Empty Dance Floor Dread

I was at a friends wedding two weekends ago and she was worried about the same thing. She told her bridesmaids that their only "duty" at the reception was to make sure people were on the dance floor at all times after dessert and it worked like a charm! It was very fun and I may suggest the same thing to my bridesmaids for my wedding. :-)

^^ Yikes!

2. I would have never let our DJ take requests. He is extremely experienced, and I hardly wanted him to break from the Dance set because Aunt Mildred wanted to play "We are Family". Just because one person wants it, does not mean it's the right choice for the moment in the night.

5. If you want everyone on the dance floor, you end your first dance with another slightly slow song, have your DJ ask everyone to join you, and then go into a fast song. Our entire floor was packed within 60 seconds. It was like magic.

If you have a good, experienced DJ, this will not happen. They know how to read a room and when to turn up the music and when to turn it down. Hire a pro and relax.

Our dj said he will take what we want into consideration but will work off the feel of the room. If people aren't digging what we request, he will change it up to get them excited. I love this

I know many people here don't like line dances like the Cupid shuffle, grape vine, wobble, etc, but I think it is such a fun way to all come together out on the dance floor! It gets the average person who doesn't wanna dance outta their chair.

If the bride and groom are on the dance floor people usually dance. I work a lot of weddings and I would say that this is the biggest factor between full dance floors and empty ones.

I do, Natalie. There will be line dancing lol.

Our DJ was amazing and our crowd was dancing all night. The DJ really carries the party, so I recommend investing in a good one.

I have this fear too because we are having a brunch wedding. But we are having a good DJ and MC, an open bar, and lots of guests who like to dance. So it will all sort itself out...I hope. lol

Open bar, good music. And YOU and your FH/DH need to dance too! If you dance, your guests will dance. The only weddings I've been to that had an empty dance floor it was because the bride and/or groom weren't dancing!!

I don't know why folks are so invested in making sure people dance. I don't like to dance, and am capable of having fun doing other things. Why do we insist that everyone must have fun in the exact way we plan for them too?

Have your MC pull you and FH onto the dance floor and say into the microphone hey everyone lets come gather around the bride and groom for a toast blah blah blah and then que music and bam! everyone is already on the dance floor

ETA: Don't say 'dance' or 'dance floor'

Not trying to be devil's advocate but everyone doesn't like to dance. I did when I was younger and would go out drinking and dancing all the time, like multiple times a week and would dance my ass off at weddings and everything. I'm not even an old person, I'm 31, but since like 26, I just don't have any fun dancing and I don't want to! I will have a drink and chat with people and be happy. My fiancé is the same so we are doing karaoke instead of dancing at our wedding. The reason I'm saying this is don't take it personally if you see "me" sitting and talking at your wedding. And please don't make me dance! I wouldn't make you sing if you were at my wedding.

I agree with Sarcastibride and Alice, the reception is not a failure just because you don't have every single guest on the dance floor the whole night. So many people are just happy to see each other and visit, and there will always be dud songs no matter the DJ. If you really want to dance your butt off at your wedding, you will, regardless of how many people are out there with you. Have fun!

Yep totally depends on DJ. We had an awesome DJ and dance floor was packed. You and DH won't have time to encourage people to dance so DJ takes over the party. They have to keep the tempo and music going so that it doesn't stop and people sit down. Yes you'll always have some who don't want to dance but lots do. Also let people make requests. I cannot stress having a good DJ enough. And I agree with get out and dance at least at the beginning. Everyone wanted a chance to dance with or near the bride and groom

@m.m, #5 is such a great idea! I'm totally going to do that!

Our DJ asked everyone to go to the dance floor to take a last group photo. After taking about 5 pictures, he started playing Uptown Funk and everyone just started dancing. It was definitely a great trick to get people to start dancing. After that it's just good song selection to get people to stay

If you And or your husband are on the dance floor others will get up and dance too.

@Beverly - that is very smart. I love that! I'm going to bring that up to the DJ!

I worried about this too because I worried about everything leading up to the wedding, but it was great! The highlight was absolutely the dance-off between my six-year-old cousin and FIL, but the DJ was key (and the open bar didn't hurt!).

I also worried about people leaving early but I'd say about 85-90% of the crowd was still there at the end of the reception - it really was a great night and a testament to the DJ.