Hi, I don't post here much, but I'm the one who had a problem with my lighted dance floor being junky and wanted to post a follow-up for anyone who might be curious.
http://forums.theknot.com/Sites/theknot/Pages/Main.aspx/wedding-boards_etiquette_dance-floor-injury-possible-lawsuit-wwyd-long
We did choose to pursue a small claims lawsuit and the judgement was in our favor. We got less than we asked for, but are satisfied. It felt much better to have a judge decide the fair amount than to be bullied into settling for less than what we were comfortable with, which is what we felt the vendor was doing.
The defense was so rude in court. We presented our evidence calmly and objectively, and he was just filled with frustration and lobbing insults instead of facts. My favorite sarcastic line? "If you want people to be happy at your wedding, don't have it on a Tuesday afternoon!" (Our wedding was mid-week because we wanted it on our anniversary. Comments about the unusual date are to be expected, but I could not believe he actually said that in court instead of sticking to the facts.) Oddly enough, his only actual defense seemed to be a complete contradiction to his statement -- pictures of happy guests at my wedding (because I guess since people were happy, the dance floor must have been perfect). I'm proud to have not retaliated.
Thanks to those who gave advice!