Until Death Do We Dance: Dancing After Your Wedding
Planning a wedding is hard work. Between decisions and meetings, differences in opinion and family pressure, it can really pose a challenge to your relationship. But once the wedding is over, you’re left to navigate your marriage, which can be prove to be more difficult than you may have planned for. The hard work doesn’t end when you say, “I do.” In fact, it’s probably just begun. You can’t expect that your partner will forever be happy just to be married to you. The relationship doesn’t continue developing and growing on its own, just because you put a ring on it.
According to family and marriage therapist, Winifred M Reilly, “Many of us assume that because we’re in love, because we have common values and compatible dreams, we’ve got everything we need to have a marriage that lasts.” Those assumptions seem perfectly reasonable, and a sure way to continue growing together after you’ve tied the knot, right? But what are the real difficulties faced by couples, whether married for 2 days or 40 years?
Reilly suggests that unrealistic expectations can make for a perpetually disappointing life together. “A better approach,” she says, “Strive to be generous. Offer support. Cut each other some slack. When taking action, keep each other’s concerns in mind as well as your own.” At the end of the day, a successful marriage requires patience, generosity, and unconditional love and understanding.
However, when times are tough, and the flame has been reduced to a flicker, approaching your relationship with these traits can be difficult, to say the least. A great way to ensure that you can tackle a rough patch with an unmistakable sense of grace is to consistently remind each other of how great you are together and how much fun you have with one another. While there are plenty of creative ways to keep the spark alive, our all time favorite is dancing together.
Dancing is also a great way to practice patience and communication with one another in a stress-free, low-stakes way. We’ve already written about how dancing together is about more than spins and dips, especially throughout the learning process. But continuing to connect through dance can be a less obvious way to spend time together when you’re no longer preparing for your first dance. If you’re unsure of how to keep dancing together after the wedding, check out the suggestions below!
Where should we dance after the wedding?
Your kitchen
That’s right people, the romance starts at home. Can there be a more romantic time and place to throw on a little Sinatra and sneak in a little box step while you prep dinner together? The best part is that no one is around watching you (except the cat) so you can be as silly and carefree as you want.
Street festivals
Summer in this city is the best. With so much live music happening almost every weekend, you're sure to find an appropriate place to show off those sweet swing dance moves you learned while preparing for your wedding dance. Our favorites are Chicago Summer Dance (which happens every weekend and is completely FREE) and Wicker Park Fest.
The Green Mill
A Chicago staple, the Green Mill is one of this city’s longest standing traditions. With live swing music happening every Tuesday until 1am, make it a date night and grab dinner before-hand down the street at one of our favorite spots, Herb.
With us!
You don’t need to be preparing for a wedding to enjoy taking dance lessons together. Good company, drinks, snacks, and dancing. Can you think of a better date night? We are also always hosting parties and events so keep checking the Events page for the latest.
Untitled Supper Club
If you’re looking for a River North night out, and have a penchant for speakeasy-style bars, Untitled is the perfect place for you! There’s always great live entertainment at Untitled (including burlesque shows on weeknights ) and enough room in front of the stage to bust out a few moves.
At the end of the day, we know that married couples who continue growing together are the ones with a successful forever after. Dancing can be a part of that in a big way! We hope that you’ll remember all the fun you had learning to dance and continue to find moments to enjoy connecting and moving together to your favorite music.