Want to avoid those potential things that can ruin your party? A good disco is and will always be based on the crowd. A tough crowd means a tough disco. However, there are factors that can create this effect, and those factors are not always controllable. Here are some of the things we have found that can ruin your party.
Timing can ruin your party!
This doesn’t refer to how long the disco is, as sometimes a one hour set is all that’s needed. What is meant by Timing, is when the party is.
What day your party is held on, plays a huge part. If you have a hen or stag night and twenty mates go with you, and during said night you all end up in a club screaming Sweet Caroline at the top of your voices, you’ll want a weekend. If not, and you want a nice evening with family and a few friends. Pick a weeknight.
With weeknights, most people work the day of or next day. This means they won’t tend to drink a lot, or stay late. The thought of work the next day holds people back.
Weekends, on the other hand, are the end of the week. Let your hair down. It’s why 90% of wedding suppliers charge more. Most popular evenings are weekends, as more people are likely to spend more at the bar.
Payday also plays a role, can’t spend money you don’t have yet. Mid month or end of the month tend to be a little quieter due to saving penny’s until payday. This can affect the dance floor.
Remember though, if you have friends and family who enjoy life without alcohol, it doesn’t matter what day, they’ll dance regardless.
Weather can impact your party vibe!
You’d expect the sunnier the weather the better the party, right? Not necessarily. If it’s warm and sunny, and you have a nice beverage, you tend to enjoy the weather by sitting outside. This is great if that’s where you want the evening entertainment to be, but if not, the dance floor will be empty until the temperature cools.
Rain, on the other hand usually the dampener of spirits during the day, allows for the energy to be provided by the disco in the evening. Either way, the DJ can work with it, just be prepared to enjoy an evening outside if it’s very good weather.
Buffet pauses the party.
When the buffet opens, the dance floor closes.
This is perfectly normal, the forty five minutes of chill time between first dance / opening disco, to main party, gives you and your guests a breather and time to fill up before the main event. You’ll find most people will only dance after the buffet, as it’s like an order. Bar for drinks, food from the buffet, dancing. Perfectly normal for the dancing to stop, while people feed.
Side note: We turn the music and lighting down during the buffet. Loud music and flashing lights flooding the room while people eat also ruin your party.
Children can make or break a party.
Children are great, fun, and happy. What we have found is that as soon as the music starts, they run around the room. Burning all their energy from the sweets or endless squash they have been given. This results in them taking up ‘the space’ people would normally dance in. It could be compared to trying to dance at a funfair, in the dodgems arena, while the hardcore bumpers are driving. It is a little off putting.
Some weddings though, the kids have brought life to the party. Usually, if there are children guests we play music for them (effectively a kids party playlist before buffet) and it warms the room up. However, it has been noticed that when the kids have gone, the dancers get up. Before that, they live at the bar.
Poor playlist choices and songs played at the wrong times.
Yes, choosing songs is half the battle. We cannot stress enough that song choices and when to play the floor fillers is important to a disco. Telling the DJ to play these early is like asking a marathon runner to sprint the first 5 miles. It will burn the party vibe out too soon. Yes, they are the best songs, yes people will rush to dance to it, but not at the start of the disco.
A basic Fozzy Follow chart:
- Start with newish stuff: Some new songs are loved by all ages, which allows for all to dance.
- Then move into the oldies: The good stuff. This is where a Motown or Disco set would fit.
- Around 9pm/10pm: either rock or hip hop come out.
- At either 11pm or midnight: dance, the Ibiza anthems. By then all the ravers are nicely drunk and go mental for a good DJ dance set. Even throw in some Garage for good measure.
- End the night with a list of Sing Alongs.
If you make a playlist for your DJ, please let them be flexible enough to use your list their way. This means they can try and keep the party flowing, whilst sticking roughly to your requests. Playing songs like Sex On Fire at the start of the night mighty be a good way to get everyone up. However, unless you have a whole set list to keep them up, trust us to know what we’re doing.
If you want to read more about song choices and why we recommend the DJ be trusted, have a read through our blog post ‘To provide a disco playlist or not?’.
Final thoughts on how not to ruin your party.
No one can guarantee the dance floor will be rammed all night. That down to you and your guests. If they want to go on a musical journey, a good DJ will lead them, and it will be amazing. But, as life is the way it is, hurdles will crop up and cause some issues. Sometimes, we misread a room, and play a song that should and normally works. But at that moment, that same song may cause people to go to the bar, or just sit and watch. We’re only human after all.
Please factor in all the variables before deciding the DJ is at fault for an empty dance floor. Sometimes, it could simply be too hot.