Wedding Dances -- The New Music Videos

July 30, 2007 — -- Believe it or not, wedding dances are the latest videos that are going viral in a big way. Can you imagine uploading your first wedding dance with your beloved onto the Web and getting millions of hits? Tons of newlyweds are going viral, and getting their own 15 minutes – and sometimes only 15 seconds – of fame in the spotlight of the Web.

There's a reason why wedding dances have gone from romantic to razzmatazz. According to the New Yorker's Rebecca Mead, author of "One Perfect Day: The Selling of the American Wedding," "Weddings these days are used as an expression of individuality. It's no longer about the joining of our families or even the entry of us into the larger community of married people. It's really a celebration of the self." Newlyweds are drawing inspiration from their favorite movies, music videos and popular songs and performing choreographed dances for their guests that won't just live on in their memories, but permanently on the Web for all to see.

"Everybody wants to look like a celebrity on their, on their big day, and that is what is encouraged now. The average engagement period in the United States is 16 months, and you're supposed to spend this 16 months preparing yourself and perfecting yourself, so that on this day, you shine as if you were a celebrity walking down the red carpet, (and) the dance performance, is part of that," Mead said.

Couples are re-enacting some of their favorite sequences from movies like "Pulp Fiction", "Dirty Dancing", "Austin Powers", and even "Star Wars".

Mead believes that these elaborate wedding dances are part of a cultural trend. "It's saying, we're the center of attention, as if you didn't all know that already, and this is how much effort we've put in to preparing so that we can really demonstrate to you what a production we're going to make of all of this."

Now, more of these videos are finding their way to the Web. More than 500,000 people have watched one couple go from a stately waltz to a state-of-the-art break dance.