5 Secrets to Get Your Guests Dancing

1. Get Them Comfortable: When guests first start arriving at your event, they might not recognize all your family and friends. Being in an unfamiliar environment is a common problem that you will want to address. A unique way to break the ice is to incorporate a interactive routine during cocktail hour and/or dinner. Widely used games include guests singing love songs to have the bride and groom kiss, scavenger hunts, and secret identity cards. These are just some examples of way that you can help your guests become comfortable. As your guests become more relaxed with others, it will become easier for them to enjoy the evening.

2. Get Them Moving: During the dinner portion, guests often quiet down due to a lack of physical movement. The consumption of food and liquor also decreases the amount of adrenaline pumping through your guests. As you have probably figured out, this is something you want to avoid in the early stages of dancing.

A great way to prevent slow-poke guests is to increase their endorphins and to encourage a sense of ease. One of the best things about being the guest of honor, is that you are in COMPLETE control! You can tell your family and friends what to do. Since this is a celebration, what better instruction than to dance? Really let’s think about it, the worst thing that can happen is that they might have a little bit of fun. One of the reasons we encourage you to summon up close relatives to strut their moves on the dance floor is security in numbers. We all know that feeling of not wanting to be the first person on the dance floor. As a matter of fact, you can even create a snowball dance to break the ice with guests. Basically have everyone break apart and find somebody new sitting down. This multiplies your dance floor, which always lead to a positive outcome.

How to Get Guests Dancing

3. Get Them Vibing: Once the party starts, you may want to be the initiator to get people going. This might be a dance-off, mock-rock sing along, party train, hustle, huddled circle. Audience interaction is key for a successful event. This includes 3 steps anticipation, hype, and participation. First you anticipate what guests want and who you will get involved. Second you hype the activity to get more people involved (remember security in numbers). Finally, you participate yourself! Have you ever heard the saying, “what’s good for the goose is good for the gander”? It could never be so true, so take the lead and help your guests create the atmosphere. You might just be surprised with what guests start initiating themselves.

Music is a great way to create the vibe you desire. Just imagine everyone singing Queen – Bohemian Rhapsody at the top of their lungs, then dancing along to the lyrics of Journey – Don’t Stop Believing. These are just some of the many heavy hitters that people immediately identify with. The music will greatly influence the tone and style of your party. Your emcee might instruct your crowd to lift their napkins above their heads and move them to the beat of the music as they sing together. Once your guests start vibing, taking care of your typical event formalities will be a breeze.

4. Play Music They Like: People are creatures of habit, and they want to dance to music they requested. What is popular with one age group might turn off another. This is why it is important for your entertainment to mix in a variety of music genres. It will be easier for them to accommodate the majority of your crowd, once again giving you security in numbers. If your DJ does things right, then those that are dancing to Bee Gees will stick around for Usher. What better way to anticipate your guests requests than with an online request system. This kills two birds with one stone, because a majority of songs that they request might make it on your must play list.

5. Don’t Forget The Older Guests: Remember to have a couple of slower/classic songs dedicated to your older family. They took the time to celebrate this important day with you, so why not dance to some songs that were big back in their day?Since your older crowd is usually the first to leave, it doesn’t hurt to have several songs geared towards their demographic. You want to make sure that they stay long enough to enjoy the night right up to the last song. If you time it correctly, your dance floor will stay packed. There is always time for the top 40 format later in the evening. Trust me, you’ll be surprised at just how many of their songs pack your dance floor. Some classic examples are James Brown, Dion, Beatles, Elvis, and The Temptations.

Click to view our AMAZING list of Top 200 Songs