Reception Without Dancing

Would it be possible to use a generator to power a DJ setup?


If not, maybe have lawn, board, and cards games around. Or even host trivia everyone can participate in.

I like the idea of games but I think if you express it is a chill reception just eating and drinking then that is fine. I know I do not specifically go to dance lol. Maybe have cornhole outside and who says people cannot dance if they hear good music. You do not have to have a dance floor but you can express that it is a casual get together to just hang out.

Hmmm that’s a tough one maybe stick to the smaller and try different seating — or like PP said try to use a generator ? Idk that’s a tough one without electricity since you would need it for multiple things..

View Quoted Comment We’re trying to keep costs as low as possible, and a DJ is way out of budget. As it stands right now the wedding is going to cost us about $4,500.


Trivia is a good idea, thanks! We have a cornhole set so we’ll probably set that up as well.

View Quoted Comment We do have a cornhole set already (it says NOS all over it but oh well xD) I’m just worried I won’t have enough to do and my guests will get bored. Most of our guests have to travel really far to get to our wedding so they can’t just leave and go home when they’re tired of being there haha.

View Quoted Comment

Every reception I have been to yes there is dancing but mostly people socializing, eating and drinking. You are not obligated to provide entertainment in my opinion rather food and drink and IMO they are there to celebrate your big day more so than the reception. I say have a few games but I do not feel dancing makes or breaks the reception IMO.

View Quoted Comment I considered doing that, but the smaller one only seats 36 people and we’re planning on having about 60 guests. They provide the picnic tables and I don’t think they can be swapped out. The bigger shelter seats 108 people. So there would be plenty of table space for everything we would need. It’s going to be a fairly simple reception, and as long as it’s over before dark we should be ok without electricity. We’re going to be in the mountains so I’m not surprised there isn’t electricity running to everything. They’d likely have to charge a lot more than $25/hr for the space xD


Our whole wedding budget is at MOST $5,000, and getting a generator and lugging it up to the mountains is just not in our budget.

Could you rent a cordless speaker to play music from? That's what we're doing and it's $15 per day to rent or $40 for a week I think. I would price compare with some music stores, that's where we are renting ours!

Bluetooth speaker sounds fine. I know music apps like Spotify have wedding playlist that get guest grooving. Download a playlist you love, hook the phone to the bluetooth, and enjoy your wedding.

I think that's fine to not have dancing. I went to a wedding this year where there was no dancing at all. No dance floor. They had instead, a station for photos, and a station to make a scrapbook page for them, and a station of advice and date ideas

We aren't planning on dancing at our reception either (besides a first dance) but are also looking for fun ideas! After our ceremony, we are going to a private room in a brewery for dinner. I was planning on having our instant camera with a book for guests to put a photo and a piece of advice. We have blue tooth speakers for our first dance song and music throughout dinner. We are also going to be bar hopping afterwards so there will likely be dancing then!