Reception: Silent Disco

I’ll be honest—I saw this on a cruise and thought it was odd but slightly fun for like 15 minutes. For a wedding, I’d think it’s so bizarre. A good DJ can take care of music flow and keeping the crowd happy.

It’s essentially what people do everyday on their own devices to isolate from others. For a wedding, it feels out of place. A great dj does exist and can make for a fun party that the majority of guests enjoy.

I agree with Kiley, I think this would probably be entertaining for about 15 mins, then the novelty would wear off. Having everyone wearing noise canceling headphones, listening and dancing to their own music, could give the feeling of isolation rather than togetherness (which is what weddings strive for).

A friend did this at the end of her wedding, after 10pm due to a noise ordinance. By that point in the night, it went over well, probably namely because the people left were the partying crowd, looking to stay up and dance. But for an all night, or earlier in the night, I wouldn’t love it— feels a little isolating for time when I’d rather spend it mingling or dancing and singing along with my friends. It definitely made for a fun end of the night activity though. It was a little awkward right at first, but we got into it

Generally a silent disco requires multiple DJs to run several different tracks. Youre also banking on everyone being able to understand how to use the technology. A good DJ will make sure a party gets going and all guests have fun regardless of demographic. Weddings of couples who are much closer in age still have large age gaps in their guest list.

It doesn't sound like a good time to me and I expect that many people will leave early if you go this direction. ETA - I've never really had experience with this as a concept though, so I could be wrong.

View Quoted Comment Great! So a much smaller booze bill?

View Quoted Comment That’s what I would do too. Like more of a novelty/end of the night thing.

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Possibly lol.

Another thought - will they be *new* headphones?

View Quoted Comment No? I assume it’s whatever rentals from the DJ. I also assume they sanitize and clean them. I’m definitely not buying new Bose Noise Cancelling Headphones for everyone. Didn’t seem to be a problem. Majority of our guests aren’t high strung and demanding type of people. And those that are probably just wont partake.

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So, then for the people who don't wear the headphones, will it just be quiet?

I'm really just trying to understand the logistics, not rain on your parade. If you do decide to go this direction, I'll be interested to know how it works out.

The fun of dancing at an event like a wedding is the group experience and social interaction— chatting, singing, moving to the same beat, etc. The concept of each person dancing to their own song with headphones that limit interaction with others seems to defeat the purpose and feel awkward. I imagine it being like sitting at a red light and seeing some people jamming out to rock in their cars while others are listening to love ballads. Most feel slightly self-conscious.

View Quoted Comment That’s the thing. It actually feels a lot less self-conscious because it feels like you’re in your own world. We did a silent disco last night and after that ended and they switched to a regular DJ/Party like 70% of the people left. I wouldn’t do it for the WHOLE ceremony. It would be more of an after party thing. My fiancé and I are having a hard time narrowing down genres. We tried to fill out the questionnaire from our DJ the other day and I think the only ones we didn’t check is R&B, Rap, and Christian. The only one that overlapped for us was country and oldies rock. He and his crowd like motown, jazz, etc type and I’m into more of the recent songs and songs you can actually dance to.

View Quoted Comment That’s a good question. Let me ask that DJ below.

For those not wearing headphones, would it just be quiet?

That’s not a straightforward answer. Yes, there is no amplified sound (typically due to the venues request) but guests will be singing and clapping along to songs so it’s hardly quiet.


If your venue does allow amplified sound you could have music playing at a low level. This typically works better indoors than outdoors.
With all that said, typically by the time the silent disco rolls around, it’s usually only the party crowd that is left and everyone participates.

View Quoted Comment Sounds like a silent disco will be perfect for the end of your night. It’s hard for any DJ to Mix Country, Pop, and Motown and keep everyone on the dance floor. Inevitably the people that don’t like a given genre will either sit down or leave. Silent disco will give you and your guests the freedom of choice 👌

View Quoted Comment I didn’t even think of this for a noise ordinance, but that is genius! I could see people who are already intoxicated and heavy into the party mode enjoying this at the end of the night!

DH is 20 years older than me, too, but we just did a variety of music from the 50s to now. I think this sounds like so much fun for the end of the night, though! Surprisingly, at ours, we had couples who were in their 80s who were still finding ways to swing dance to current music . . . didn't quite fit the beat of the songs, but they were having fun and making it work, so let them dance to whatever!