how to keep the dance floor full all night.

Every couple worries about it at some point: what if nobody dances? You picture the band striking up, a few brave aunties shuffling near the bar, and a sea of empty floorboards. The good news is that a packed dance floor isn't luck. It's mostly down to a handful of decisions you make weeks before the day, and a couple you make on the night itself.

Start strong, then never let the energy drop

The first hour after the first dance sets the tone for everything. If you let the floor go cold once, it's hard work getting it back. So front-load the songs everyone knows. This is not the moment for the obscure B-side you both adore, however much it means to you. Save that for earlier in the evening or for the playlist during dinner.

A good DJ or band reads the room, but you can help them. Give them three or four tracks that will guarantee a full floor, and ask them to drop one whenever numbers start thinning. A reliable crowd-filler at the right moment buys you another twenty minutes.

And don't underestimate the power of a singalong. A song where people scream the chorus and grab each other's shoulders does more for the atmosphere than any number of technically perfect dance tracks. Think the kind of song that empties the bar.

Feed people, then dance

Hungry guests don't dance. Tired, slightly tipsy guests with something in their stomachs absolutely do. This is why late-night food is one of the best dance-floor decisions you can make. A round of bacon baps, cheesy chips or a pizza van at around 9.30pm pulls people back from the bar and the garden, gives them a second wind, and quietly resets the whole party.

Timing matters here. If you bring food out too early, people drift off to sit down and the floor empties. Aim for the natural lull that tends to hit a couple of hours after the evening guests arrive. Feed them, let them mill about for ten minutes, then have the band launch straight into something big.

Get the lighting and the layout right

A brightly lit room with the dance floor stuck in a far corner is a party killer. People dance when they feel slightly anonymous and when the action is right in front of them.

• Dim the main lights once the dancing starts. Lower light makes people braver.
• Put the dance floor near the bar, not across the room from it. You want the two crowds to merge, not separate.
• Clear away spare chairs around the edge. Empty seats are an invitation to sit down.
• Keep the floor a sensible size. A vast empty expanse looks daunting; a slightly snug one looks busy from the first three couples.

Read your crowd, not the charts

The single biggest mistake is playing the music you think is cool rather than the music your guests will dance to. Your wedding has a particular mix of people: a table of teenagers, your parents' friends, the work crowd, a clutch of toddlers who'll be asleep by nine. The songs that unite that crowd are rarely the trendiest ones.

This is where a bit of crowdsourcing pays off. Ask guests for a song they can't sit down to when they RSVP. You'll spot patterns fast, and you'll end up with a list of tracks you'd never have thought of that mean something to the people in the room. The Build The Day RSVP form lets you add a question like this so requests land alongside the replies, no spreadsheet juggling required.

Here's a rough guide to when different things tend to work across the night.

Lead from the front (at least at the start)

Guests take their cue from the couple. If the two of you are on the floor, laughing and clearly not caring how you look, people follow. If you vanish to do the rounds the second the first dance ends, the floor often goes with you.

You don't have to dance every song. But be visible and be obviously enjoying yourself during that crucial first stretch. Grab your wedding party, grab the friends who always dance, and make a little nucleus of energy. Others join a crowd far more readily than they start one.

Plan the final song

End on a high, not a fade-out. The last song should be something the whole room can bellow with their arms around each other, a proper full-stop to the night. Tell your band or DJ in advance so it doesn't get lost, and consider gathering everyone for it. A planned ending leaves people buzzing as they head off, rather than wondering when exactly the party stopped.

Keep these in mind and the floor mostly looks after itself. Familiar songs, food at the right moment, low lighting, a couple who dance, and an ending people will talk about. None of it is complicated. It just needs deciding before the day, so on the night you can simply enjoy it.