Alternatives to dollar dance

I would skip it all around. The picture things is cute but I don’t think you should charge. We are having a photo booth and I hope we are able to take a picture with all our guest but I’m doing it for the memory not for th to pay.
And I would not want money thrown at me while I’m dancibg with my husband. Just seems tacky to me.

I personally like the dollar dance soley for the fact that it allows you to get to see a bulk of your guest in a very short period. However you don’t have to have it but remember if you do it’s for a very short period, usually 30-60 seconds each.

I think the photo booth idea is cute but keep in mind if you do it that you’re guest are going to be dragging you two away all night to get a picture with you.

Where I live dollar dances are very much expected. I was a BM in one of my friends weddings a couple years ago and when she skipped the dollar dance people complained. I wasn't aware it was a cultural thing but we have a strong Polish/German/Dutch ancestry in our area so perhaps that's why it's so big here. I personally hate dollar dances because I don't like the music typically played with them and they kill the fun "party" atmosphere of receptions because they often take so long. Most weddings here the dollar dance takes 30-45 minutes to get through all the people in line. We're looking at a couple "alternatives" to it.

Option one is one of our groomsman's father is a big auctioneer a few towns over and we are considering "auctioning" off a dance each with myself and FH. People can go in together and split the dance or buy it all themselves. That way it's limited to just one song instead of 12 and we can get on with the rest of the reception. My future BIL thought it would be a funny idea to have the groomsman "kidnap" me and have people pay a "ransom" before I can come back to the reception. I don't like that one as much because it means I miss the reception and I feel like people will feel more like it's us forcing them to cough up money. Last idea is we get two buckets, one with Nebraska one with Iowa State and guests put money in them (I'm a Nebraska fan, FH is an Iowa State fan). Towards the end we count the money and the team bucket with the most money gets their fight song played.

View Quoted Comment I love the fight song idea! I may talk to my FH about doing something like that if you don’t mind!

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Feel free!! We took the idea from another friends wedding. They had the DJ explain what the two boxes were for during their's but I'm planning on doing a little calligraphy sign to put next to them to explain.

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Me too - is that her name behind them in lights on the balcony? Ugh - no privacy there. If people want to be super generous, let them be super generous with a check in the envelope or unsolicited giving. But to have a honeymoon fund jar out, or announce a dollar dance, or any other money solicitation is just bad taste. I grew up with parents who were pretty chill about things socially: paper plates at a bbq, canned beer, whatever. But dollar dances and cash bars meant for a LOOOOONG ride home. I have about forty plus years of attending weddings and it seems one money requesting "tradition" will come to replace the previous one.

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No that is the photographer's name. I looked it up.

I think you could do without. It might have been a tradition some years back,however I have not seen much of it anymore. But if it makes you both happy then go for it.

The dollar dance is cultural - particularly in Caribbean

Open air backdrop

and Asian families. It is a gesture to bring "good fortune" to the bride and groom and symbolic that the couple will always have family to support them should the need arise. If this is something you totally can't relate to (I'm not having a dollar dance, but have enjoyed them at the wedding of friends), then by all means an open photo booth is a great way to take photos and share in moments with those you don't know well or just met.

You both take photos with your guests and the props are fun and the photos will be memorable. You could always email them to your guests later as an additional thank you. I like them better than the closed photo booths because the space in them is too small, brides with larger dresses don't fit in them well and you don't want to go into a small space like that with folks you are not acquainted with. They are relatively cheap to rent and you could either buy backdrop material (see amazon.com or cvlinens.com) along with fun wedding props and masks.

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Thank you!