New York Times Wedding Announcement of the Week

One of the many skills I wish I were more adept at is dancing. Yes, I can sway and move to the music, but there's nothing like watching dancers who know what they're doing. Sadly my body just isn't very dance-friendly. This week's couple's meet-cute was on the dance floor.

Rachel Dinkes and Jason Hoffman

Both inveterate swing dancers, they had gone dancing in November 2004, he alone, she with two female friends, at Glen Echo Park, a national park on the Potomac Palisades near Bethesda that has a ballroom with a 7,500-square-foot dance floor.

Ms. Dinkes asked a man she knew from JDate to dance with her, but because he had already promised someone else, he declined. Mr. Hoffman had been watching from afar but could not hear the explanation. “That was a dancing faux pas,” he said. “The rules are that if you turn someone down, you have to wait out the dance to dance with anyone else.”

I looked it up, and it appears that is the classical etiquette. It does make sense. You can't say no to someone and then all of a sudden be dancing with someone else, but in Ms. Dinkes'JDate case, it probably isn't faux pas, hence "perceived breach of etiquette."

Apart from that, I'm surprised that the first date would be an office holiday party. I'm not sure that would be the ideal place for a first date. However, if you're sure of yourself you've pretty much guaranteed a roomful of people to vouch for your qualifications as an ideal mate. Still, maybe it's just me, I wouldn't want my first date to be in front of friends and family.

I also wanted to point out the sweet little coda used by the writer of this announcement. It was a nice touch to end it with the deferred walk and the proposal. This was a sweet little announcement.

Congrats to the happy couple!