding. By the end of 5 lessons, the couple will be able to walk on the floor with confidence and perform a specially choreographed dance to their favorite song. Many couples add on lessons to enhance the confidence and choreography for their first dance together. Sometimes the fiancé comes in alone, just to work on leading his future wife proudly through the number (back-leading is discouraged!). Many times, we also work with the wedding party for their first dance together and just to have some fun before the wedding.

How should we choose our instructor?

When choosing an instructor, one should look for instructors who teach wedding couples as a full-time job. Beginning wedding couples are looking for that one special performance, and are running on empty trying to get it all done before the big day. A professional teacher who has considerable experience can tame those nerves and make all feel great about dancing, even when they walk in the door with two left feet.

Recommendation: ask the potential instructor how many wedding couples he/she has taught in the past 6 months and how many wedding couples do they have now as students. How many years of experience in total? I have more than 20 years of professional instruction experience and teach many wedding couples every week along with my social and competitive dance students.

How should we pick our wedding song?

The wedding song really expresses special feelings, experiences and mood for each wedding. Many couples come in with that special song, other couples know what dance they wish and need good music suggestions, such as something for foxtrot. Finally, an experienced instructor will have on hand many great selections from which to choose. Some couples think that if they are really novice dancers, that they should pick a slow song. Actually, dancing slow is harder because more body movement is required to fill in the slow music. In contrast, a medium tempo song is easier to pull off successfully. By far, the most popular wedding song these days is “At Last” by Etta James. Although not the easier dance for beginners, novice dancers can still perform it with an experienced instructor. After that, the Sinatra standards come in a close second (“The Way You Look Tonight,” and “Fly Me to the Moon,” etc.). Again, I have done it all with music ranging from “Great Balls of Fire” to music from Enya, Sade, Celion Dion, Faith Hill, Julio Iglesias, Sting, etc. Generally, the music should not last more than 2 minutes, because of the need for more choreography. Music can always be “faded out” when you have a DJ on hand if the selection runs longer

What should we wear to our lessons?

When working on your wedding dance, the suggested practice clothing is loose, comfortable clothes that move. Shoes should be thin-soled, preferably lace-up or with a strap. Athletic shoes, sandals, mules and clogs are not recommended. For the brides, I recommend they bring in their wedding slip to get the feel of the beautiful dress width and length and their shoes to break in (with tape on them to protect from black scuff marks-white satin is difficult from which to remove stains). Dresses that have a very heavy bustle take some practice to move around in. Also, dresses that have narrow skirt bottoms can limit how much one can move!

Can anyone really look good after 5 lessons?

Anyone can learn! I have had many women drag their men in with very skeptical feelings about a wedding dance! The goal is to make the men feel confident in their moves (without back leading) and actually have some fun. Many of our couples continue ballroom dancing for fun and exercise and “real date nights” after their wedding, as a result of their first fun experience. It is important to remember that most people do not feel comfortable on the dance floor, so even very simple, elegant moves can impress the wedding guests! Of course, the wonderful expressions that you convey also really get the crowd going!

What will make us look better in our special dance?

Anything well practiced will be evident in your performance. For example, a rehearsed entrance and exit and perhaps dip with a hug can make a great wedding dance moment and wonderful photo for your album. Dance photos are often the favorite shouts of the wedding couple because they are in each other arms and moving, not posed for endless shot angles. Eye contact and posture also conveys confidence and ease with each other and really helps cover any small mistakes in the choreography. Choreography that does not become overly complicated and matches well with the music also really adds to the overall effect. I also take into consideration any cultural issues/wishes that are special to you and your family and guests. It is important to make everyone feel comfortable with your special first dance.

What if we have to cancel our scheduled lesson?

You are welcome to cancel and/or reschedule your appointment and will incur no charge as long as you call to report the cancellation within a 24-hour notice. We can be reached 24/7 at 248.343.8337. If I do not answer the phone, you can leave a voicemail, which will be time-stamped for the 24-hour deadline.

Because we guarantee that time for you and turn away others who would like that spot, we need at least 24 hours to rebook that lesson. If you do not give sufficient notice, or are a “no-show,” your lesson will be deducted from your package. We apologize we have to have to take such a tough stand, but I can only accommodate “true” emergencies at the last minute. We will do our best to help you remember the lesson dates by appointment cards and after-lesson reminders. It is also important to be on time for your appointments – we teach back-to-back lessons with only a 10-minute break for scheduling and returning phone calls. If you arrive late, we can only make up a couple of extra minutes in consideration for the next waiting student.

What form of payment do you accept?

We accept payment in person in the form of cash or check only. I accept credit card payments on my website through PayPal before the first lesson. We do not refund any or all of your pre-paid wedding packages and recommend that you schedule all of your lessons at your earliest convenience to avoid last-minute scheduling conflicts.

Will you ever sell our contact info to other people/businesses for mailing lists?

NO! We firmly believe in your privacy and will not release this information to any other business or individual.

Can we have a recommendation from one of your recent couples?

Please click on the wedding package page to see the beautiful photos of a recent wedding couple, Gary and Susan, married in Sept. 2004 in an Italian castle (their dream wedding location).

We really look forward to working with you and your wedding party! We hope these questions help you get started in dancing wonderfully on your special day!