Cinderella Wedding
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Aubrey Smith & Billye Kridner

The Cinderella Wedding!!

Story written by Rick Archer

November 2005


Do you see any similarity in the two pictures above??  The eerie comparison is no accident. This lovely couple planned their first Waltz in great detail. They wanted their first dance to be absolutely perfect.  Well, they succeeded.

Aubrey and Billye danced so beautifully that they answered the question:

"What does the First Dance at a wedding look like when two people who already know how to dance get married?"

The answer is: "They look awesome!

Everyone talks about "Dancing with the Stars".  The truth is that one couple in a hundred have that kind of ability. 

I can't honestly say that Aubrey and Billye are "that good".  After all, they are not professional dancers.  However, they represent the best that non-professional dancers can aspire to.  In my mind, they set the standard for what I can expect really good dancers to achieve.

From what I gather, the large crowd thought they were watching professional dancers in action. Many people come up to tell Aubrey and Billye that was the finest display of dancing they had ever personally witnessed in their lives.  The response was very touching. 

So what is the background story?

Aubrey Smith and Billye Kridner had been taking lessons here at SSQQ for several years dating back to 2002. They met here at SSQQ in one of the dance classes.  They went together for a couple of years before they became engaged. 

When Aubrey and Billye decided to get married in August 2005, they agreed they wanted to dance as if it were a scene from a fairy tale wedding.  After all, they had already been practicing just for the fun of it for a long time.  So they took some private lessons for more polish, then practiced whenever they could in order to show the world what it is like to see two people in love dance together.  They hired a live band and had their reception in a posh Hotel Ballroom. 

For extra flourish, Aubrey brought his parents and family all the way from South Africa to see them get married and dance!

I was honored to be asked to help this couple prepare for their first dance.  The truth be told, I contributed a few moves and made some suggestions on leads, but Aubrey and Billye had already done their homework - they were wonderful dancers! 

One look at the gorgeous dress, the handsome groom, and the beautiful bride with her wonderful smile illustrate clearly they succeeded beyond the shadow of a doubt. 

Indeed the smiles on their faces tell the whole story... "Could I Have this Dance for the Rest of my Life..."

 

The Interview

After their Wedding, I sat down with Aubrey and Billye to ask them about their Waltz preparation.

Aubrey,
I have one more favor to ask.  Would you spare a couple moments to tell me more about your wedding? 

Your pictures are going to absolutely knock people out and they will likely want to know more about the two of you. Here are some questions I had:

How did you two meet?

We met in Steve Gabino’s Beginning Swing class in June 2003.  We started dating sometime during the whip classes later that year. We were engaged on November 23, 2004.

Where did you get married?
We were married on December 3rd at the Emerson Unitarian Universalist church and the reception was at the Courtyard on St James.

We honeymooned in the Cape Winelands in South Africa.

Did you two consciously decide to put energy into your first dance?
Absolutely.

How often did you practice?
Half an hour every day for the three weeks before the wedding.

What song did you dance to? 
I love you more today than yesterday (but only half as much as tomorrow) by Spiral Staircase.

What did the people say when they saw you?
We received too many compliments to list.

Did Billye have trouble dancing in that gorgeous dress?
A little.

What dances did you dance at your wedding?
We danced a Waltz for our First Song, then, as you can see from the pictures, during the Reception we danced Swing, Foxtrot, Waltz, and Whip. 

Any suggestions for other couples getting ready for the first dance?
Billye: If you are planning to dance in a fancy outfit, do some practices with a similar outfit so that you get used to the way it moves when you dance.

Aubrey: Spring for the band because live music really makes a big difference.  And take lots of lessons at SSQQ!

Rick:  Aubrey, judging from Billye's smiles, you get my supreme compliment for a job well done!  I am so proud of both of you!  By the way, I have one more question:  Marla asked me to ask how Billye’s dress got shorter in the last Whip picture.  It must be a girl thing because I would have never noticed LOL!

Billye: I always knew Marla was smarter than you (smile).  Tell her I had two dresses. 

The floor length dress I wore at the church and through the first set of dance music at the reception.  

There was one swing tune in that set and the petticoat was quite heavy.  It seemed to have a life of it own in a spin.  I was glad I had planned for a change.  I wore the tea-length to dance the rest of the reception.

Any final thoughts?

Aubrey: Yes. Preparing for this dance was time consuming and a lot of work.  I would do it again in a flash because I fell more in love with my wife every day.  It was wonderful being on a team together preparing for a challenge.  We made mistakes, we changed the routine, we changed the music, we disagreed on things, but there was always respect and love.  By the time we were done learning, I knew I was in love forever.

 

 
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