By, Tyler Varnell
Saxophone + Piano + DJ/Emcee All-In-One
Here are my top tips for your wedding dancefloor!
1) Layout– Layout is often the most important and most overlooked aspect of creating a party environment! During open dancing the end of the night, everyone’s favorite places are usually the bar, photobooth, and dancefloor! If your goal is to have an epic dancefloor, arrange all of these ‘hotspots’ fairly close together. That way, when guests hear one of their favorite songs while at the bar or photobooth, they’re only a few steps from jumping on the dancefloor, instead of across the room or in a separate space. Along these lines, avoid placing the dessert table, late night snacks, bar, photobooth, cigar lounge, cool seating area, etc outside of the main dancing room. Having too many spread-out attractions can result in your guests being widely dispersed and lacking the critical mass for those big dancefloor moments! Instead, keep all of your favorite people together to maximize the energy in the room!
2) Live Musicians! – Having live drummers, saxophonists, violinists, etc. to perform live with DJ’s is a big trend! These performers can often bring huge amounts of energy, especially if they are wireless and can go interact with guests out on the dancefloor!
3) Lighting Sets The Vibe – Your planner and DJ should coordinate with the venue to turn down the house lights once open dancing begins. Also consider adding a combination of uplighting and dance lighting from your DJ, band, or rental company. Pro tip: Ask if they have an on-site lighting technician who will be programming live to the music for the full night – a live programmed light show is much more impactful than lighting that repeats the same automated cycle 🙂 Lastly, your photo & video team may want to bring their own lighting poles or have lights on their cameras. This is great for first dances and parent dances, but can sometimes detract from open dancing if they’re too bright 🙂 Ask if they have low-light or no-light alternatives for dancing.
4) Timing – A great DJ/Emcee will be strategic about kicking off dancing. Before open dancing, guests might be mingling, at the bar, and around the venue, so a great DJ will reunite everyone before dancing. One simple way to do this is by scheduling events such as the cake cutting and parent dances right before open dancing. Some DJ’s will even invite everyone to make a big circle around the dancefloor for the parent dances. This looks great in photos, then when the DJ drops that first song, guests are already right on the edge of the dancefloor. Alternatively, the Emcee can kick off dancing by inviting guests to join the bride & groom on the dancefloor for a slow song — this can give everyone one song to warm up, creates great photos, and often fills up the dancefloor to very edges! At the end of the song, drop into something upbeat and we’re off and running with a full dance floor!
As seen in People Magazine, Brides Magazine, and Sports Illustrated, Tyler Varnell performs as one of the most sought after Saxophone-DJ’s in Southern California. Specializing in luxury and celebrity events, recent performances include Disneyland, Ferrari, Mercedes Benz, Ritz Carlton, Montage, Four Seasons Beverly Hills, and internationally at luxury resorts throughout Cabo San Lucas.
- follow Tyler at https://www.instagram.com/tylervarnell/
- Contact Tyler at [email protected]
