Dance Floors - One Size Doesn't Fit All

How large should your dance floor be?

The rule of thumb (or should we say, rule of dancing feet) seems to be 4.5 square feet PER DANCER -- which is 9.0 square feet per DANCING COUPLE. (For slow dances, everyone's dancing as a couple, but for faster dancing, you typically have a mix of couples and individual dancers).

Of course, that's only one part of the equation. The other part is how many people are likely to be on the dance floor at any one time. That can vary widely from one event to another, and even from one time to another during the same event. Some of the floor rental companies estimate that, typically, no more than 30% of guests will be on the dance floor at any one time.

So if you expect 150-160 people at your wedding, think of enough space for 50 simultaneous dancers, which is 225 square feet (50 times 4.5), i.e., a 15' by 15' dance floor.

Space permitting, err on the side of a larger dance floor. A tiny dance floor might send a signal to guests that you don't anticipate much dancing. And it's no fun to be bumping into people on an overstuffed dance floor (unless you're going for a "mosh pit" ambiance!) Plus, a larger dance floor is a good way to provide that all-important buffer between the dining tables and the DJ (so that no guests are seated too close to the speaker system). On the other hand, you don't want a dance floor so huge that it looks half-empty even when lots of guests are dancing.

Another tip: all things being equal, go for a larger dance if it's a Jewish wedding, because the large circles formed while dancing the Hora inevitably take up a lot of extra space.