Wedding First Dance

Stress free and Fun wedding dance lessons. Yes, really!

Say goodbye to the stressful traditional choreography approach, and hello to our stress free Natural Wedding Dance Method.

Simple. Memorable. Stress-Free. Guaranteed! At JC Dance Co., we would be honoured to teach you and your fiancé how to dance together as you prepare for your wedding. You may be surprised how easy and fun wedding first dance lessons can really be!

Over the past 17 years, we have successfully taught more than 1000 couples how to dance naturally and authentically at their wedding, without having to memorize stressful choreography.  We believe the most important thing is that your dance suits the both of you, instead of you forcing yourselves to fit a specific dance style.

We always start by teaching you simple, fundamental dance skills that you can use for any music in any situation, especially at your wedding in front of your family and friends. As you gain confidence, we guide you how to dance to your special song in the simplest and easiest way, while making it interesting and authentic.

Below is a short list of options that can help you prepare for your special day. They range from simple to sensational, and depend partly on how much time you have before your wedding and how much help you feel you need.

If none of the options below are exactly what you’re looking for, do not worry. We can easily work together to build a package that suits your needs. The options are endless…

Slow Dance Tips: How to Dance with a Partner
Slow Dance Tips: How to Dance with a Partner 150 150 Clara Shih

My fiancee and I wanted to learn a few fancy moves for our first dance at our wedding. Before we booked our lessons I honestly hated the thought of dancing. No matter how hard she tried, my now wife could not get me to budge. Now after only 4 lessons, I find myself constantly finding excuses to just grab my wife and start dancing wherever we are.

Clara is an absolutely amazing teacher. Calm, clear and able to get even a complete novice like myself on my feet and moving to the music. I could not have asked for a better instructor.

Our big day has come and gone, but I find myself wanting to go back for more lessons!
Thank you JC Dance Co!!

David Arsenault

Absolutely loved Clara! She was great at communicating for all levels! I have dance experience and my husband had zero and she was great at making the classes interesting and fun for all levels! We did 4 classes spread out over 5 weeks to get ready for our big day and it went amazingly! She’s so great to work with and is very accomodating to your schedule. Highly recommend!!

Tessa Stickney

My husband and I had a wonderful experience with Clara, learning how to do a simple dance for our wedding. We chose a seven-lesson package, starting the series one month before our wedding. We were nervous about the timeframe because we had never taken dance lessons before, nor are we intuitive dancers. She assured us that we had not bitten off more than we can chew, and proceeded to prove herself right.

We chose our wedding song in advance, which had some timing challenges, but Clara was easily able to adapt a dance to fit with it. Clara is an intuitive and talented instructor, making you immediately feel comfortable with her friendly and non-judgmental approach.

As we got more comfortable with our simple dance, she added more complex elements at our request to give the dance more drama and to emphasize the ‘high moments’ of the music. While these movements were initially a challenge, she gave excellent coaching cues that helped us understand and execute the movements.

Due to COVID-19, most of our lessons occurred in semi-private, outdoor locations, removed from the everyday hustle of passersby, putting us at ease. We thoroughly enjoyed our experience learning from Clara and I feel like she helped me learn things about my husband I didn’t know before!

Ara Koh

Clara was an amazing teacher! My fiancée and I went in there with no dancing experience whatsoever and she helped us learn how to do our first dance elegantly and confidently. She made us feel comfortable and we were able to be our silly selves during our lessons. Thanks for all your help Clara!

Damon Gregory

JC Dance Co helped us prepare for the first dance at our wedding. We worked with Clara, who was great at making us feel comfortable in something we hadn’t ever tried before. I’d definitely recommend you go with JC Dance if you want to learn a cool first dance routine in a relaxed environment. 🙂

Neil Johal

We wanted our first dance after our wedding to be special, and Joel made it happen. We were absolute beginners. But Joel was a great teacher whose good humour, clear instructions, and easygoing demeanour kept us progressing at a good pace and made the learning process fun.

By our wedding day, we were doing turns, leans, and dips, and we had lots of compliments from our guests. We had so much fun that we still put on a song and dance in the living room from time to time. If you are short on time and need to have some presentable dance moves other than “awkward slow dance swaying” by your wedding day, Joel is your guy.

Brian Cheng

My (now) wife and I had a great experience learning our first dance with Joel this fall. We did a mix of in person and virtual and both settings were informative and professionally done. Each lesson was personally tailored to our vision and couldn’t be happier with how it turned out. Joel is an excellent instructor with a wealth of experience. Highly recommend!

Trevor Nickel

Highly recommend JC! We had a 4 -lesson package from Joel about 1 month before our wedding date and we were so so impressed! We loved it that he used the “home base” approach instead of adhering strictly to a choreographed routine. We found that we were more spontaneous, more immersed in the dance itself, and more in-tuned with each other. The dance turned out to be blast! Thank you Joel!

Christina Wang

Our wedding First Dance was a great success! I don’t know if it was the wine or the adrenaline, but we got through the whole routine without any errors, and everyone loved it. I think Tom was more proud of the dance than he was of the ceremony itself.

Tom & Heather

Clara and Joel were very enjoyable to work with. While it was clear that they are experienced competitive dancers and teachers, they were able to work with a couple of inexperienced (and eager!) students to help us bring together an amazing first dance for our wedding. Our wedding dance was very personal and appropriate for us; Clara made every effort to tailor our song choice and choreography to fit. We came away with a new appreciation for dance and also the accomplishment of having to work through a new challenge as a couple.

Hanson and Cynthia Lok

Thank you for working with us on our first dance for our wedding. You made the whole experience relaxed and even fun, an impressive feat for two total non-dancers! We really appreciated your gentle coaching and your patience. Our first dance went well. Most importantly, we had fun doing it! Thank you!

Lindsay and Paul

Need Something Special?

If the packages shown here aren’t quite what you were after, we can offer you a customized solution exactly suited to your vision.

Frequently Asked Questions

We’re here to help, so let’s get started right now by answering some of the questions that may be on your mind.

For most wedding receptions, there is a transition from the formal sit-down events of the evening, such as the dinner and speeches, to the more informal dance party at the end of the evening. It is customary for you, the wedding couple, to be the first couple on the dance floor.

Although there are no rules about how this first dance is done, if you are not used to dancing together, especially to your special song, this first dance can be a source of anxiety and stress. Wedding first dance lessons will give you the experience and confidence to dance your first dance without stress, so that you and your fiancé can truly enjoy your time together on the dance floor. Your dance can be anything from super simple, involving a few figures done through lead and follow, to more complex, involving a specifically choreographed number that wows everyone at the reception. A good dance teacher will be able to help you with whatever you are looking for.

The idea of dance lessons is often a very foreign idea to many people here in Vancouver. It’s just not part of our culture. Many people look at TV shows such as ‘Dancing With the Stars’ or ‘So You Think You Can Dance’ and say that there’s no way they would want to do that. However, dance lessons for your wedding dance don’t have to be that intense; they can be totally different.

The dance floor is still a traditional place where the man has the opportunity to take full responsibility in leading his lady.  Therefore, dance lessons are very much about a man learning how to lead his lady and for a lady to follow the indications given by her man. All the fancy steps, extra arm styling and emotional gestures are just optional additions to an otherwise very technical (yet easily learned) skill of leading and following.

Try suggesting to your fiance that you can come to the ballroom for a free consultation.  You’ll be able to meet with one of the teachers, chat about your ideas (and worries) for your wedding dance and most of all get more comfortable with the atmosphere of the ballroom.  All that for FREE!

Trying to guess how many dance lessons you need is a bit like asking how long will it take to learn how to swim. It all depends on how your body learns and how open your mind is to new ideas. Some people learn faster than others. Some have certain kinds of background experiences that make it easier to catch on to key things. Some have very busy lives making it harder to practice or even focus on what they’re learning. And goals are also part of the equation. Do you just want to learn enough for a couple simple steps, or are you planning to totally kill it and become a YouTube sensation?

In short, everyone is different. The number of lessons you need will vary greatly from one person to the next. What counts is your desire to learn and your willingness to go forward and give it a try. We make it fun because learning is easier when you’re having a good time.

With all that said, our most popular packages are the 4 and 7 lesson package as described above.  They will give you the right amount of time to be confident dancing a simple or slightly more complicated dance.  Like with everything, it’s ultimately up to you both to decide what fits you best, but we can guarantee that you’ll be better dancers after your lessons than before your started!

We believe your wedding dance should be a unique and authentic reflection of you and your fiance. Therefore we will use our skills to teach you to dance to the song of your choice, not your dance teacher’s song of choice. If you have a selection of equally special songs, we can help you decide what will work best.  We can either do this at your first lesson or we can schedule a free consult at the ballroom before your lessons start to answer all your questions in person.

Keep in mind that your song selection doesn’t have to be slow and romantic.  We’ve worked with many Vancouver couples who wanted faster, upbeat and sometimes downright silly songs to dance to.

Need some great entertainment for your wedding?

Wedding dance show entertainment

Our Performance Team loves to be part of unique and memorable weddings. These dancers have entertained Brides, Grooms and their guests with energetic and fun numbers, adding that extra special something to an already incredible evening. Their elegant Waltz-Hip Hop, cheeky Country-Cha Cha, flamboyant Bollywood-Samba and comedic Jive-Lindy Hop shows have all been performed at various Vancouver weddings with thunderous applause. Contact us for details.