Awesome question!
Your DJ should be able to give you different ideas on how to get your dance floor started on your wedding day. Most importantly though, your DJ should be able to get folks participating in your dance floor without resorting to cheesy or embarrassing tactics or putting anyone on the spot.
I’ll focus on one such idea here, and it relies on a powerful but subtle trick I like to use to get your dance floor started.
Trying to get a dance floor started at a wedding can be challenging for different reasons. One of those challenges is that no one wants to be the FIRST ONE to get out and dance! My little trick is pretty good at overcoming that though. 
Let’s imagine YOUR wedding day…
All eyes are on you because you just shared your first dance together, and emotions in the room are high. Your dance song fades, and I (yes ME, your DJ, RIGHT…?) remain silent and let nature take its course. The whole room erupts into applause!
Then, as this applause fades out, I congratulate you both. While you remain on the dance floor, I then invite ALL of the other couples present to JOIN YOU on the dance floor to share a slow dance with you on your wedding day!
VIOLA! You get an INSTANT packed dance floor, and it feels completely natural to everyone involved because it’s something you wanted to share with them on your special day, and not something “the DJ” asked them to do! That IS why they’re there after all, right – to share such moments with you!
This idea is great for several reasons:
1) You get an INSTANT packed dance floor! After that slow song, I go right into an upbeat dance selection, and people keep moving and start dancing the night away!
2) It gives older friends and family, and folks who might not consider themselves “dancers” a chance to get out on the floor and share a dance with their special someone. We’ll have more slow songs and all types of genres throughout the night, but this dance is a nice way for people to feel comfortable on the floor without feeling that all eyes are on them.
3) It makes a GREAT photo-op for your photographer! They get to start the night off with a fantastic shot of a PACKED dance floor with you sharing an intimate time with all who are closest to you!
There are other variations of this technique that I’d love to share with you, but this one is by far the most popular and commonly picked by my couples because of it’s effectiveness, and subtlety.
So you see, finding a great DJ is about more than finding someone to “play some music” and “make some announcements.”
It’s about finding someone who understands the psychology of your guests, and who knows how to design and manipulate the flow of your wedding from beginning to end to make sure that everyone is involved and has the best time possible at your wedding!
Sure, a DJ can get your dance floor filled without employing a creative strategy like the one above, but how long will it take them to get that first, second, and third person on the floor? How many different songs and genres will they cycle through – each one making the whole thing more and more awkward for your guests – before they find one that will actually get someone to come to the floor? This is the type of situation you can easily avoid by making sure your DJ has a solid plan that MAKES SENSE when you ask them this important question.
Want more cool ideas like this? I’d love to discuss them with you! My planning materials cover all types of different scenarios and key questions to help you and your guests get the most out of your wedding day celebration!
“off-peak” days of the week, such a Sundays or even weekdays. Doing this can often help keep their overall budget smaller since the demand for these days is lower. Because of this decreased demand, venues and vendors alike often appreciate the opportunity to fill the “extra” dates on their calendars.