Hi All,

I've been really enjoying this thread on calling weddings!

I'd say that they are SOOOOO much fun but as a contra dance caller, they are WAY different than calling to a room full of people who have specifically come for contra calling. I've actually grown to love ONS (one night stands) more than contra dances but starting from a contra mindset, it took a little while to learn.

Here are some random thoughts:

Agree with Lisa S and others. Weddings are not a good place to actively recruit contra dancers. That's not why folks are there. If someone comes up and asks you about the dance, great but I'd hold off saying anything about other opportunities.
At my wedding, about 1/3-1/2 of the people there had contra danced before and yet, I think there was maybe one contra the whole night. If you want to make the dancing fun and accessible for a room of wedding guests, it really is a totally different program. The one contra I might call would be Family Contra and that would be after testing the waters with Do-Si-Three... which would be after doing some Longways, circles, and squares.
I would plan for up to 90min but anticipate doing less. Even with a keen crowd, after 90min, folks really want to focus on other things at the wedding. I've often seen it work well to have canned music after the 90min.
I've heard repeatedly that it's good to do the trad dancing BEFORE the cake is cut. After the cake is done, guests start dispersing.
When I call a wedding, I always make sure that the groom and bride are going to dance and I ask that they let their guests know about the dance ahead of time and really talk it up. If the groom and bride aren't going to get in on it, the other guests won't either.
My very favourite dance for starting a wedding is Moon and Stars... very similar to La Bastringue. I love it as after the 7-8th time, you can start changing up Suns and Moons for "whoever is related to the bride /// everyone else" ... "whoever came from afar /// everyone else"... that kind of thing.

:) Emily

Suns to centre and back

Moons to centre and back

OPTIONS: like X food // wearing colour-sandles // love snow // BDay month // live in town // Play an instrument // All kids // Play X sport // in Gr 1-2 // likes to hike-sing-read

Instead of clap, could do Sue's Un-Huh with point!

⃝L

⃝R

All together!

NDSD

P Swing

VAR: P Al R /// N Al L (bit more complicated)

VAR MIXER: N DSD, N Swing (new partner!)

P promenade 2by2 CCW

Marion: Last 4 beats reform the ⃝