Three Things You Need to Do to Prevent a Ho-Hum Wedding Dance Floor
There’s a reason so many weddings still include a dance party at the end of the night…dance parties feel celebratory! On the other hand, there’s not much more depressing than a big, empty dance floor at a wedding, while a DJ or band plays on in the corner, doing their best to bring people to the dance floor, without much success.
After a decade of photographing weddings of so many shapes and sizes, I’ve picked up a few pointers about what makes for good dance floors. Couples who understand these tips tend to have great dance floors even if they’re not huge die-hard dancers themselves.
On the other hand, if I’m at a wedding with a lackluster dance floor, it’s almost always because one of these three rules wasn’t followed.
A packed, high-energy dance party makes for WAY better pictures than a ho-hum dance floor! With that in mind, here are three tips from your friendly local wedding photographer on how to keep your dance floor crowded and energetic.
#1: Couple, stay on the dance floor yourselves!
It sounds so obvious once you say it out loud: your guests want to be where you are. If you are both on the dance floor, your guests will be, too! Conversely, if you’re elsewhere striking up a conversation, or at the bar, or anywhere else other than the dance floor, so will be your guests.
A good rule of thumb is to spend the first 3 songs straight on the dance floor, and then to return frequently throughout the night when you take breaks.
While you’re at it, once you’re headed to the dance floor, actively pull guests out to join you.
“Come dance with me!” from the person who just got married is a hard invitation to refuse, for at least a song or two, even for people who aren’t diehard dancer. So actively invite people to join you, and set expectations with your friends beforehand that a crowded dance floor is something you want, so they know they should join you on the dance floor right away.
If you’re a wedding guest or in a friend’s wedding party, think about the vibe the couple wants for the wedding, and if it includes a good dance party, get out on the dance floor yourself. Bring your friends and date, and if you notice the dance floor flagging, get back out there after your water break! Helping the couple keep the energy high on the dance floor is one of the easiest ways as a guest to contribute to a wonderful wedding day.
#2: Don’t interrupt OR COMPETE WITH the dance party once it has started.
Once you’ve gotten the dance party started, it’s easiest to keep it going rather than having to get it started up again. Often, it’s couples’ instinct to space activities out evenly throughout the reception for their guests. But in fact, guests usually prefer activities (toasts, speeches, etc.) grouped together, so that during un-programmed time, such as dinner or the dance party, guests can let loose and amp up the energy level, without feeling like they have to stop-and-start-and-stop their celebrating.
First, if you can, schedule traditions like cake cutting for before the dance party kicks off, as opposed to say, 30 minutes into the dance party.
In addition, limit the number of big extended family or friend-group photos scheduled for during the dance party. Pulling too many college friends, for example, off the dance floor for a group photo will empty out the dance floor. Do these photos during cocktail hour, or try to limit it to 1-2 smaller group combinations if you just can’t help yourselves!
#3 Keep the dance floor small to keep the energy high.
The key to a high energy, FUN dance floor (which bonus: photographs well!) is for it to feel crowded! Be intentional with the size of your dance floor, and keep it in proportion to your guest count to make it feel that way.
From what a I’ve learned from planners, ~3 square feet of dance floor per guest is the ideal target… yes, when you do the math, that’s less space than you might have thought.
So for example, at a 100-guest wedding, you’d ideally want ~300 square feet of dance floor, which could look like 18’ x 18’, or 15’ x 10’, or even 30’ x 10’. Just because your venue has the room to have a big dance floor doesn’t mean you should have one. Stop oversizing your dance floors, my lovelies!
If you’re able, also keep the dance floor relatively close to the bar—a perennially-crowded locale at any wedding. Keeping these two together will make it easier for you and your guests to step out to grab a quick drink (or drink of water) and return quickly to dancing.
BonuS Tip: Take requests ahead of time
Most DJs I’ve worked with collaborate with their couple ahead of time on what kind of music should be played, requests, and other important details. Bands often have set lists of what they can play. Pay attention to these in the planning process, and actively communicate to your DJ or band that you want a busy dance floor! At our own wedding, at our DJ’s suggestion, we asked our guests on our RSVP website, “What song(s) will get you on the dance floor?” and except for a few outliers that weren’t our vibe, we used those requests as the core of our DJ’s playlist. It worked so well, and together with a smaller dance floor space, we had a high energy party until the very last song.
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