Our Daddy Daughter Dance is held every spring and has a different theme each year. We have been through the 50's and the 80's, we have had a Fiesta, and we have had a country night. The daddys and the daughters both enjoy a nice meal and some fun dancing. Sometimes we have a special craft or activity and we always take lots of pictures.
Our moms do a fantastic job at planning and running the Daddy Daughter Dance. If you would like to help plan the dance, here are some things you should consider:
1. Location:
Holy Trinity Lutheran Church in Anderson allows dancing in their fellowship hall. They have a stage and a sound system you can use. They also have a full kitchen with everything you would need to cook a meal if you want to do that. They have plenty of tables and chairs for all who will attend.
The Barn at Twin Creek Farm is a great place with outdoor atmosphere to host a dance. They have a kitchen you can use to prep or cook food. They have tables and chairs for everyone to sit at to eat. You can use a bluetooth speaker to fill the barn with your dance music.
2. Cost:
When you are planning, consider all that you need to pay for. That will determine how much you need to charge per family.
The dance is usually around $20 per family. That pays for the food, the location donation (typically $50 per event), the decorations, and the goodie bags. Your cost may be less if the moms donate most of the items.
3. Date:
March - We usually have the dance in March. CHOICE considers all the other events we have during the year and tries to have one or two each month. We also have our Mother Son event in March.
Friday or Saturday - We have had the dance on either of these days of the week. A lot of times it is easy for the moms to arrive at the location around Noon to set up and decorate. We are usually done in a couple of hours which means we can go back home to get our daughters ready for the dance before we come back with them.
4. Time:
For 2 hours between 5:00 and 8:00.
Evening - When you decide what time the dance will be, consider if it is Daylight Savings Time yet and how light you want it to be outside. Also consider bed times for the littles.
Setup - Setup is usually done around lunch time the day of the dance. Coordinate with the person who has the key to the church to make sure the setup time will work for them
Clean-up - You will want to set the dance time so you can have about an hour to clean up after and still get home by a certain time. It may not take you that long, but just be prepared.
5. Theme:
The theme helps you plan the colors you decorate with, the food you eat, the songs you play, and the goodie bags the girls take home.
The themes we have done in the past are...
6. Food:
We usually serve a nice sit-down meal since the dance is during dinner time. We want to make sure our families get enough to eat.
You can either cook the dinner at the location, or moms can bring the food already made.
Make sure you have dessert!
When planning food, ask if anyone has any allergies you need to plan around. Sometimes moms will volunteer to bring an allergy-friendly dish that their child can eat.
Also plan for picky eaters. Make sure to send out the menu ahead of time in case some of the girls are picky and will only eat something like chicken nuggets and french fries.
Make enough for you! The moms usually stay in the kitchen to give the dads and daughters time together, but make enough so that all the moms can have dinner as well.
7. Music:
We usually pass the song list along each year. We play the typical fun dance songs such as The Chicken Dance, The Macarena, The Cupid Shuffle, and The Hokey Pokey. Then we play some nice slow songs such as My Little Girl, When You Need Me, My Wish, and My Girl.
You can also play songs that go along with the theme such as Under The Sea, Hawaiian Roller Coaster, Surf Crazy, The Greatest Showman, Into the Unknown, and Let It Go.
8. Goodie Bags:
The girls love to take home something special to remember their night.
It could be goodie bags with candy, mason jars with flowers, bags with hair clips and chapstick, or anything else you think they would like.
**Click here to see a list of the supplies CHOICE has for you to use if you want**
