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Forum: General Discussion

Sujet: Attention Wedding DJs: Need Help To Get People Dancing

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Good day everyone. I need some help/ideas from the Virtual DJ Community.
I have been a wedding DJ for 8 years now and sometimes you get a wedding where the guests just don't wish to dance.
It's not the music that's causing the problem - the same gets played at another wedding and it simply rocks!

But for some reason at small weddings (50 - 70) the guests tend not to dance. No matter what genre I play.
only at 10 or 11 in the evening will some of the younger guests start to dance on Top 40. Come on, it a wedding not a funeral - everyone should be having a good time.

I want to know what other wedding djs are doing to get their crowd on the dance floor and let them stay there.
I've been thinking of playing drinking games (giving each guest 2 shots of tequila) so that they can get the party started.
I need a 'purple cow' that will differentiate me from the other DJs in my city.
Some of the other DJs are charging double my fee and I'm sure they are also struggling with the above mentioned problem.

Please, all wedding djs, what can I do to ensure that the party doesn't die at 11pm.
Any comments are welcome! Please assist!

Thanks guys!
 
Posté Sun 13 Mar 11 @ 12:41 am
Personally I hate typical wedding music, that is why I usually do not dance. However you said "no matter what genre you play" so I really have no suggestions. I guess sometimes people are not in the mood or embarrassed. Perhaps engage yourself like having a dance-off for the singles or something similar.
 
Some weddings/gigs are just like that and there is not a lot you can do about it. I always try to seek out the "fun" people at any party and try to interact with them and get them up dancing in hopes that more will follow. Nobody wants to be the first on the dance floor and have every one watch them unless they just love being the center of attention. I personaly would not recomend drinking games (unless you're at a bar) you are the DJ not the bartender. I have heard some DJs bring dancers with them. People that love to dance and are good at it. Pay them say $50.00 to be at the reception for a couple of hours and just dance, and with your help encourage others to dance. Seems like a great idea if you are making enough to justify paying dancers. Then again if you hit a gig with a crowd that wants to dance and have a great time you have paid your dancers for nothing.

Like I said in the begining some gigs are just like that. I just take the no dance gigs and brush em off. I know how to work a crowd that wants to have a good time but I'm not gonna sweat the crowds that are there to eat drink and be home in time to catch Matlock.

Best of luck to you at your next reception.
 
Drinking Games!

Absolutely not, it's a wedding not a strip club.

You have to bring personality to the event and do a lot of mic work, it's normal at events where the attendance is low.
 
I Agree with everyone...but this is what I do at my wedding giggs...as the new married does their first dance...into...i say the first 1minute or so...i say..."CAN I GET YALL TO COME IN HELP THEM OUT...SO THE FLOOR WONT LOOK SO BIG FOR THEM" this normally works!...and basically after everone has finished eating...I'll read da crowd...most of the time if start to play Line Songs...it normally gets the dancing started...no matter what race it is....EVERYBODY KNOWS THE CHA CHA SLIDE!....And if dat dont work...ur gonna have to use ur mouthpiece(MIC)
 
I agree with DJ Coolbreeze and Charlie Wilson, The mic is a major part to being a wedding DJ, so it's best you be a DJ/MC or get an MC ala old school the way we used to do it back in the day where the MC was the crowd motivator/ hype man for the DJ.

Outside of the couples first dance, parents with bride/ groom; Have a couples only dance, find out who's married and ask who's been married for 5 or more years to stay dance floor and those who been married less to sit down, then make it 10 or more and so on until you find the couple whos been married the longest and then ask that couple how long they been married. So far the longest married couple I've encountered was 72 years! Then have the singles come out and find a dance partner, let them dance for a minute then have everyone come out.

Some people need alcohol to loosen up, but don't play games with alcohol! Trust me, I can always find that one or two who had enough to drink to get on the dance floor and break the ice.


One thing I never have to worry about because the majority of my Wedding gigs are done for African- American families, so I'll do a Soul Train line and even Granny will get up with cane and shake what she can! I do many other things, but that one stands out, even over the Electric slide!

Don't just entertain them with music, but engage them with your personality as well!
 
 
 
@Coach K...I did dat at one of my weddings I did in august! Dat was pretty cool! I think da longest n oldest couples on the dance floor was 40yrs married! dats another good way to get them on da dance floor!
 
djcoolbreeze wrote :
@Coach K...I did dat at one of my weddings I did in august! Dat was pretty cool! I think da longest n oldest couples on the dance floor was 40yrs married! dats another good way to get them on da dance floor!


DJ C.B. I got that idea from DJ at my cousins wedding almost 10 years ago. When I saw how people how people had fun with it, I told the DJ, I'm stealing it for my wedding gigs! He laughed and asked my why I wasn't doing my cousins wedding and I told him, I'm here to mix drinks and not records, lol! But yeah it's a great way to get them on the dance, while educating the newlyweds on the slide, because all the oldest couples have great advice on how they're able to stay together so long, when I ask them what's their secret to longevity.
 
It all depends on what kind of crowd you have. It's always hard to get a real dance going at a wedding mostly because of the VAST difference in the age of your crowd.
You have from young children to seniors.

What works for me is line dances (Electric slide, Booty call etc...)

For me, Chryl Linn - Encore, Brick -Dazz band, McFadden and Whitehead - Ain't no stopping us now and so on but like I said, it depends on your crowd.

i'm in an urban area and my shows tend to be urban people (Primarily black folks) which is why my selection works for me but may not work for you.

Take my advice about what "kind" of music to play but cater it to your crowd.

Lastly...

Don't expect to really have a party at a wedding. rarely does it turn into a party. If you don't have one, GET A WIRELESS MIC!!! People tend to talk a LOT at weddings...LET THEM TALK THE TIME AWAY. You play the top things that make people happy then it's time to GO.

Hope this helps.
 
I will add another thing to the list here. I have over 400 events under my belt. I have done huge productions all the way down to small backyard receptions. Some of my greatest compliments came from the smaller events where there wasn't a lot of dancing. What there WAS however, was a lot of toe tapping and singing along.

Don't forget that weddings are the only times some families spend time together outside of the major holidays. Perhaps sitting around talking is more important to them. In these situations, I tend to play more slow songs than I would with a dancier group.

Find out what songs the other married couples might have had their first dances to and play those...
 
I'll throw my 2 cents in, although you all have hit the mark on this topic. Sometimes our job is simply to provide the best atmosphere possible. You can't "force" people to have a good time, usually when you try, you fail. It doesn't mean don't encourage people to dance, but there is a point where you can become "pushy" or too over the top and turn people off. You can literally play the best set list at a wedding this weekend, and try to play the exact same dance/party songs the following weekend at an event the same size, location and time and fall flat. If that happens the first thing you should do is NOT DOUBT YOURSELF, don't let it shatter your confidence if noone is dancing, because it will show.

I've had similar experiences like djnutz. Receptions and parties where I'm dropping hit after hit after hit and NOONE dances, but people complimented me for my music selection and thanked me for a "memorable evening". It used to boggle my mind, but as time has gone on I've learned to provide the best atmosphere possible so people can have the best time possible - sometimes that means grabbing the wireless and leading the crowd during the macarena. Sometimes it's knowing when to be upbeat in manner and music, but not neccessarily in the "spotlight". Good DJ's know how to read their crowd, that skill comes with experience, but even the best DJ's get stumped form time to time.
 
No 2 crowds are alike. So just cuz one crowd reacts to Usher and MJ doesn't mean the next one will.

Here are other factors to consider, is there an open bar? In weddings where there is no open bar, it usually translates into hard to dance crowd.

Is the sun still out? If you are in a place that is too bright and the sun is out and there are huge windows, this too is going to inhibit people and make them not want to dance.

Line dances, don't do the chicken dance, try Stepping in the name of love, or Cupid shuffle. (if they request the chicken dance and actually dance to it, you're probably doing a $700 wedding)

Really read the crowd, are they not dancing because they are bored in their tables just looking at each other? or because they are busy talking to the bride and groom and taking pictures?

If it's the second one, then you have a family type of crowd, very close nit. So, let them have that time.

Have you planned games with the bride and groom? Garter toss, bouquet toss, cake cutting, or whatever, use that time to get those activities moving.

Anyways, I've been doing weddings for a while now and that's the advice I can give you.
 
Ticoindamix wrote :
Line dances, don't do the chicken dance, try Stepping in the name of love, or Cupid shuffle. (if they request the chicken dance and actually dance to it, you're probably doing a $700 wedding)



I have played the Chicken Dance at a $2500 wedding. The cost of DJ services has absolutely ZERO bearing on the playlist.
 
If no dancing, take requests... at the end of the day, if the bride is happy then you're doing good.
 
Wow!

Thank you so much everyone! I really appreciate your help.
I'm not really a drinker myself (at all), so I won't really do the "shooter games". I was just out of ideas.

It's true what all of you guys mentioned ... one can play the same music at a wedding and non one will dance, but the next wedding everyone will be dancing to every song!

I must admit, I'm not too fond of a microphone. However, I have bought a wireless one about a month ago. So I guess it's up to me to get used to using the microphone.

I will surely take some time and think about a couple of things I can do to 'get the party started'.

Once again, thanks to everyone replying to the post. I really enjoyed everyone's opinion and feedback.

Much appreciated! :-)
 
Sorry, last reply.

I see that everyone that left a reply/opinion was from the States/UK.
I would like to start a new topic, or continue with this one and would like to ask which songs you play at a wedding.

I will provide a short list of songs that I play. A lot of the songs I play is Afrikaans music. And nobody on this forum will understand that kind of music genre. But I would like to provide a list of music that I usually play.

Please, feel free to comment on that and give some feedback.
I have been a wedding DJ for some time now and I really wish/need to get some feedback from other/international DJs.

Thanks everyone!
 
Like Dj City Said Depends On The Crowd,Line Dance Song Are A Good Ice Breaker,Atfer The Husband And Wife Come In After Pic Or Maybe Some People Just Don't Dance They Like To LooK And Talk To The New Family.Only The Party Crown Will Get Out And Show Out.Its All About The Newlyweds.
 
as long you get paid if they dont dance or do dance is not your fault or lack of what to play to make them dance.
 


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