Meet Chris and Angela, the couple prepping to exchange vows on September 24th and wow guests with a first dance (and second, and third). They’ve been hitting up the Arthur Murray Royal Oak studio a couple times a week since January 2016 so their wedding reception goes exactly as they’ve been imagining it. Here’s their story; we hope it inspires you.
What’s your love story?
C: We met in high school senior year. Freshman year of college we went separate ways. After 10 years – 3 years ago – we reconnected on Facebook. We messaged and started talking and hung out one night.
How did you propose, Chris?
C: While she was in the bath I led rose petals for her to [follow]. I snuck up behind her and got on one knee.
Did you know it was coming, Angela?
A: I thought, this has never happened before. It was Memorial Day weekend, our anniversary weekend, so it was kind of obvious (laughing).
How long have you been taking lessons, and how often?
A: Since January 6th. Every other week, two lessons in a week. Some weeks we can fit in three. We started right after the beginning of the year because we wanted to make sure we felt super comfortable [for our wedding]. We both work 40 hours plus we have our son; we take private lessons so we can go late at night or right after work.
Which dances are you learning?
C: We did a fox trot and a lindy hop and we learned rumba. And we’re working on west coast swing.
What’s your first dance?
C: Our first dance is to Michael Buble Moondance, it’s a fox trot – it starts slower and then when it picks up it’s a lindy hop. We practice it at the beginning of every class. We’ll run through that a few times then go into different dances, but for the first few months, that’s all we did. It’s only been maybe three months since we started adding in other dances. We have a live band so we want to try to use our moves!
Whose idea was it to take lessons?
C: When we were first dating, I talked about learning how to dance. Then it took us to just actually go for it. At first it was primarily for the wedding, but then we really liked it and we continued on. It’s a fun thing for both of us to do together.
A: I was kind of surprised; I didn’t think he was being serious.
Why dance lessons?
C: It was more to give us something to do outside of the house. We like to go to concerts and listen to live music, and then we would dance around with our son.
A: It used to be my life just dancing. I haven’t danced with a [dance instructor] in so long so I thought that would be fun to get back into that.
How was your first dance lesson? Was it different from what you expected?
A: It was definitely nerve-wracking, thinking “oh geez, how are we going to dance together?!” I used to dance when I was younger; so it comes a little more naturally to me.
C: It was definitely more nerve-wracking for me than her. I’m used to things coming easily to me, and dancing definitely didn’t. The timing threw me off [at first], and I really enjoy it now. Even learning new dances now, (laughs) I still butcher it. It takes one week or two to feel confident.
Who is your instructor?
C: Veronica. She pushes us and clicks with our personalities. She can tell when I’m having difficulty and she works with just me. She’ll take the time to explain it in a way that works for me, trying to push us to be better. [With new ideas] at first we’re like “I don’t know,” and somehow we’re able to. In our wedding dance Angela is going to end up upside down at one point!
What has dancing done for you?
A: I think it’s already brought us closer together even than we already were. It puts you in a great mood [regardless of] whether you’ve been in a bad mood. You get to your lesson and you forget about the day you’ve had at work.