The Dance Street Ballroom

Rachel & Steve's father-daughter dance - Summit Photography Puttin' on the Ritz's Signature Buffet Emilie's Bouquet Toss - Summit Photography Elise and David kiss through their bubbly - Summit Photography A bridal party stroll in front of the Dance Street Ballroom - Summit Photo Conga line! Summit Photography

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WEDDING RECEPTIONS
at the Dance Street Ballroom Reception Facility in Spokane, WA

Wedding Reception Quick Facts

Capacity: 225 (200 seated, 25 at bar tables)

Cost: $2500 weekend, $2000 weekday (includes tables, chairs, linens, centerpieces, set up, break down, facility cleaning, etc.)

Time: 7 hours (2 hrs. vendor set up, 4 hr. party, 1 hr. pack up and exit)

Outside Catering: Welcome (Do-it-yourself food allowed with restrictions)

Music Services:  $400

Ceremony: $500 added to a reception.

Extra Hours: $150 before Midnight, $250 Midnight-1am

Jennifer's father-daughter dance - Moxie Images

 

Rates and Inclusions

Reception Package: $2500 Saturday & Sunday, $2000 weekday

Value:  Please keep in mind that while we are not the least expensive venue in town, we do provide you with an extraordinary value for your money.  See our Cost Comparison for help in comparing apples to apples.

Inclusions:  We provide a beautiful space ready to go - you add personal touches and your choice of food & beverages

•  Seven hour time-block between 10am & Midnight (including a 4 hr. party - just right for most receptions)
•  Tables
•  Chairs
•  Table linens
•  Centerpieces of mirror squares, candles, & fresh flowers coordinated to your colors
•  Tables with linens for the DJ, buffet, cake, gifts, punch & guest book 
•  Candle sconces & window-well candelabras - we glimmer with about 100 candles per wedding
•  White twinkle lights around the dance floor, up the back walls, and on the entryway arch
•  Decorations for the cake table, punch table, & guest book table (flowers, petals, candles)
•  Projector and DVD player for slideshows (we operate the equipment)
•  Dry bar
•  Food prep area, with sink and refrigerator (no cooking facilities)
•  Bridal ready room
•  Set up & take down
•  Facility cleaning
•  Facilitation services - someone will be there throughout the night to help things go smoothly
•  One free session of couple's group dance classes as a "thank you" bonus
   
(one session = 4 classes; 1 night per week for 1 month;)

Policies and Informative Details (in alphabetical order) 
You may want to grab a cup of coffee - this is pretty long.

Alcohol •  Beverages  • Capacity • Ceremonies • Children • Dancing • Decorating  • Favors • Food/Catering • Friday Nights • Guest Count  • Head Table • Hours & Time • Music • Out of Town  • Pictures Reservations  • Smoking Throwables  

Alcoholic beverages - We like everyone to have a great time, but this is not the place for a drunk-fest.  A couple of drinks to shake off dance-inhibitions?  Sure!  We're all for that.  A banquet permit, ($10 at any liquor store), is necessary if you plan on having any alcoholic beverages, including "just Champagne for the toast." 

If you want to serve more than just champagne for the toast then you must hire a licensed bartender, either through a Preferred Caterer or from our Approved List.  The bartenders should arrive one hour before your guests and plan on staying until the end of the night (usually 6 hours total.) They are responsible for setting up the cups, chilling appropriate drinks, serving all alcoholic beverages, checking identification, monitoring guests' alcohol consumption, and keeping the bar area tidy.  In our very litigious society their services are an essential element of any well-planned event.  This requirement is ours, not the liquor board's, and is not negotiable.  Cost: generally $150-$300, depending on what they'll be serving and how many people you expect to attend.

We're sorry, but you may no longer hire "someone you know" or a bartender from a non-preferred caterer.  We've had licensed bartenders do some very stupid and dangerous things, including unwiring Champagne but not removing the corks immediately (which means the bubbly was free to uncork itself, thankfully shooting the projectiles into the ceiling and not into someone's eye), serving one table of 8 guests 60 beers in a two hour period (even after we asked them to stop), taking so many smoke-breaks that they might as well not have been there at all, and leaving a half-hour early (thereby shutting down the bar and leaving dancers thirsty.)  We'd like to think a serving license indicates competence, but unfortunately that is not the case.  Our Approved Bartenders are all competent, courteous, and conscientious, and will take great care of you and your guests.

BEER & WINE:  You may have one keg of beer for every 100 guests, with a 2 keg total limit.  (Up to 4 cases worth may come as bottles.)  Each keg serves 160, 12oz glasses.  Wine & champagne are welcome in reasonable amounts.  You may also add up to 3 cases of pre-bottled beverages, such as Mike's Hard Lemonade, which is particularly popular during the hot season.  The local breweries are great places to get good prices on kegs.  Check out Northern Lights or Shenanigans for good beer that's easy to pick up and return.  If you'd like a bottled brand of beer check out the Hi-Neighbor Tavern on Monroe.  It's very close to us so your beer stays cold and doesn't get too shaken up during transit.  

CHAMPAGNE must be opened by Dance Street staff or the hired bartender.  Dance Street does not charge a corkage fee, it's simply an issue of mess and safety.  Bottles may not be placed on the tables since we require that all alcoholic beverages be served.  Feel free to skip the Champagne in favor of a "toast with your preferred beverage."  Many people are doing this if their group doesn't particularly care for Champagne. 

In order to provide a full HARD LIQUOR bar or a NO-HOST bar you must hire one of the four Preferred Caterers who we allow to do a full bar (no shots.)  We've had a lot of problems with the hard stuff and are close to banning it all together.  We've also had some really good events with it, so that's why we haven't.  Please don't be the event to make us change our minds. 

A "signature drink" is an excellent compromise that will allow you to use any Preferred Caterer's bartender or one of our Approved Bartending Teams.  This could be something like a rum & coke, a Mai Tai, or a Margarita on the rocks.  If your chosen drink contains multiple ingredients it should come pre-mixed except for the alcohol.  This will make your bar line move much more smoothly.  Consider providing fruit garnish or the little umbrellas if you're doing something tropical.

Miscellaneous details - Guests are NOT allowed to bring in their own alcoholic beverages.  The bar will be closed down one hour before the end of your time slot (at the end of your 4 hour party block, usually when you are leaving.)  You must provide adequate food in order to serve alcoholic beverages (not just desserts.) 

Beverages - non-alcoholic - If you hire a full-service caterer they'll handle the punch, water, & coffee.  Feel free to add iced or hot tea too, but don't go overboard with too many choices of beverages.  If you hire a food-only caterer, or choose to do the food yourselves, then you'll want to provide your own punch, water, & coffee.  That way it's available until the end of the party, not just until the caterers leave (often a 2 hour difference.)  The best way to serve water is to buy or rent one of the large glass beverage jars and fill it with water, ice, & lemon slices if so desired.  You can do the same for punch, but most people choose to use a punch bowl.  Keep your punch recipe simple, such as Sprite & strawberry lemonade powder, Sprite & Costco's strawberry-mango juice, or my favorite recipe: 2 cans frozen cranberry, 2 cans frozen orange, a 46oz can pineapple juice, a 2-liter of Sprite/7-up, plus 2-liters of water & ice.  Mmmm!  Guests will suck this down in quantity, though, so make sure you provide enough.  One batch per 25 guests is reasonable, maybe a little more if you're not serving any alcoholic beverages or if it's the middle of summer. 

Capacity - 225 people by fire code.  We will seat up to 200 (at 10 per table) and provide standing-only bar tables for the other 25, which works great for buffet-style food on disposable dishes.  This leaves most of the 20x20 dance floor open, only encroached upon by one "magic" table that disappears after dinner.  It is no trouble to move a few more tables back after dinner if you have an enthusiastic dance crowd.  In order to "set" your tables with china, flatware, & glassware you need to limit yourselves to no more than 160 guests (8 per table.)  Plated/served dinners are limited to 125 guests.  We suggest this as a limit for receptions with live bands also.  Combined ceremony/reception events are limited to 175 guests (10 per table). 

Ceremonies, Indoor  - We've dedicated a separate page to this subject, but the bullet points are as follows:

•  Capactiy of 175 with reception-style seating
• 
1 hour rehearsal
•  1 added hour of time on the event day
•  Ceremony accessories of an arch, candelabras, and vases of flowers
•  Ceremony coordinator. 

Ceremonies, Outdoor  - Spokane has many lovely possibilities for outdoor wedding ceremonies.  A few of them include Manito Park's Duncan Gardens or Rose Garden, the Finch Arboretum, or Riverfront Park's Floating Stage or Canada Island amphitheater.  Please remember than an outdoor ceremony in a public location is best suited to fairly relaxed couples with small to medium sized events.  The best time for an outdoor ceremony in Spokane is from mid-July through mid-September.  Choose an early evening ceremony (6pm is great) to avoid taking your pictures (usually about 2 hours worth) in the worst heat of the day.  Make sure your invitations include a contingency plan in case of inclement weather, such as telling guests that the ceremony will move to the reception location in case of rain, and a number to call for a recorded message in case of uncertain conditions. You'll need a trustworthy friend to remember to record that message saying where the ceremony absolutely will be, and to hang out at the original site to redirect wayward guests (make sure they have raingear.)   

Dance Street is happy to provide some peace of mind by being your back-up ceremony location.  If you choose a different reception venue please make sure you ask about their policies on this issue, as not all facilities have the same rules.   

Children - Well-behaved children are a joy to have at weddings, and welcome at the Dance Street Ballroom.  The facility is, however, designed for adults with lots of glass, candles, and other opportunities for ignored children to cause trouble.  We expect parents and other adults to supervise any children in attendance and enforce good indoor manners.  We love it when the kids dance and screech in delight, but if you want a place where they can run amok then please choose a different venue.  

Dancing - Most of the couples who are interested in our facility want to have dancing at their receptions.  Here are some observations about dancing from our last eight years of receptions:
1 - The best months for a wedding reception with dancing are April, early May, September, and October.  I know that goes against conventional notions that "summer is the season," but let me explain.  In June it stays light very late, a great thing except when you want people to dance.  Then in July and August you get to sweat in Spokane.  Especially during outdoor pictures & while dancing.  Yes, we have air conditioning and dance-floor fans, but when 100 plus people are moving vigorously in a pack it can only do so much.  Of course we got married in August and had a great time, so take this advice with a grain of salt.  Late Fall, Winter, & early Spring receptions are great for dancing too, but they do have more unpredictable weather.
2 - A dancing-reception should generally start no earlier than 6pm.  That means a 5pm ceremony in most cases, dinner at 6-ish, dancing starting around 7:30.  Some groups just love to dance and will do so at 2 o'clock in the afternoon, but they are a rare find to be treasured.  A 6pm ceremony with a 7-11 reception block is ideal in the summer months.
3 - Getting a group of your bridal party, family, & friends to take a couple of private-group dance lessons before the wedding is a really fun icebreaker activity, and those dancers can jump-start the action at your reception. 
4 - Even "dancing crowds" are intimidated at first if the dance floor is too large.  Therefore we try to keep it a cozy 20x20 or so to start out with.  If you get a group of enthusiastic dancers it is no trouble at all to move some tables back and expand the dance floor. 

Decorating - You're welcome to do additional decorating as long as it fits within your time slot, or you book more hours, but most brides are happy to have us take care of this detail.  In addition to our white lights and numerous candle sconces, we provide table centers with mirror squares, candles, and color-coordinated fresh flowers.  We decorate the cake table with candles and flower petals or small vases.  We also provide a vase of flowers for the guest book table and punch table.  All of this is included in the rental fee.  Except for unity candles, we do not allow additional candles unless they are fully contained in one-piece holders, with the flame at least 1 full inch below the top of the holder.  (Wax on our dance floor is a major hazard, and this is a very necessary precaution.)

Facilitation Services - The Dance Street Ballroom is one of very few owner-operated event facilities in the Spokane area.  What this means to you is you'll be dealing with the same person from your tour, though the booking process, for any questions between then and your event, and on your event night.  The person who makes the decisions, so there'll be no "well, let me ask my boss" issues.  This allows a continuity of information and details that's hard to find anywhere else.  We will certainly have a clue about your likes and dislikes, and how you envision your event.  It also means we care very much about the experience you have, and will do all we can to make things as smooth and easy for you as possible. 

Favors - Feel free to do them if you want to, but don't feel like you have to.  We're happy to put prepared favors out on the tables for you.  Anything consumable is a good choice - candy, candles, flower seeds, etc.  Magnets are always fun too, especially when they have your picture on them.  Our only restriction is that we don't allow TULLE CIRCLES as a wrapping.  They're very hard to see on the floor and very slick, which makes them hazardous.  Please make sure your favor maker knows this.  We also ask nicely that you not use Jelly-Bellies.  As tasty as they are they act like gum when they get squished on the floor.   

Food - This is a key element to any event, and one of the few particular details anyone remembers is whether or not they ate well.  We do not have an in-house caterer and there are no exact catering requirements.  We offer three catering options:

  1. We highly recommend eight Preferred Caterers who are all full-service, providing tasty food, well-decorated buffet tables, non-alcoholic beverages, licensed bartending staff, cake-cutting service, table clearing, and trash management until the end of your event (starting at $10/person, averaging $15, up to $30.)  They take care of everything that we don't, and we know without reservation that they do a great job here.

  2. You're welcome to hire any other licensed caterer, but then you must also hire one of our Approved Service Assistants.  They fill the service gap and will clear tables, take out trash, maintain non-alcoholic beverages that you provide, and cut the cake.  This requirement allows you to hire a food-only caterer who will only be here for dinner and therefore cost less, but still have the service issues taken care of so that your family does not have to work your wedding.  It also protects the facility and your damage deposit.  We will be happy to arrange this for you, and the cost is $100/ASA/6 hour shift.  An additional assistant will be required if you're having over 75 people and using rented dishes.  "Real" dishes are very labor intensive.

  3. Do-it-yourself food is still allowed with restrictions.  We do not recommend this route, but do understand the reality of budgetary constraints.  If you don't use a licensed caterer we charge an additional $400, which includes 2 Approved Service Assistants who will arrange the food on the the tables, maintain the food trays and pack up leftovers, as well as clear tables, cut cake, deal with your punch/water/coffee, and take out the trash.  The following rules apply:   You are limited to COLD FOOD ONLY, up to 5 different trays (e.g. meat, cheese, fruits, veggies, & shrimp), up to 3 salads (e.g. pasta, Caesar, & broccoli), rolls, squeeze-bottle condiments, & olives.  All food must come prepared and ready to put out on the table except for salad dressing and croutons.  Salads should come with two bowls, one for the table and one in reserve, with refills in Ziploc bags.  Trays should be lidless and wrapped in plastic wrap so that they'll fit into the refrigerator.  You are responsible for providing all serving dishes, serving utensils, plates, napkins, forks, cups, etc.  If you decide to rent china, silverware, & glassware you will need to hire one more ASA to deal with the rentals.  Our facility is just not equipped to keep hot food hot, but you may expand your cold food choices if you have a "friend" who does catering and is going to be manning the food area during dinner and packing up the leftovers afterwards.  Remember, everything must still fit on the two buffet tables provided. 

In all cases, we expect food to come already prepared and essentially ready to serve.  We provide a small food-prep area with a table, refrigerator, & sink that is curtained off from the serving area.  There is no kitchen, and cooking is absolutely forbidden.  We provide two buffet tables (with linens) for serving, and we recommend that guests go through the buffet line on both sides of the tables to make the line as efficient as possible.  This arrangement suits professional caterers just fine, and we're happy to give a tour and explanation to any caterer who has not been at our facility before.   

Here's an observation:  no matter what you provide for food, people will treat it like their main meal of the day.  You can intend for it to be "evening appetizers," but they will have skipped dinner in anticipation of your event.  You can think that a mid-afternoon event means you won't have to feed them a meal, but they'll eat enough to be able to skip dinner.  I know wedding costs are daunting, but feeding people well makes for a much happier reception.  That doesn't mean you need to provide Carved Roast Beast - finger foods are fine.  Just make sure the food is tasty and there's plenty of it.  The one exception to this is a dessert reception in the mid-afternoon or later evening.  These can be a lot of fun, but remember it will affect how much alcohol you can provide if you're only serving desserts.  

Dishes, napkins, flatware, & cups for non-alcoholic beverages will be included if you choose a preferred caterer, but you may still need plates, forks, & napkins for the cake.  If you prefer to rent china, flatware, and glassware we'd be happy to suggest some reputable vendors.  Remember that rented dishes require a lot more labor (= $) and space.  If you like the convenience & economics of disposables then we suggest shopping at Costco or URM.  Again, keep it simple.  The pull-apart champagne glasses seem cute until you have to put them all together, find a place to arrange them, and figure out how to get them to the tables - very labor intensive little things.  We prefer the little 5oz. cups that are miniatures of URM's normal beverage cups.  Very cute and easy to handle. 

GREEN DISPOSABLES - There are now a lot of disposable dishes out there made of cornstarch, potato starch, or sugarcane.  Plates, forks, cups, & to-go containers are all available from a variety of companies.  We've tested the plates & forks from Ecoproducts and found them to be very sturdy, better in fact than your usual disposables.  Besides being biodegradable (moot point since Spokane burns its garbage) they are made without any petroleum products, which is a good thing.  Check out these sources if you're interested in such things, or ask your caterer if they offer such a "green option."  There may be a nominal fee to cover the difference in costs. 
Ecoproducts • Earthshell • Let's Go Green Michigan Green Safe Products  The "EarthShell" brand may be available locally at  Smart & Final cash & carry stores, at 7630 N. Division and 211 S. McKinnon Rd. 

Friday Night Weddings - Consider these benefits to choosing a Friday date:

  1. A BETTER CHOICE OF VENUES AND PROVIDERS
    As you may have already discovered, the most sought after venues and service providers tend to book up quickly.  If you choose a Friday (or any other non-Saturday date) then you're more likely to get exactly who, what, and where you want.
  2. COST SAVINGS
    Most providers and venues offer some discount for non-Saturday dates.  (It can't hurt to ask, just don't be indignant if that's not the case.)  Sometimes the savings are significant, and they can definitely add up over your total wedding budget.  At the Dance Street Ballroom alone you'll save $500 by choosing a Friday.
  3. APPRECIATIVE GUESTS
    Friday evening weddings are fun!  They give people something to look forward to after work, and are a great way to kick off the weekend without taking the heart out of it.  Especially in summer, it can be tough for Saturday weddings to compete with vacations and weekends at the lake, whereas a Friday wedding gives guests a festive way to jumpstart their weekend fun.  (The one exception to this is if you have a guests driving in from an hour or two away, who will most likely drive home after the event.  They are less likely to be able to attend a Friday wedding.)   
  4. EXTRA TIME
    Who couldn't use more of that?  A Friday wedding gives you one more day to visit with out-of-town guests, relax after the excitement of your wedding day, and settle in as Mr. & Mrs. before you depart on your honeymoon, (or head back to work.)  It's just really nice to have an extra day to breathe and enjoy each other before the real world starts up again. 

Guest Count - To figure out how many people you're going to have, wave your magic wand, utter your incantation of choice, spin the dial on a clock, and multiply by 20.  Yes, it's that easy to figure it out.  The best formula I know of is to count everyone you're inviting, and figure that 80% will show up if most of them are in town and it's a good-weather time of year, but not too hot.  About 70% will show up if there are a lot of out-of-towners, if it's too hot, or if it's a bad-weather time of year.  If it's two or three you might get 60%.  Oh, and time of night makes a difference too.  Some people don't like to be out after dark.  Really, you just have to give it your best guess, make RSVP-ing easy, and then still contact the non-responders.  RSVP cards are good, but I think it's also helpful to include a phone number and especially an email address for them to respond to.  I wish there was a polite way to say, "RSVP if you want to eat."  I'll certainly post it here if I figure it out. 

Head Table - Our layout does not lend itself to a "head table" where the bridal party is all seated on one side of a long table facing the crowd.  We choose instead to put out a bridal party table on the edge of the dance floor.  Considering how little time you'll spend sitting down this table can seat up to 12 if you really like each other.  For groups of 100 or less we can put together two tables for roomier seating or bigger bridal parties.  Another good option is to seat the bride, groom, best man, maid of honor, & their dates at the bridal party table and reserve another table nearby for the rest of the bridal party, especially if they have significant others they'd like to sit with during the event.  We also have an intimate table for two for the bride & groom if that suits your style.  Toasts are generally done at the cake table, which we find works much better than doing them at a head table long since demolished by empty plates and cups. 

Hours & Time - Dance Street only books one event per day (unless it's a 5 hour "smaller event".)  Your time block can be anywhere from 10:00am to Midnight.  The Midnight to 1am hour is an additional $250.  Your time block is all inclusive and must allow for vendor set up & take down, your beverage & supply drop off, and your clean up (packing up gifts, leftovers, and any added decorations.)  The seven hour block generally breaks down into 2 hours for set up, 4 hours for the party, & 1 hour for clean up.  This seems to be just the right amount of time for most groups.  Remember, you've had a really long, exciting day & will probably be very ready to go by the end.  

Extra consecutive hours are available for $150 each.  Very few events ever need this, but it may be necessary if you plan on having any family members set up food, cake, or music, or if your ceremony is far away or fairly long.  Our 7 hour time block is based on a calculation that is driving time + ceremony = one hour (or less).  This is very reasonable when you consider our central location that is about 15 minutes from almost everywhere.  You may also need extra time if you plan on having friends do extensive additional decorating.  I repeat, though, this truly is rarely necessary.

The one instance where you MUST book the 12-1am hour is if you choose the 7:30pm ceremony at St. Al's.  From experience we know that this doesn't give you enough time for a decent reception without booking the extra time.  

DROP-OFF - We're happy to take in a bin with your toasting glasses, cake cutting set, guest book/signature mat/pen, favors, and cake plates/napkins/forks a few days before your reception.  It gives us peace of mind to have these smaller, important items already here so that we can get them arranged where they belong.

Music - WARNING:  Your DJ/MC can create a very memorable party for everyone or completely de-rail your wedding reception.  That probably sounds overly dramatic but it is nonetheless true.  Remember, it's more about someone conducting the reception than about the music he/she plays.  Please don't torture your friends and family with an unstructured reception.  People like to be told what's going on and when, and they don't like to sit for very long after dinner.  Your MC needs to announce your arrival, let people know when it's time to eat, when the toasts are about to happen, when to get cake, that you're about to do the first dance, etc.  The music master also needs to play appropriate dinner music at a conversational volume, and multi-generational dance music when it's time to dance.  Just because you only like 80s music does not mean your whole reception can thrive on it.  The music master is there to read the crowd and keep them entertained by playing a variety of fun music. 

Please do not hesitate to ask us to recommend a worthwhile DJ.  We provide this service ourselves for about 3 out of 5 events, but we're not necessarily right for everyone.  Talk to us to see if we're the best choice for you.  Almost all of the other quality DJs we know charge $750-$1000 (or more.)  Daunting, I know, but don't hamstring your beautiful reception by trying to save a couple hundred dollars on this element. 

You're welcome to hire almost any outside DJ or band (check with us first.)  The main rules they need to know are 1) no bubble machines and 2) NO DUCT TAPE!  The approved methods of securing cords are gaffer's tape or the blue "painter's" masking tape. 

Your musicians can arrive up to 2 hours before your first guests in order to set up and must shut down the music 1 hour before the end of your time block (or sooner if they have too much equipment to clear out within an hour.)   

Due to past experiences our music system is not available for anyone else's use. 

Bands are also welcome, but they take up a lot of space and are generally not suited to receptions over 125-150 people.  Make sure you ask whether they're equipped to act as MC as well as play music.  We've found that many bands don't know the first thing about making the necessary announcements or pacing the reception.  In that case you may want to appoint an articulate, outgoing friend to be the MC who takes care of such things.  Make sure the band is willing to let him/her use their microphone. 

Out of Town / Destination Weddings - We're here to help.  I've done one of these myself, and held enough here to know what special challenges you'll face.  We're happy to share all of our tips for making things go as smoothly as possible.

Pictures - Before or after?  Most couples are now choosing to do all of their formal pictures before the ceremony.  You'll still get that "first look" moment, it just won't be in front of all of your guests.  It actually gives you the option of having that moment be just between the two of you and your photographer.  It also allows your photographer to capture that moment with both of you in the picture instead of having to choose between you.  Taking your pictures before the ceremony lets you get all of the pictures you want without the stress of rushing through them to get to your reception, and allows you to fully enjoy the moment.  In our opinion, this is the way to go.  Just make sure you're on time!  Most photographers want 2 full hours of picture taking for medium sized groups: not-too-extended immediate families, 2-4 attendants on each side, plus a flower girl & ring bearer.

Rachel and Jake's "first look" moment - Summit Photography

Some couples are very set on the tradition of not seeing each other until she walks down the aisle.  Keep in mind that the bulk of your pictures (at least an hour's worth) will involve both of you, as well as family members and the bridal party.  This can be arranged, but in order to not sabotage your reception or your pictures, keep two things in mind:  feed & refresh your guests while they wait, and make sure your ceremony and reception are in two separate locations.  Why separate?  The well-wishing of your guests will keep you from getting your pictures taken if you stay in the same place for the ceremony, pictures, and reception.  The one exception would be summer weddings where you can disappear to nearby outdoor-picture areas (like Riverfront Park and the Arena grounds near the Dance Street Ballroom.) 

Reservations -  A $500 initial payment will secure your date with us and is non-refundable.  This is applied to your total bill.  The final payment and $500 damage/overtime deposit are due at least 15 days before your event.  There's an additional $200 damage deposit for chocolate fountains.  Dance Street does not accept debit or credit cards - sorry!  In case of a medical or military emergency, you may reschedule the same event for a new date which is within one year of your original date, excluding holidays as well as Saturdays from May-October.  Current rates will apply to rescheduled events.  Only one such rescheduling may take place.  Please understand that we only have so many dates available, and when someone cancels a date it is very rare to re-book it.  This is why your initial deposit is absolutely non-refundable.

Smoking - Dance Street is, and always has been, a non-smoking facility.  Smoking is permitted outdoors, 25 feet away from any entrance, as per the Washington Clean Indoor Air Act.   Please remember that smoking directly outside the doors is pointless - it still comes straight back inside the facility.  We appreciate it when you encourage your smoking friends and family to be considerate in this matter.   

Throwables -  Silly string, party poppers, and confetti are not allowed on the premises, indoors or out.  Rose petals and ribbon curls are fine inside, and bubbles or birdseed are fine outside.  These will be distributed when you are ready to depart.  Hand-held candles are fun outside after dark.  Sparklers sound fun but end up being more smoke than sparkle - which is not good for pictures.  They're also illegal in the city, FYI. 

We hope you found this information helpful, and if you think the Dance Street Ballroom event venue may be the perfect place for your Spokane reception then we look forward to hearing from you and giving you a tour.  Thanks for reading this far!

Amanda Hansen
Owner
 

PREFERRED CATERERS & DJs

WEDDING BUDGET PLANNER

HELPFUL PLANNING LINKS

The Dance Street Ballroom   433 W. Dean Ave., Spokane, WA    509•326•9545    amanda@dancestreetballroom.com


Keep in mind that who you choose for your wedding vendors can have a huge impact on your day.  Choose people who's work you appreciate and admire, but whom you also like.  You'll be working very closely with certain ones, including your hairdresser, photographer, DJ, caterer, and facility coordinator, and whether you like them or not will contribute to your overall feelings and memories of that day.  We hope you enjoy planning this once-in-a-lifetime event, and that you choose people who will help you build wonderful memories!

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