Wedding venue struggles- dancing/dining in different rooms?

While the venue is gorgeous, that would be a hard no for me. Is there no way to have dancing and dining in the same room? That space looks like you can.

View Quoted Comment I would, but it only seats 150 comfortably and I would have more than that

View Quoted Comment Would covid restrictions even allow that many people indoors? Keep looking in either case. Try browsing eventective.com for venues

View Quoted Comment I’m being hopefully and looking for a may 2022 wedding

So our venue is like this too - it's in a manor and there is a big dining hall, and a room off to the side for dancing.

We actually love this feature. There are also a few other separated areas - two sitting rooms, a big deck, and gardens with paths. We feel like there's many positives with this type of layout:

* Music is not blaring in your ears all night, especially as you try to eat and talk

* You can take a break from all the music/dancing by leaving the dancing room

* Guests have options for whatever they're in the mood for...if they want to dance, they can go to that area, if they want a more chill environment, they can be in the dining hall or chill in the sitting rooms, if they need some quiet space they can go to the deck or gardens, etc.

* Personally, I think it's more comfortable to dance when it's a separated area. I'm not a huge fan of dancing in the middle of a big ballroom while everyone else stares at you. Although I understand that's a personal preference thing.

View Quoted Comment Hi Natalie!!


Just wondering how are you making the rooms flow? Also how are you setting up the tables?? I’m not sure why this is throwing me off so much but this venue literally works for me the best out of all the others I’ve seen.

We had dinner and dancing in separate areas of our venue. We moved everyone from the dinner area and closed that off and then had plenty of lounge seating and bar tables in the dancing area. We served dessert and coffee in the dancing area and also had more bars set up in there. It worked great.

If the doors open so that the dance floor is visible from the dinner area I think this will be fine.
And I like Kelly’s suggestion of having some other seating in the dance area as well; cocktail tables, benches, couches

I would only do this venue if they can provide enough lounge chairs and cocktail and dessert tables in the dancing room...otherwise it’s just awkward.

I actually don't see a problem with that because not everyone will be dancing all night. So it would give them an option of being able to relax and talk without the music being too loud. Besides, you said the doors in between open up it's not like there is 5 minute walk in between

I looked at multiple venues that had similar situations, & ultimately chose the most dramatically divided one! These were all estates, so a bit different from your venue, but we ultimately have a music/dancing room, a room that will either be dessert or dessert & bar (if we have good weather the bar will be on the porch), & then TWO dining rooms (due to the number of guests). I'm a bit nervous about it as well, but I've been focusing on the fact that this place has many successful weddings every year! We're planning on hiring a caterer & DJ who are familiar with the venue (haven't totally sorted that yet) & plan on being flexible with our plans for the "events" based on those vendors' suggestions.

We actually really like the vibe. We have the entire building to ourselves for the evening & exploration is encouraged!

View Quoted Comment I agree withthis. At first I thought the layout was strange but Yasmine brought up a great point.

I totally agree. I feel like it’s a blank slate and can really transform it based on how I situate everything. I am also thinking of getting an event designer to possibly help with the layout of the tables/what I could do to the ceiling in the dancing room.

I attended a wedding that was set up like this. I actually hated it. When we went in for cocktail hour, we had to go in the dining area because they didn’t want people in the dance floor and the dining area didn’t have a ton of standing room. Then when the bride and groom were being announced, we all had to file out of that room and go into the dancing room. Then they danced and we all had to find our seats again...80+ people trying to sit all at once instead of kind of lingering in was kind of a mess. And if you didn’t like to dance you were kind of excluded after dinner because the dining room wasn’t in the same area as dancing. So for me, I wouldn’t do it. But if you can get some kind of flow going, it might work out really well!

I actually prefer this option. If gives guests the option to either be in the "dancing" room, or remain in the dining area. I would just have chairs or cocktail tables available where the dancing will be held. Also, if the rooms are connected, if you leave the doors open it will feel like it is all one space.

View Quoted Comment

So we rely heavily on the expertise of the venue, since they have thrown hundreds of weddings in the space, so they know what works best.

* The dining area is right next to the dance room, connected by about 4 double doors if I'm recalling correctly. The dining area is pretty big, open layout.

* Doors will be open between the dining room and dance room, so people can easily wander back and forth, and people dining can sort of see into the dancing room.

* It will be a pretty classic table set up. Round tables spaced out throughout the room relatively even, sort of like a ballroom setup but without any space in the middle for dance floor (imagine that space filled in).

It worked for my sister. Some wanted to stay off towards where dinner was to have conversations in a quieter area until the venue had to clean the dining room. She also had an outside area that was quiet. I wouldn't mind it for my own cause I know some guests will want to talk and catch up opposed to having just blasted at them the whole time.

My venue is like this! A large dining space then a rectangular dancing/ cocktail space, where the bar will also be. There are 3 or 4 large double doors that connect the spaces. My primary concern when we toured the space was as Allie mentioned - how do you do announcements & first dances? The coordinator said typically the wedding party enters into the cocktail area space, then the dances are done there prior to guests being seated. My next question was is there enough room for the guests to do this comfortably? She showed us pictures of a 170 person wedding (much larger than ours will be) and there was space to spare! There are high-top cocktail tables and we will be sure to have at least a handful of chairs for our older guests. I like that they will be able to go into the dining room if they want a break from the music.

Wow!! I think the space is absolutely gorgeous!! The windows, the chandeliers, it's breathtaking and especially with the views that you said it has.. I don't necessarily have any ideas maybe some draping would be nice with some lights but I believe you said you were going to do that anyway.. I think whatever you choose everything is going to look amazing!! Congratulations!!

View Quoted Comment Thank you so much!! I think I’m going to focus more on lighting than trying to hang something from the ceiling of where the dancing would be. Thanks so much for all your input !!