Is 100 guests enough to have an awesome reception?

Agree with others that how "fun" a reception is depends most on the people invited, and then on a great DJ who keeps everyone engaged, (and, personally, free-flowing alcohol helps a lot in my experience). Daughter's target was always 100 guests. They invited a total of 127, knowing that several international and out-of-state guests would likely decline. We had exactly 101 acceptances. With great friends & family, an awesome DJ, and plenty of adult beverages, the dance floor was packed all night. Often, it was just one big group dancing together with anyone and everyone around them, and lots of singing along with fun, familiar music. Daughter & SIL didn't do a send-off (they didn't want to break up the night and wanted to be the last ones at their own party). After three different "last songs" played for a full dance floor, their guests reluctantly said good-bye at the official end of the night. It took 30 minutes past the ending time to get everyone to leave.... By all accounts, theirs was an incredibly FUN wedding! Good luck!

I always dreamed of a really big wedding but unfortunately part of my family had a falling out a few years back so that took off a chunk, some of my husband's family got distant with each other so we originally thought we'd invite a bunch of family friends, co-workers and family of family that we knew to raise the number of guest but then we were slapped in the face with the reality of how much weddings actually cost so we couldn't invite allll of those people. So the huge wedding we always dreamed of was going to be more of a 100 person wedding. Yes I know, many brides think that's a lot, but I feel like that's small. We invited 143 people and 103 came (a lot of my husband's family declined). I had the same concern about the wedding being fun especially since the venue we chose had a huge dance floor that can fit 200 people so I knew it would look empty, which it did but honestly, I had the BEST time. We had a buffet style wedding with a ton of food, which guests LOVED especially the ones that aren't fans of dancing. I'd say probably about 40-50 guests were consistently on the dance floor which was a little disappointing but I got to see and be close to everyone that was on the dance floor I have the best memories from it! I actually feel like I had more special moments because there were less people. So I know how you feel right now, but I promise everything will turn out better than you ever imagined!!!

View Quoted Comment I second this! I bartended all through college and ive seen ppl have more fun with 15 or 20 than sometimes when it was packed! Its the ppl, not the number. We will have between 40 and 60 guests and i can guarantee it will be a blast.

I really think it depends on your crowd. I've been to 50 person parties that have been super fun & an awesome party. I've been to larger ones that weren't as exciting. I think it's more dependent on crowd, DJ, food, and drinks than anything.

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Thank you for sharing this! We both have families out of the country as well that can not make it, but I am specially close to mine. Unfortunately, it's just impossible for them to fly to the US. We are both Asian and in Asian culture, people expect it to be huge. And just like your venue, ours has a big dance floor too. I already know that this is something I shouldn't be worrying about, but sometimes, I just can't help it. But anyway, I really appreciate your encouraging words!

We're looking at something similar to you! I plan to tell my bridal party "if the dance floor gets low get on there and bring people back".

Another thing one of my BM's said is that because we have a smaller dance floor it will feel packed the whole time. So see what you can do about your dancefloor, if it's a huge wooden floored ballroom it might not feel as packed. So try and make sure your venue size matches your guest size.

Don't worry about it though. You don't need 200+ people to have a fun reception. You need good music and a fun bride and groom

We had an awesome DW with 15 fun guests, and a fabulous local dinner & dance reception with 50! 100 is a huge wedding in my opinion.

Just an idea, if you have a venue that is a lot bigger than your guest list (we did) group your areas together so all the action happens in a smaller space (bar, dessert take, dance floor). Our winery venue was massive so we put everything close to the vineyards (best view and the perfect spot for the dance floor & band stage). We made the band/dance floor the focus and put cocktail tables then dining tables there. The walk to the winery/restrooms was further away but that kept our party feeling connected & intimate. 🎉

I only have 60 guest

I attended a wedding this past April (on a a Thursday!) Which had roughly 75 to 80 guests. The dance floor was always going and we all had a great time! It was great!

100 is pretty large already and even if it wasn't alot, I am sure it'll be fun anyway

View Quoted Comment I agree we do worry about the weirdest things. I was worried about the same thing and I told my DJ that I have this fear that my wedding will be boring just because his family and mine are from different cultural backgrounds. He assured me that will not be the case😂

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Love your pictures. I hope everyone dances & enjoys themselves at ours like this!

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I am the same. I worry way too much. I want people to feel our wedding is an important function that they want to be a part of & celebrate with us. I have decided though, that we will focus on who is there & not on who isn't. And the other lady is correct, who is there & their personalities are what makes a fun reception. I hope you have a BLAST & everyone shows up.

View Quoted Comment My feelings exactly. We invited 137 people. I knew a lot would not be able to make it, due to it being in a different state. We were hoping for 75 or less so that we can get rid of one tent and get to face the way we wanted for the ceremony. We ended up at 73 🙌🙌

Just make sure everyone on the guest list is important and someone you couldn't imagine not having on your day. everyone i invited is fun and i left off the people i feel that we would have to keep an eye on throughout the night to make sure they're having fun. the right people will make it an unforgettable night but don't forget the #1 reason you're having a wedding. all that matters is you and your hubby

We had about 80 guests, only 20 of which were our friends, the rest were family members. We were also worried our wedding wouldn't be fun just because we weren't sure how our crowd is like at a wedding... I was SO wrong. It turned out so much better than we expected! We had a great DJ, great music and people were packing the dance floor all night! When the dance floor cleared off at a certain point, one of my bridesmaids went up to request Sweet Caroline, and people flocked to the dance floor to sing that song together. We also had an open bar, so that helped to make it fun for others who needed a little more help haha

We just attended a 150 guest wedding recently and we didn't have that much fun at the wedding. I'm sure the other guests did though because the dance floor was pretty full all night too! But the music wasn't our taste, we didn't know how to dance to it. So as long as you know what your crowd likes to listen to or your DJ can read your crowd.

Absolutely! The number does not matter at all. We had #104 guest we all had a blast.

So we invited about 180 people, and only about 75 came, and we still had an absolute blast! I was worried about the number as well, but I don't think there was a single song where there wasn't at least one couple on the dance floor.

I hope so we are only inviting 50 or 60

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That was a huge decline number. But I'm so glad it worked out for you!