First Dance before or after dinner?

We are planning to do the grand entrance and then go right into the first dance

We did our first dance right after cutting the cake. Backing up to the beginning of the reception...we joined the cocktail hour in progress so H could enjoy the Irish band that was his special request, then we did our "formal" introduction and a few twirls and smooches on the dance floor before we took our seats and salads were served. We didn't do a bridal party entry/introductions because they always remind me of WWE events, and no one was really broken up about it, honestly. When dinner was almost over, we got the mic from the DJ and introduced/said a few nice words about each member of the bridal party (we only had 2 on each side), recognized our parents (mine are deceased; his were at the wedding), and thanked everyone for coming. H's brother took that opportunity to come up and give a toast, which we didn't know was coming, since we hadn't asked anyone to do one (I find it awkward to ask someone to say nice things about me, and neither of my bridesmaids enjoy public speaking, so I let them off the hook). While this was going on, it was an opportunity for the servers to clear tables while guests were distracted, and shortly afterward we cut the cake, then went right into our first dance, then opened the floor for dancing. Cake was served, and people were free to enjoy their dessert at their leisure. Since my dad is deceased, we didn't make a deal of parent dances, but H danced with his mom at some point during the reception, just not in the spotlight (which she was grateful for; they're a family of introverts LOL). No bouquet toss, no garter toss. We had a good 2.5 hours of uninterrupted dancing, and it was awesome

We're doing:

- Bridal Party Introductions

- First Dance

- Dinner

- Father daughter dance

- Mother son dance

Our cocktail hour has a pretty solid food spread (passed apps and a charcuterie station) so we're doing dances and toasts to allow people to get hungry again before the dinner stations open up.

We did ours after. It just worked better that way for us, but we also had a pretty small wedding. We didn't do a grand entrance, just joined cocktail hour. Then we did dinner, ended up doing the cake cutting next because the kids were anxious for cake and donuts, then transitioned after a few minutes to the toast and first dance, where we were "introduced" as Mr. & Mrs. It wasn't what we planned, but it worked great for us.

We plan to have the first dance before the dinner and after the grand entrance which will happen right after cocktail hour ends, if that makes sense, lol.

We did ours after dinner, although we skipped bridal party intros altogether. Our dinner was buffet style and dinner actually went by pretty quick, and we did all the spotlight dances before opening up the dance floor to everyone. Things flowed pretty smoothly.

Our coordinator suggested doing ours right after introductions so you still have everyone's attention. We ended up doing ours in this order:

Introductions

First dance

Father/daughter dance (we welcomed other fathers and daughters out on to the floor after about a minute)

Mother/son dance (did the same thing)

Cake cutting (so then the cake would be ready to serve right after dinner)

Toasts

Prayer

Dinner

Dancing

We wanted to start the dancing with our mother/daughter dance, so we did it after dinner. We did our first dance and then my mom and I danced to the slow song I would have danced with my Dad (passed away) and then 1 minute in (so we wouldn't cry so much) we had the DJ switch it to a fast song and tell everyone to get out on the dance floor and it worked perfectly!!! Everyone loved it!!

We did it right after the introductions and my father's welcome (only our parents and the two of us were introduced, wedding party didn't really want a big intro). Technically no one's supposed to dance until you do yours, and we wanted to maximize dancing time for our guests (which was good, as soon as we were done they all rushed the dance floor while waiting for their entrees to be served). The dance floor thinned a bit while people went back to their tables to eat, and that's when we did toasts.

I've been to weddings that did it either way, but those where the dance was after dinner felt "short" to me. Things were just getting warmed up and it was time to go home. As a guest I always preferred weddings that got all the obligatory stuff out of the way early in the night.

And yes, we still got to eat (I ate sooo much at my wedding, it was great).

I guess it is a regional thing! My FH and I were surprised our venue coordinator put the first dance right after the introductions on the timeline. I've only attended 1 wedding that had the first dances right after the intros. We emailed our coordinator to change it to after dinner but I was a bit curious as to how everyone else was scheduling theirs.

Before

I think we are doing ours right after intros, before dinner.

We are doing ours after dinner. I've never seen it done before either. Possibly a regional thing ? I thought the whole point of the " first dance" was for the newlyweds to be the first to dance then open the dance floor to the guests?

Clearly this is a preference thing. Do which ever flows better with your timeline.

We did ours after the grand intro.

We had ours right after we were all announced.

We did ours before dinner as part of our grand entrance. The rest of the bridal party was not introduced.

After dinner we did the father/daughter dance in the dance room which opened up the dance floor for dancing.

Friends of our's got married a few years ago and had a great timeline (I thought) and it is something that we might do too.

It went:

intros

cake cutting

first dance

father daughter

mother son

dinner

dancing

ETA: their cake table was right next to the dance floor - so it was pretty seamless

Right after we are announced. No one is supposed to dance until the bride and groom do. So if anyone wants to dance while waiting for dinner or right after dinner they can.

We are doing...

Entrance

Toast

Dinner

Cake cutting (while everyone else eats)

First Dance

Father/daughter

Mother/son

Bridal party

Garter Toss

Bouquet toss