The bride-and-groom’s first dance is a sweet wedding tradition, but one that often makes one or both of the participants nervous. Not only is it another moment on the day when everyone they know is staring at them, but it’s one when they’re expected to put on performance. Despite this, some brave souls really do stage a show.

One of the most moving things I’ve ever seen at a wedding was a groom, who wasn’t a guitarist or a singer, get up on stage with the hired band, pick a guitar, and perform the entire first verse of Snow Patrol’s Chasing Cars for his bride, who was standing on the dancefloor watching. He’d obviously been rehearsing in secret for weeks—and it was worth every minute of his sweat and terror. Of course the band then kicked in and he joined her in their first dance.

Thanks to the global reach of wedding videographers and YouTube, you can check out lots of interesting wedding happenings, but first dances are a popular source of entertainment so you’ve probably seen several of these fun variations on the theme. Given the age of couples getting married these days, Michael Jackson is a popular soundtrack, especially Thriller, of which you can find several performances of the moves from its original video, usually involving a fair number of the guests. Norm and Renee, however, segue from politely dancing to Jack Johnson into their own slick self-choreographed interpretation of The Way You Make Me Feel. Similarly, Dave and Anna kick into Boyz II Men at 1:45, these guys mix Johann Strauss and Afrika Bambaataa, and this inspired wig-out [also here] is probably one of the most famous wedding dance on the Web, for now.

Generally, I do as few posed wedding photographs as I can, but if you’re going to pose you might as well have some fun. TRASH THE DRESS! takes this to an extreme. Follow the link for pictures—often technically superb ones—of brides swimming in, rolling around in sand in, and setting fire to their bridal gowns. (Be sure to scroll down to the bottom of the front page.)

I don’t know whether or not the image on the other end of this link has been photoshopped, but it does make an important point well: looking at the world through a long lens can blind you to more interesting things close-up. Always have your camera ready, but use your eyes first.

This blog is not dead. I’m truly sorry about the absence of new content here lately. I’ve been busy with all sorts of other things, but I hope I’ll be able to start posting again soon.

In the meantime, I’ve had a couple of communications from the proprietor of a cute photography cartoon strip site called “What The Duck“. In particular, he drew my attention to this strip about wedding photography. I’ve added What the Duck to the blogroll.

If you have spent enough time reading the sort of crap people with more money than talent write on photographers’ forums you will love this.

[Thanks to David Gross for the link.]