Reception Dancing

Know your audience, and therefore the music. Your DJ makes it or breaks it with this.

For instance, the DJ for the wedding on Saturday hardly played anything you could physically dance to.

I really and truly believe you set the tone for the evening. Get up and dance away. People love to be up close and celebrate with the bride and groom, if you're on the dancefloor chances are, a good number of your guests will be too.

That's my understanding anyways, every wedding i've been to has always had a packed dancefloor, to the point where people spill out past the dancefloor and dance by tables. Each time the bride and groom, or even their bridal party, has been on the dancefloor.

Honestly...a good dj/emcee is key. They should be able to get people up and keep them dancing with good music and personality.

Example: My sister's wedding, the dj SUCKED. No one was dancing. My aunt took over the mic (who is also a dj) and within minutes, because of her charisma, everyone danced the rest of the night.

Have you discussed this with your DJ? Getting people up and dancing is their job. I didn't really have to worry about it at my wedding because the dancing was in another room and people had to get up and move. I have been to weddings where the DJ uses an icebreaker to get people up and moving.

You need a really good DJ. Ours was great at reading the crowd. We gave him a few pointers (modern country, some late 80's/early 90's pop) but he realized some people stood up for other genres and kept playing them. Talk to your DJ and find out what kind of music library he has.

Diana makes a good point. After the first dances I stayed in the dance floor and kept dancing, and sometimes when I went back to the dance floor people kind of followed me. Which is weird because this never happens in normal life, lol. Guess being the bride does make a difference somehow.

DJ.

Our dance floor was packed the entire time.

He also worked with our reception timeline and broke it up so people were more inclined to be out there, ie, first dance, then dance set. Then parent dances, then dance set.

This is my fear, so you bet I’ll follow this thread closely. I’m not a natural dancer, unless you throw me into a mosh pit. The only thing I can rely on is that his relatives will absolutely pack the dance floor when we play Greek music.

Perhaps a good approach, as @ is to know your audience. If it’s a mostly older crowd, is there a genre of music you think they would prefer? 80’s disco? 60’s London? 40’s war time scoot? Are there aspects of their musical tastes that would keep you dancing too?

You could also weigh that against what the younger crowd might be interested in, and talk with your DJ about timing. For example, after dinner with a slightly older, sentimental musical set followed by a progressively more up-beat, fast-dancing set? And then as the night gets longer, and older folks start to meander out, change it up to a more club-like feel if that’s what keeps your guests moving.

Definitely have these conversations with a DJ. Put together a list of music you and your fiancé enjoy. Talk to parents and family throughout the next months. Put a line on your RSVP of their favorite song recommendation? Are there specific songs that you and your friends dance to no matter what? Play those. Definitely play those.

I’m saying all of these things to myself too; notes for future conversations. ?

Our DJ is a friend, he actually also Dj'd the wedding I referred to in my post. He is a professional and does DJ for a living. He was playing good music...but everyone was just eating, talking or enjoying the photobooth. We will definitely have a conversation with him and let him know our expectations. He is a pretty personable guy, so hopefully he will be able to keep people on the dance floor.

This is why we viewed our DJ as reception insurance. DH and I love EDM, and we put a bunch of EDM on our playlist. But DJ didn't play hardly any of it, because he was good at reading the crowd and knew what to play to keep the party going. We are glad he skipped the EDM (although I did go up and tell him to play a couple of my favorites) and that we had a super fun dance party because of his professional experience.

Most of the "older guests" are young at heart (thankfully) so I am hoping getting them on the dancefloor, if even for a little while, won't be too terribly difficult. I will add "Song Requests" on my wedding wire wedding website. Thanks for the suggestions! you ladies rock

I second the really good DJ. I thought ours was great and the dance floor was full from the second the bridal dances were over until it was time to leave for the night.

@ Rebecca I was just going to say the same thing haha

Our DJ is a friend, he actually also Dj'd the wedding I referred to in my post. He is a professional and does DJ for a living. He was playing good music...but everyone was just eating, talking or enjoying the photobooth.

Sorry, but then he's not a good DJ. He can do this for a living and play great music, but unless he understands flow, has the MC capabilities to be enticing but not cheesy, and gets how the beat affects the night.... he's not a real professional.

What do you consider on the "older" side? I know one of the things that really gets my parents dancing (they're in their 60s) is Motown.

@M I hear what you are saying, but it was a Noon wedding with alot older crowd like 50s and above, and I have no idea what conversations the bride and groom had with him prior to the wedding. So I won't judge him off of that wedding alone. He did also do my best friend's wedding 4 years ago and their was no problem getting people to dance then, but it was also a much younger crowd and the groom was a party animal. So perhaps it is a combo of the DJ, guests and the bride and groom themselves.

You need to be on the dance floor all night. People will only dance if you do!

I'm nervous about this too! I am making sure that my DJ plays music from all decades 40's-present. Our first dance song is from the 50's and we love music from 40's-60's so I want to make sure there is music everyone will know, not just current club hits.

Hire a good DJ and have fun friends. Our DJ was awesome and a couple of my best friends hit the floor with his first "Dance" song (ABC, 123) and it was then packed the rest of the night.

Here's what I've seen keeps the floor full-- the bride and groom out there, shaking what they got, avoiding slower songs (even couples will often ditch, rather than do the 'slow spin'), have the Dreaded Group Dances-- Hokey Pokey, Chicken Dance, Macarena, etc. Yes, they're cheesy, but everyone knows them, everyone can do them, and everyone looks silly so no one feels foolish.

I'm including a song request section on my RSVP cards. Our DJ said this helps him get an early read on the crowd and have lots of songs at the ready.