We know a thing or two about Colorado wedding receptions! We have worked with over 400 brides in 10 years, helping each one pull off an amazing wedding reception.  In that time we have learned the secret of how to pack a dance floor:  Play GREAT music that everyone knows and likes.

You may find this very hard to believe:  there will be a lot of people attending your reception that don’t like the same music as you. If you tell the band to only play the kind of  music you like, the dance floor will be empty and your guests WILL leave early.  Nobody wants that.

I’m the one in the band who works very closely with the bride to help design the reception, especially the dancing part. We have one piece of advice we give ALL our brides:

Tell us the songs you like and don’t like.  Give us permission to read the dance floor and make changes we think we need to get your guests on the dance floor and keep them there.

Over the years, 95% of the brides we have worked with followed this advice.  The result? A fantastic time by all.  The reason?  Narrow Gauge puts together our play list based upon several factors:  the clients input and our experience.  During our actual performance, we use it as a guide.  If it’s working we keep it going and if the dance floor is not as packed as it should be, we change it up. It ALWAYS works.  We are very good at finding out what any group of people want to dance to on any given night.

Surprisingly, not every bride accepts our advice.  A handful of time in the past 10+ years we have worked with brides who insisted that we only play the songs they want, regardless of what their guest may want.  It has been a disaster every single time.

The Bride that Ruined Her Wedding Reception

“It’s my wedding and I don’t want any other style of music except country.”

Like every bride, she was so excited about the wedding.  She knew we had a great reputation as a dance band and she couldn’t wait to celebrate with her family and friends.  I encouraged her to give us the freedom to read the dance floor and play what the crowd wanted to dance to, just in case they were not all into county.

She insisted.

We did exactly what she wanted.

Very few people danced during our first 45 minute set.

On our break, I went to the bride and suggested we throw some rock songs into the mix, because that is what the guests seemed to want. Emphatically she said “NO!” She was disappointed when the same thing happened during our second set, and she actually left the wedding half way through it.

I told the guys what was going on and we were disappointed as well.  We knew we could get her guests dancing if she would just let us do our thing.  We do this every week and we are very good at what we do.   Thankfully this scenario has only happened at a handful of weddings because the outcome has been the same every single time.

This is where it gets interesting!

After she left, the guests all stayed and that’s where it get interesting!

I looked at the guys and said “The bride and groom have left, but all her guests are still here.  Let’s mix it up, and make sure her guests have a great time.”  We went right in to “Sweet Home Alabama” and the place went crazy.   We played a lot of rock dance songs the rest of the night, interspersed with country hits, and the dance floor stayed full the rest of the night.  People had a great time, but the bride missed it

The Lesson?

What is the lesson for you in this real life wedding tale? Trust the band!  Tell us the songs you like and don’t like and then give Narrow Gauge the authority to read the crowd and mix it up.  If you do, we guarantee that the dance floor will be packed all night long!

When you hire a band like Narrow Gauge, you not only get our stellar musicianship and a great show, you also get all of our experience.  We have played at over 400 weddings and we really do know a lot about how to get people dancing.  For more information about Narrow Gauge, visit our website at NarrowGaugeCountry.com