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4 Ways To Keep The Dance Floor Full At Your Reception

02 January 2017

One of the biggest goals of your night is for everyone to have fun and to keep your dance floor nice and packed. Every time I sit down with a couple, their biggest concern is to keep everyone on their feet and dancing all night long. How do you ensure your guests are going to have fun and dance all night? 

Your DJ Needs To Be In Control
At Mike Bills Entertainment, you are hiring an experienced wedding DJ and MC and your cost includes consultations, where that might be in person or online. You are created an online portal to begin creating your ideal playlist. This list will include all your favorite songs and genres of music you'd like to hear and more importantly the DO NOT PLAY LIST. Be also thinking about music that your mom and dad and family and other guests like too.

dj in control of music

A professional wedding DJ will then take this list and make adjustments as needed as they read the crowd. So let your DJ take control of your playlist. You can place a "No Requests" moratorium  on the evening as well if you are really particular about your music. This avoids the silly drunken requests, as well as the requests that 8 year olds are going to approach  the DJ booth with. You know, those silly requests, that if played will be train wreck like "Iron Man" by Black Sabbath or that annoying "Friday" song by Rebecca Black.

The Location Of Your Bar
Get with your planner or venue director / caterer / bar service to discuss the layout of the reception so that it is friendly with your guests. Make sure that they set up your bar as close to the dance floor as possible. Most venues do offer diagrams of the most common configurations of current and past receptions. If your guests have to walk to the other side of the room to get a drink, it makes it way tougher to keep the dance floor full. Also, be sure to keep your DJ away from the bar!

location of bar at wedding near dance floor

Proper Timing Of The Evening

Wedding receptions are built on an increase in energy and momentum. The lowest point (less energetic) part of the evening begins at cocktail hour / dinner and steadily increases until the peak hour before the end of the night. All speeches and toast (if done at the reception itself) need to be done before dinner is over. Then, it's full speed to get dancing ramped up without ANY delays in the momentum. Starting and stopping the music makes it more difficult to get people out on the dance floor. Be sure to discuss this concern your wedding planner or coordinator. If you are not hiring a planner or coordinator and are doing things yourself, I can help you script a basic timeline for the evening.

The Bride And Groom Need To Dance

The chances for a packed dance floor dramatically increased when the bride and groom are fairly active out on the dance floor. Your aunt you haven't seen in 20 years might be tugging at your arm to talk or your photographer might be pulling you aside for that sunset picture, and those 125 other guests might want to talk to you; but please get out on the dance floor and have some fun. In most instances, when you book me as your wedding DJ the music you select is all about you. Even if you are not big dancers get out there for a few songs so we can build the crowd and get that floor packed for the night.

bride groom packed dance floor

I have plenty more advice for you on wedding music and dancing. Click HERE for more tips or Click HERE to contact me about bookings and consultation