Getting older generations on the dance floor

Do the older generations typically dance or do they enjoy music from their seats? There is nothing abnormal about the latter. The best thing to do is play older music (anything from 40s to 70s..maybe older country through the '00s) and hope they're interested in dancing. But don't stress if they choose to sit instead.

Play some dance songs from their time that they enjoy and walk over to their tables, personally inviting them to dance floor (along with all the other guests). Once they get dancing and comfortable you can switch the music up a bit and they might keep dancing.

Play some music popular when they were in high school/early 20s. And dance to it too with them.

It should be as simple as playing the type of music they like to listen to. At our wedding the older generation had no problem getting out their when the suicide the enjoy was playing.

A good DJ will have a mix of music and know how to get a crowd on the floor.

We hired our DJ because of how she handled our friends' wedding - started off with Big Band stuff and worked her way up decade by decade. That was something she and the couple decided on for their vibe.

For our wedding, she mixed it up more throughout the night, but that did get the older folks up at different times and gave people breaks.

We did a lot of 80s songs (we love 80s music!) and found for our crowd (multiple generations of guests in their 50s, 60s and above) seemed to love it. Twist and Shout surprisingly was a HIT! My husband picked that one and I had serious doubts but they loved it! 😂

The best tip our DJ gave us (and that he implemented at our wedding) was play the older people’s music first. Most people your age will still dance to it (since they’ll probably be buzzed and just itching to dance anyway!). Then slowly progress and transition to newer stuff.


We played the old school Michael Jackson and 80s disco hits first (our parents’ time). Then went into some 90s early 00s R&B and hip hop (Tupac, Mariah, Biggie, etc). Then we finished off with the newer stuff like Beyoncé, Lizzo, Kanye.
Our dance floor was constantly packed and I rarely so anyone sitting down. At one point, I saw my dad teaching my husband’s 80 year old grandma how to “get low” to the song Laffy Taffy. Lol.

I also heard one time that trying to seat older people closer to the dance floor is helpful. They are less likely to weave through a bunch of tables to get to the dance floor lol, as younger people tend to do regardless of where they're sitting. If they're seated right next to the dance floor they're already somewhat part of the action and more likely to get up and dance if they feel that itch! Of course, it's not always easy to do with how complicated seating charts can get I know. So sweet of you to consider this.

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Thank you! I know some people prefer not to dance and that's fine - I just know that a lot of the people in our group used to love to go out dancing when they were younger (particularly my grandfather's generation) so I love the idea of incorporating some of their favorite tunes. :-)

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That's a great suggestion! We definitely want our DJ to read the room but I love the idea with starting with the older hits and progressing to the newer stuff.

My mom pre-requested Build Me Up, Buttercup so it was on my DJ’s list....that song got people PUMPED so he started including more songs of that era/vibe and got the same reaction. Footloose was probably the best dance of the night 🤣


Because of that I might consider seeking out someone from each age group for a specific request ahead of time— maybe one from the parents, one from grandpa , and if they sound fun to you, add them to a “please play” list for your DJ.

View Quoted Comment Also some older people have mobility issues and not be able to stand for long periods.

View Quoted Comment Yeah, our DJ still read the room and sprinkled some older songs here and there at the end of the night, but honestly, by that time everyone was having so much fun (and probably pretty drunk!) no one really cared what was playing anymore. Haha


We just went to my husband’s sister’s wedding last fall and we had people still coming up to us telling us how our wedding was so much fun and that they loved the music we played. Lol.

Ive included music from the 70s and 80s. Some of those songs you just hear and nee d to boogie

"wake me up before you go go" how do you not dance hahah. Im at least hoping that helps some cause all of DHs family is much older then my side

Beach music is very big where we live, and the older generations love it. We had our DJ play a fair amount of beach music to get the older folks dancing.

Most of our guests at our local reception were 40-65 years of age. We had a live band and Frank Sinatra impersonator— people danced! The live band played music from the 40s to early 60s. Nothing too fast but not all slow songs either.

I have an older generation attending my wedding too and I am planning on playing old school music that they would enjoy listening and dancing to. My playlist is a mixture of old and new because of the different age group that is attending my wedding.

We just played a lot of music that we thought they would like, and we got a lot more people from the older generation on the dance floor than we thought! Twist and Shout, Mambo Number 5, and Roam by the B52s were big ones. If you play songs they know/like they’ll get up and dance! Maybe ask some of the older guests you’re inviting in advance if they have any song suggestions that they’d like to hear to get an idea of what you can play for them