After being a too many weddings than I can count, as well as private parties, club venues and so on, it’s become very clear to me that the size of the dance floor has a huge impact on getting people to dance, and stay there.
I have fond memories of friends having 18th birthday parties in massive halls and local YMCA clubs that would suit a 1000 person party, not 50 people. And I’m sure you have experienced similar.
I need to make things very clear, each wedding is different, every person is unique. So there is nothing anyone can do to guarantee people are going to get up and dance. And for a lot of people, that’s fine.
A wedding should be about a celebration with your friends and family. So if people are dancing then great – but if they aren’t then just enjoy the night anyway and don’t get caught up on it and let it ruin the idea of how things should or shouldn’t be going.
But coming back to the size of the dance floor – it really seems that the smaller the better.
Having a large dance floor or “dancing area” where people are meant to be dancing is great, if there are enough people to fill it.
But if there’s not – often it can have an impact regardless of the music, or any other factors, because in a nutshell – most people get subconscious if they think people are looking at them when they dance.
Unless plenty of alcohol is involved, the vast majority of people are going to be self conscious when it comes to dancing. Even though dance has occurred since the dawn of humans evolution.
The more space, the more subconscious people usually feel. Simple right.
However on the flip side, too small of an area is going to have anyone cramped and maybe hot.
So of course there is a fine line.
But in terms of the dance floor or dancing area – I have found from my many years of DJing and partying experience that a more smaller, more compact and more confined area will always work the best.
And also think about this from a psychological stand point – if you couldn’t “get onto the dance floor”, you are more likely to want to be there.
Also let’s consider this… conservative estimates would suggest that around 40-50% of your guests are going to be dancing at any one time. There is a mixed bag of people and ages, so it’s unrealistic to think EVERYONE will be up there. Perhaps at the start, but it will always drop off.
So if you have 100 guests, there’s probably going to be about 40-50 guests dancing at the PEAK.
Factoring in the space of your dancing area can be a really smart move when it comes to trying to maximise the efforts by your DJ with the music, and to help ensure people feel comfortable getting up and dancing.
The goal of your wedding should be about people feeling comfortable, and having a good time. So regardless of whether its 20 people, or 200 people dancing – if you can help them be comfortable, and not self conscious….. you will undoubtedly put them in a good position to get up and have a boogie.
With Simply Entertainment though, you are in great hands with Perth’s best Wedding DJ companies.
And cheers to that!
