Real Life “Footloose”? Bride and Groom's Hotel Wedding Venue Has a 'No Dancing' Rule
A couple is planning to have their wedding reception at a hotel that prohibits dancing
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Kevin Bacon in 'Footloose'There will be no first dance for one bride and groom.
In a post on Reddit's "Wedding" forum, a poster who is tying the knot in March described a situation similar to the plot of 1984's Footloose. In the movie, which is set in the fictional town of Bomont, it's made illegal to dance after a group of teenagers were killed in a car accident following a night of dancing and partying. In real life, the poster was told by the hotel where they plan to have their wedding reception that it has a strict ban on dancing.
The couple is getting married inside a church at 4 p.m., so by the time they get to the hotel it will be around 6:30 p.m. Sixty guests will enjoy cocktails, canapés and then a sit-down meal with an open bar. The venue will allow a band at the "late" celebration, but says that dancing crosses the line.
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'No Dancing' sign"Our venue has just told us we’re only allowed acoustic music — and no dancing," the poster wrote. When they asked the venue for clarification on what "no dancing" entails, they just said "we don't allow dancing."
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Although the band — which consists of a guitarist, violinist, saxophonist and singer — will be enjoyable to listen to, the poster worries that it won't be enough.
"I was fine with the music but worried people will be bored with no dancing. We’ll have a band, but is it a bad idea to have no dancing?" they questioned. "Venue closes at 11 p.m., so thinking there won’t be time for dancing anyway? Not sure I can go back to the drawing board of finding somewhere new 😓."
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People in the comments section immediately noticed how similar the poster's issue is to that of Footloose's Ren McCormack (Kevin Bacon). They also strongly suggested that the poster change wedding reception venues.
"Yeah this is a very strange boundary from the hotel," one Redditor commented. "Dancing is definitely expected unless a religious/cultural reason prohibits it. I would honestly see about finding a new venue."
"So what happens if people go stand up to listen to the band and then start dancing? Do you have to go over and be like, Oh sorry that’s not allowed please sit down?" another Reddit user wrote. "I’m guessing the venue has had to deal with rowdy guests and this is how they’re trying to prevent that, but if you’re from a community that typically has dancing at weddings they might be disappointed."
