Venues
Small venues work better every time. They create a lot more atmosphere even if you have a small number of guests. Big venues will kill it every time if there isn’t a lot of people. If you have a large venue chosen, look at how you could make it smaller with the option of opening it up when more people arrive. Bigger isn’t always better.
From experience count on about 20 – 30% of your guests not coming. This is not the case if it is a wedding.
When setting up your venue try and keep the following in mind:
At most parties a large number of people will congregate around the bar. Try and place the D.J. and dance floor in close proximity to the bar as it will keep your party together and quite often people will spill onto the dance floor and get your party started quicker.
If you are not having a sit down dinner, try and keep chairs and tables to a minimum. This will encourage people to mingle and make it feel more like a party. Cocktail parties tend to work better for this reason.
If you are having a sit down dinner, arrange your table settings so that older family and friends are furthest away from the D.J. area. This will keep your older guests happy.
With most venues having banned smoking, it has the potential of splitting your party. If possible try and keep the smoking area close to the party so that your smoking guests aren’t gone for too long.
Lighting
Lighting is very important. If it is too bright people will be reluctant to dance. Try and have dull lighting to start with and then make it darker when you want the dancing to start.The lighting you can hire from Feel good Events can help to create the perfect party atmosphere. If you are trying to create a certain theme please visit Feel Good Events website for advice on the best lighting to pick for your party.
Unless you don’t really want a party atmosphere we strongly recommend that you have some sort of lighting at your party. People will very rarely dance under normal house lights and we only recommend no lighting for daytime functions.
Music Selection
Music selection is the most important thing in creating an atmosphere for dancing. When choosing your music try and keep in mind what music your guests will like. This will keep everyone happy. The broader your music selection the easier it will be to please your guests. On average the DJ would play about 75 to 80 songs in a 5 hour function. If you are not fussy about your music the dj will play what he or she knows usually works best.
A good D.J.with experience will have played at 100’s of different functions, so they are experienced at reading a crowd. When Feel Good Events D.J.’s are working at your function they will use your music selection and peoples requests to try and keep the dance floor full.
If you are really fussy about what music you want you can either be really specific about what you want and when or if you want your music selection played in a particular order maybe a Jukebox would be a better option.
Format
From experience we find the earlier you have your formalities completed the quicker the dancing will start. If you have your speeches later in the night, dancing will need to be stopped making it harder to get everyone going again.
Some people will wait until the speeches have finished and leave. If you have your speeches early, people will tend to stay on after the speeches as it is still early and once they start dancing and enjoying themselves will want to stay until late.
We hope these tips will help you and us in creating a successful party. One that you and your guests will remember for years to come.
