Dancefloors - Top Tips
It should first be said that although these tips will help a party be the best it can be, I have shot some absolute ragers with a small bluetooth speaker in a bright room! You don’t NEED these things to have a good party, but they will help.
Time/Lighting
One of the biggest factors in having a good evening party is the light. If it is still light and warm outside, people will likely congregate and chat out there. This is inescapable for midsummer weddings but having the first dance a bit later on can help.
Additionally, the dance floor needs to be dark. This is SO important! People aren’t generally keen on throwing shapes if everyone can see them. It is also worth checking what lighting the DJ/Band/Venue has since lasers and spinning lights can make it feel more lively!
Guests
The amount of people at the wedding, and their age, can make a biiig difference. If you are having a smaller wedding, you could always invite more to the evening to bulk out the dance floor.
Space
The space is so crucial to how busy the dance floor can be. If the space is large then you can have a lot of people up but it can still look and feel empty. People are far more likely to join the dance floor if it looks busy! If your evening room is on the larger side, consider ways that you might be able to partition it, potentially with tables or dividers.
Music Choice
Another huge factor is music choice. A good live band is always great for getting people up and moving, especially earlier on on the night. DJ’s are fab too though, especially as you have more control over what is played.
If you are worried about catering for everyone, you can always play some classic, middle of the road, tracks earlier and go a bit heavier later on!
Disco Fuel
Now to the obvious one - alcohol! Now I am a big advocate of not needing booze to get wavy on the dance floor, but it does seem to help a lot of people loosen up a bit! While forcing people to drink is generally considered unethical, you could always have the wedding favours be alcoholic or have a free bar earlier on.
Evening Food
Consider when your evening food is being served and what it is. If you have a band, evening food is usually served when they finish their first set. People tend to be less keen to slide back on the the dance floor when they have just eaten so do consider this. Smaller bites like pasties or some pizza always go down a storm and can be served quickly.
Make It Sparkle
Having disco accessories can bring out a festival vibe! A glitter station is always a good choice - people can’t not have fun when they are looking fabulous! A fancy dress station is also always a great source of fuel for dancefloor antics.
Bonus Pro Tip
Have a first dance song where it starts slower and transitions into something faster and upbeat. This will bring more people up straight away. There are lots of custom made edits out there that you can find for this!
Alternatively, leave tradition behind and go to something more upbeat to start with - the times where I have seen this have been some of the best first dances!