A lot of American wedding receptions follow this formula: a grand entrance followed by a meal, speeches, and finally dancing. But in what's been dubbed an “East Coast Style” reception, dancing happens right away with intermittent boogie-ing down between meal courses, too! It sounds pretty rad to me and gets everyone out of their seats and into mingle and mix mode right away.
We spied this concept over on the Instagram of Bobbi Sheridan at bobbiphoto.com:
An “East Coast Style” reception is our favorite! East Coast receptions (AKA, New York Style) put your formal dances before dinner. You’ll start dancing immediately after your grand entrance. Your guests will also dance between courses, which is typically more fun than staring at a dirty plate annnnd will create the illusion of non-stop dancing (and fun) from beginning to end. Jusssst something to consider when planning your wedding.
SO FUN. We've featured a few more ways to shake up dancing…
Are YOU planning an East Coast-style reception or something else out of the norm?
The only non east coast weddings I’ve attended were in Europe so I legit thought this was the American norm and dancing at the end was Europe only. My mind is fully blown right now.
Totally agree. I didn’t realize there WAS another way! Hahaha
A coworker originally from New Jersey couldn’t believe it when she went to an Indiana wedding and there wasn’t any dancing until after dinner. At lunch the next Monday, she complained about it to a group of coworkers, all from different parts of the Midwest, and we all just stared like she was crazy. “Why WOULDN’T they wait to start the dancing after dinner?” It was this amazing moment of unknown cultural norms.
I’m sharing this now!
Ironically, I just noticed that the space where she “suffered” through a Midwest-style wedding was, I think, the same Indianapolis ballroom hashtagged in your source’s photo.
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