dj in a different area?

I'm not sure there is a good option. No, not everyone will go into another room to watch a first dance or any other dance. Yes, people will get up to go dance when they want. Your dance floor might not be as full as you hoped.

When you kept adding to your guest list, did you know about the venue's size limitations?

As a professional wedding musician, I can tell you with complete confidence that having the DJ in a separate room is a terrible idea. One of the biggest requirements I had for my own wedding was that dinner and dancing were both in one, big square/rectangular room.

At my cousin's wedding, they had the DJ set up in a separate room from where we ate, and it was awful. It was awkward silence during dinner, and since no one could hear the DJ from our tables, we all missed their first dance. In fact, other than their first dance, which again, no one saw, there was no dancing whatsoever, because the DJ was not there to set the mood. Things just died almost immediately after dinner. It was honestly the most lame wedding I ever went to, and I felt terrible for my cousin.

We played a wedding once, where we were unfortunately set up in a separate room, and as much as we tried to get people out there, we basically played to an empty room the whole time, because no one could hear us so they just crowded around the bar all night.

It's such a party killer. I think your only option is to smush the tables closer together after dinner to make room for the DJ, and just deal with a smaller dancing space, because I do agree that it would be rude and inconvenient to completely remove someone's table.

So that is how our venue is as well, and they do weekends like this every weekend. It is a mansion with a tented back patio. The cocktail hour, first dance, and toasts will be there and then we will transition into the mansion for dinner. After dinner, when the servers have told us the majority of our guests are done, we will transition back under the tent for other dances and then regular dancing until the end of the evening. There are small cocktail tables there for guests who want to sit and watch the dancing and the patio is lined with windows for older guests who want to watch but do not want to be under the tent.

While it is not traditional, we really love this and as long as you have a great DJ who understands the flow it should all go well. I've attached pictures of our venue so you can see what I am talking about.

P.S-- we went to a wedding that was similar to this and honestly it was not a big deal. It was actually a more intimate first dance because you are surrounded by guests as opposed to them sitting spread out at tables.

indoors (with two more unseen seating areas)

all along the right is windows/the entrance to the tented area below.

Under the tent with the entrance to indoors/the top photo above

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I'm not disagreeing-- just having been to similar weddings, most people don't want the music blaring during dinner, and I think if you have a good DJ/MCee to be clear about what is happening people won't miss things. Also it depends on how separated things are.

I have been to a wedding where the dancing was actually on a complete different floor than the dinner. We all ate dinner and then after speeches headed back upstairs to where ceremony was on the roof and danced the night away. There was no option to stay where dinner was. Most of the guests were younger and wanted to dance. The bar was up there and an inside area with some seating and dessert. It was a little boring while dinner took forever but once the dancing started we were having a lot of fun.

I think it depends a lot on your venue set up and guests.

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Completely agree- I would also say if you do need to put it in a separate area like we do, try and put the/a bar in the room to get guests into the area if you're not having the DJ tell them!

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No, you don't want blaring dance music during dinner, but no DJ would ever do that. They play dinner music at an appropriate volume. And you're free to disagree all you want. But drawing on my professional experience, a set-up like that was 100% a dealbreaker for me.

We toured a venue like this and it was an absolute dealbreaker. Dinner will be awkward with no background music provided from the DJ if they’re set up in a different room. Some people don’t want to dance, but they still want to watch everyone dance and now they won’t be able to.

I know I have commented a lot on this post, but after re-reading your OP...

I would really go with what your DJ says. Every venue is different and every "separate space" is different. It will work in some that won't work in others. My opinion is strictly based to MY venue, where we know this will not be an issue, despite the dance floor under the tent.

Our venue is like this and I have no reservations about people dancing, however our set up may be different than yours. We will be having dinner outside and the dancing will be inside, along with the bar. Our DJ will be inside where the dance floor is but we will still have background music playing during the outside dinner. I've had many friends get married at the same venue and everyone says the flow is one of their favorite things about the venue. I think it really depends on how your venue is set up and what your DJ thinks but I don't think you should worry too much if the DJ and coordinator (If you have one) think the flow will work well. Good luck!!

Same issue here... but... I have a solution....I hope. Getting married in a Mansion.... DJ and Bar will be in the same room across from each other. However, the Speakers will be out in the area where we are..
in the corners... music list is softer and lower music during dinner and louder and faster when it's time to party! If you request a song, you'll just drop the song request in the bowl... so you don't have to scream over the music or distract him. You can also order another drink while you're in the room... hope this helps.

Thanks everyone for the comments and ideas! This was very helpful! I think I will have to see what the DJ says and what our final numbers are when RSVPs come in. It’ll all work out in the end and I’ll get everyone on that dance floor no matter where it is!