Dancing at a Picnic-Type Reception?

colsta

I'm posting this on the outdoor ceremony board too but know that some of you girls are doing a BBQ type reception as well. What are you doing?

I'm having my ceremony and reception in the same place which is a park by a lake. There is an indoor clubhouse that can be used but I was hoping to have it all outside weather permitting. The ceremony is at 3 pm in August and the reception is immediately following. The wedding is fairly small about 50 adults and 10 kids. We are grilling salmon, steaks and chicken with a buffet for salads, breads and sides.

My question is that since it will pretty much be light the whole time and will likely not go until later than 9 pm, should we have a dance floor? My friends and family keep asking about it but I just can't envision it. I plan on having background music on but not a dance area and it will be more relaxed music (think Jack Johnson and Toad the Wet Sprocket - my faves!!) There is a swim area and playground for kids and we plan on having frisbees and such.

What are you doing? Should I include dancing (I won't personally miss it but I want people to have fun)? And if so, how? Indoors?

TIA

snarky_girl

I'm in a park too. We're doing the whole I-pod background music thing as well. I'm not having a dance floor because the area is pretty flat. I'm not planning on a huge amount of dancing but the songs will be dancable. Plenty of classic rock. A few of my favorite pop songs and a few of his heavier rock stuff. Does that make sense? I figure we just sort of pick an area set up the music by it, and go for it. If it works, great. If not, no big deal! Then again - I'm in flip flops. So I'm not worried about taking a tumble!

bethbloom

Are you and your FI going to do a first dance? You and your Dad, he and his Mom?
If so, I would just leave a little space under the covered area, then if people want to dance later they can too.

colsta

Thanks for the ideas! I don't think we are going to do a first dance or any of that stuff though. I really, really have no rhythm!

I think what we'll do then is have an area inside that can be a dance floor but not really make it one unless people want to dance. And we'll have the iPod set to do dance music if that happens.

nannabug42

Colsta - you having no rhythm might make for some pretty amazing stories for down the road should you do one...

sarahmarietm

Our wedding starts at three also, so thanks for asking this question!  Nice feedback everyone

I wasn't too sure about having a dance floor, but I didn't want to shell out the money to rent one.  Then I found out our venue offered one!  So we figured, why not?  If anything, we'll have our first dance on it, and if people decide they want to boogie down later (we're having a iPod reception) at least they'll have a nice wood panel to dance on, haha!

bethbloom

In Response to <a href="http://forums.theknot.com/Sites/theknot/Pages/Main.aspx/local-wedding-boards_oregon_dancing-picnic-type-reception?plckFindPostKey=Cat:Local%20Wedding%20BoardsForum:119Discussion:e109b5bc-6527-4ad3-9d97-b33bf17b253fPost:e938d46f-7688-4268-9162-030fd2a21bee">Re: Dancing at a Picnic-Type Reception?</a>:
[QUOTE]I think what we'll do then is have an area inside that can be a dance floor but not really make it one unless people want to dance. And we'll have the iPod set to do dance music if that happens.
Posted by colsta[/QUOTE]

I think that's a great plan.
Dancing was actually one of the best parts of our wedding. I'm not a huge dancer,. wasn't super excited about that part, but ended up LOVING it. Just keep the tunes going and see what happens! (and our whol shabang started at 430, so we were in the afternoon time frame too)