Bride wows new wife with Beyoncé-inspired dance routine at their reception

A talented bride prepared for months to surprise his new wife at their wedding reception with a showstopping performance inspired on Beyoncé. Janessa Cox stole the spotlight with her 4-minute medley, and her wife couldn’t take her eyes off her.

Surprising your significant other and guests at the wedding reception is a trend that has given the internet lots of hilarious, emotional, and exciting videos, and this African American couple joined that list.

Janessa Cox works as the Head of Diversity and Inclusion at Alliance Bernstein, leading investment management and research firm. She didn’t have any official training in dancing and had never performed in front of an audience, but she wanted to make her wedding night even more unforgettable for his wife, Lanaya Irvin.

To do that, Cox had to swear a few friends to secrecy and enlist choreographer Shirlene Quigley to help her create the perfect routine. Quigley has worked with the Queen B herself, and also Rihanna, Missy Elliot, Jamie Foxx and more.

“I rehearsed twice a week for three months with the amazing choreographer, Shirlene Quigley,” Cox told Essence. And continued:

“She knew she was not working with a professional dancer, but instead, an untrained Wall Streeter so put together a 4-minute routine that fit my skill set. I worked with Shirlene to hire four of the most phenomenal dancers who honestly just killed it and kept assuring me that I could do this.”

THE PERFORMANCE

In the middle of her reception, Cox snuck away to change her gorgeous wedding dress for a sequin silver jersey dress with her new last name, Irvin, and the number 21 on it. She completed the look with knee-high boots and large hoop earrings.

Lanaya was seating on a chair in the middle of the dance floor while Cox showed the result of her hard work in front of their family and friends, dancing to three iconic Beyoncé’s songs. The bride explained why she chose those exact songs, saying:

“I chose three songs for the medley that I felt told a cheeky story about relationship progression: ‘Diva’ because every woman is fabulous in her own way and that was like single me. ‘Upgrade You’ because this should happen in any healthy relationship and that’s what happened when we were dating then. ‘Love On Top’ because when all is said on done, love should always prevail and that’s what happened when I married my wife.”

In the end, Cox and Lanaya danced, hugged and kissed in the middle of the dance floor alongside their guests, and according to Cox, that was just the start of the party.

ANOTHER FLAWLESS ROUTINE

Another beautiful bride that surprised her husband on her wedding reception was Melissa Molinaro. A former singer, dancer and former contestant of the reality show “Pussycat Dolls Present: The Search for the Next Doll,” she’s no strange to the spotlight or the dance floor.

Molinaro and her bridesmaids turned dancers donned embroidered Stello bodysuits as they performed a medley of Lil Mo’s “4ever” and Beyoncé’s “Upgrade U” and “End of Time.” The confident bride revealed that her husband Bryan loves to see her perform, so she knew she had to prepare a surprise dance for him.

“I spent almost five months planning and preparing with my choreographer Brinn Nicole and my talented girlfriends, Jamie Lee Ruiz, Penelope Vazquez, Aylia Janell, and Candice Craig,” she said.

The 7-minutes routine has been watched over 13million times on YouTube, and there’s no doubt Melissa upgraded the bar of wedding performances.