Best Songs To Get People On The Dance Floor?

I've tried putting together a mix of songs people have said they enjoy. My older guests have vocalized that they really enjoy the line dance type dances, so I threw a couple on there. We went to a wedding once where they played "Shut Up and Dance" and everyone in the room was dancing to it, it was a lot of fun. I can't sit still when "Can't Stop the Feeling" by Justin Timberlake comes on. You could always include on your invitations a section where your guests can write a song or 2 that they would dance to. I've gotten invitations like that before!

Classics:Dance with somebody by Whitney Houston
This is how we do it by Montell Jordan
Gettin jiggy with it by Will Smith

Newer:Truth Hurts by LizzoUptown funk by Mark Ronson and Bruno MarsGood life by Kanye WestHappy by Pharrell Williams Single ladies by Beyonce

We did a lot of older stuff at the beginning when the older crowd was still around.

Boogie Shoes - KC and the sunshine band

You make my dreams come true - hall and oates

Fly me to the moon - Frank Sinatra

Lots of stuff like that for the first hour or so, plus a few slow songs!! My family all loves to dance (but like, real dancing, not "club" type dancing) so we wanted to make sure there was stuff with good beats for them, but familiar for the younger crowd too! It got a little "clubbier" with more current and popular music as the night went on

"Shout" will definitely get people out there

View Quoted Comment Those are some great song ideas!! And totally agree on the song request line on the invites - we added a line onto our original invites before we postponed, and are planning to give our DJ a list of guest-requested songs in addition to our Must Play and Do Not Play lists. My fiance and I were talking about songs the other day, and were trying to think of 3-4 songs that would really get people out on the dance floor, and we were both coming up with nothing. Thank you for the suggestions!

View Quoted Comment Great suggestions!! At least one member of our bridal party along with a few specific guests are huge Whitney Houston fans, so I'm pretty sure that one would work out well for us! I haven't heard of a few of the others (or maybe I've heard them and just don't know them by name), so I will check them out! Thank you for the ideas!

View Quoted Comment Love this!! Smart idea to play stuff that appeals to the older crowd first, and then work towards today's music. My fiance and I both love older music as well as some newer music, and so we already had a few older songs on our list of songs we were considering. Great suggestions, thank you for your reply!

View Quoted Comment Ooh, good one! Every time I hear that song, I think of the Wedding Crashers movie, lol. Definitely an upbeat song. Thank you for the suggestion!

I think a bigger thing is just having a live band. Makes people get up and dance no matter what when it's interactive. I play in a Balkan brass band, most of the time no one knows what that music is, we just go through the crowd and get the party started. I love seeing people do their thing to this music that technically can have pretty specific dance moves.

View Quoted Comment You bring up a really good point!! My fiance absolutely loves live music, he'll dance to anything that a live band plays. We already have a DJ, so we aren't planning to hire a band, but I totally agree with you about the live music! What is a Balkan brass band?

This, to me, is totally a "know your crowd" kind of thing.

I mean, I'll dance to anything Beatles, but also Spice Girls. I *loathe* boy bands and will leave the room if I can. We're also part of a theatre crowd, so sing-alongs are a huge hit for us.

A good DJ will also adjust on the fly, as they see how the crowd reacts.

This is why you hire a great dj. They have millions of songs they can switch to at any given time, which a band is unable to do. Also what is a hit for one crowd will be a dud with another.

Weddings I have attended in the past, the floor was packed for Bob Seger's Old Time Rock N Roll, Electric Slide and Flo Rida's Low.

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A brass band, that plays Balkan music. A good documentary is Brasslands- shows the tradition, and how people in the US have gotten into it. It's a huge part of wedding celebrations in the Balkans particularly with the Roma community. But good for any day, any time!

Trailer:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=99m9GigTHHg

View Quoted Comment True!! Definitely a "know your crowd" thing. And I agree - a good DJ should be able to adjust based on the crowd reaction. Our groups of friends each like completely different varieties of music (one group only listens to electronic, another group likes 90s pop and country but hates electronic, another listens to older music and hates country, etc), so we're planning on having our DJ play a good variety, but we couldn't really think up a list of good dancing songs that will get a lot of people out on the floor at one time. These suggestions have definitely been helpful!!

View Quoted Comment Thank you for the suggestions!! Especially the Old Time Rock N Roll. I agree that a good DJ should be able to change up the music based on crowd reaction.

View Quoted Comment That makes sense! I'm actually not familiar with Balkan music, but I will for sure check it out! Thank you for sharing the info and the link!

Uptown funk - Bruno Mars

Dance With Somebody - Whitney Houston

Thriller - Michael Jackson

Shake it off - Taylo Swift

Get Lucky - Daft Punk ft. Pharrell Williams and Nile Rodgers

Happy - Pharrell Williams

Single Ladies (Put A Ring On It) - Beyoncé

Shut Up and Dance - Walk the Moon

Party Rock Anthem - LMFAO ft. Lauren Bennett

Waka Waka - Shakira

View Quoted Comment Great suggestions!! I definitely could see many of these being popular on the dance floor.

Don't know if you're looking for funny/silly songs, just in case :

Gangnam Style - PSY

I'm Sexy And I Know It - LMFAO
The Ketchup Song – Las Ketchup

Guests usually have a blast dancing to these but "I'm Sexy And I Know It" is not kid-friendly, more R-rated. 😀