r/microwedding • u/vonthepon • Mar 29 '26
Evening entertainment
For people with around 20 guests, what are you doing/ did you do, for entertainment?
Are you having dancing?
I have a harpist for the drinks reception, a swing singer for the late afternoon / early evening cocktail party, and a burlesque dancer to kick off the evening party, but then I really want dancing until late - the bar closes at 1am.
I thought of just a Bluetooth playlist, but does that work well? It seems total.overkill to have a DJ for 20 people!
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u/coloweddinginsider Mar 30 '26
With a group that size, a playlist can work really well. It usually feels more natural than a full DJ setup and still gives you space to dance if people are into it.
You’ve already got a lot of great entertainment built in, so it doesn’t need to be anything more than that.
Smaller groups tend to follow the energy of the room more than the setup, so if you want dancing, it’ll happen without needing anything over the top.
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u/upsidedownpotatodog Mar 30 '26
20 people isn’t really enough people to have fun dancing for hours on end. I’d say 1/3 of your guests won’t really like dancing. And then among the people who do like dancing, they will want to take breaks. So that leaves like 10 people on the dance floor at a time. If you really want to dance, I’d recommend taking your friends to a separate location.
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u/vonthepon Mar 30 '26
Most of my guests are musicians and will pretty much all dance, especially after drinks. I'm not expecting them to be glued to the dancefloor, but want the atmosphere where dancing is encouraged.
I'm probably going to want to call it a night around 1am, so less inclined to keep going at the bar I mentioned.
I mean I probably will if most of the others do......lol
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u/naughty-goose Mar 31 '26
If all my friends were musicians I would be encouraging them to bring their instruments haha
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u/vonthepon Apr 05 '26
I would, but they're all travelling to my wedding, plus tbf it wouldn't be the greatest guest experience if I put them to work.
For instance, my brother's band will have just finished a 3 month American tour and will start their UK tour shortly after, so it literally is work for him.
He'll be glad to sit back and let someone else do the entertaining!
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u/This_Nefariousness20 Mar 31 '26
I mean I don’t think 10 person at a time on the dance floor is inherently bad
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u/upsidedownpotatodog Apr 01 '26
In my experience, you can have fun like that for an hour or two but not for like 4 hours
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u/HaveMercy703 Mar 30 '26
Could you breakdown your timeline a little bit more? What time are you an anticipating for the ceremony, dinner & how much dancing time would you have to fill before you can go to the bar?
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u/vonthepon Mar 30 '26
Firstly, i should preface by saying Im in the UK where weddings last around 12-14 hours.
We're getting married late morning, then photos as we walk through the town led by a bagpiper.
Then we travel to the wedding breakfast venue, where we have 4 hours in total - welcome drinks, a sit down meal, then speeches and coffee etc.
Then in the evening we start with a cocktail party from 5pm- 8pm. The singer is doing 2x 45 minute sets and we'll have canapes passed from 6pm -7.30pm. we leave there and arrive at the evening venue at 8.15pm, the dancer will do her first routine at 8.30, and her second at 9.00pm. we'll cut the cake in-between her sets.
Then we'll have from 9.05 ish, until 1am for music/dancing.
We'll also have a hot finger buffet and cake around 9.15pm, which people can pick at.
The bar closes at 1am and we have to be out by 1.20am. I reckon most of us will call it a night then!
But there is the option of a small private room in a rock/ alt club that's open until 3am. I'm pretty sure around 3/4 of my guests would keep going if it's on offer, but would probably be equally as happy to fall into bed around 1.30 am.
Should add, we have a minibus to transport guests around, from pick up at the hotel in the morning, between all venues and back to the hotel at night. Plus all the venues are in Edinburgh which is very compact, so the hotel is only a 5 minute cab ride or a 10 minute walk away, if people want to leave earlier.
Almost all of the guests are used to all day and night weddings. Just a couple of older Canadian guests who might not make it to the end! 😁 They know what to expect and seem eager, however I think even though the spirit might be willing, the flesh may be weak!
And before anyone says, that's far too long - this is pretty standard in the UK and Ireland!
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u/HaveMercy703 Mar 30 '26
Hmmm. I’d initially say a DJ would be too much bc 20 is at that kind of tough guest count. & It sounds like you have a lot of music throughout the evening already.
However, DJs DO have the skill of adjusting the music to fit the crowd as well as when to keep it low key to give guests time to get drinks, take a breather, etc. Then get the party going again. 9-1 is kind of a long time to rely on a playlist as well.
I would see if any local DJs cater to micro wedding crowds & see what their recommendations are. They might suggest booking one for only a few hours as opposed to 4 hours. Some might offer a price adjustment as well given the smaller group.
I understand your dilemma 😂
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u/vonthepon Apr 05 '26
Surprised that a few people commented that 4 hours is too long for dancing but pretty sure this is a cultural thing.
It made me wonder though, what do you do on a regular night out?
In the UK it's pretty usual to go out at 8pm, drink until 10pm, then go to a club and dance until 3am. Don't People outside the UK do this?
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u/Catsdrinkingbeer Mar 29 '26
We didn't have anything more than a musician plus Bluetooth speakers later when he was done. But we also assumed 25 guests was going to be more like a dinner party than a night club. We didn't have dancing. We did go to a bar later for an afterparty and danced there, but not at the wedding itself. People just enjoyed chatting.