This is a guide to try and help you be successful in hosting a dance party.   I'm trying to help you get prepared and build your party plan. By thinking through these areas, you should come up with a plan to host a great dance party!

What I mean by that is that if you've never hosted a dance party and you decide to invite 200 people to your first party, it's likely going to go badly. I don't want to be mean, but there's just so much happening that you likely aren't aware of or able to respond to.  20-30 is a great number for a dance party.  Especially with younger kids. 

There's also a limitation on how many people you can have dancing.  Unless you have an empty airplane hanger ready to go, you need to make sure you don't invite more people than you have room for. 

At a dance party, the dance floor is the center.  The music gets played from one side.  If it is a dance party for kids, there should be some parents hanging out around the edges.  I love creating a unique area for dancing.  One of my favorites is to use the front porch overhead light and replace it with a disco light bulb. If it's still a little light out when the party starts, it's not the most obvious spot, but once the darkness sets in, the kids discover it.

Once you've got the basic layout for the core of the dance party, it's important to think about where whatever food / beverages you provide (more on this later) are going to be as well as how anyone is going to get to the restrooms.  How are people going to flow through your space. Make sure to think through that now because you can easily change the layout of the space before anything is setup. 

When I send invitations out to kids, I've started attaching a message to the parents as well now.  It lays out my expectations for the night so the parents are on the same page.  Every age group has different expectations and thinking about those now will really help. Are you dealing with elementary school kids who don't really know how to dance and just play to the music?  Are they middle school kids learning to dance, but still not sure?  High schoolers know how to dance and might need a different type of adult supervision.  

The budget for a party can get out of control super quickly if you let it.  Hiring a DJ, renting a space, catered food.  The sky is really the limit so you have to start off with a plan of what you want to spend and then make yourself stick to it.  Over a period of years, I have several thousand dollars invested into different equipment. If you don't, you might need to buy/rent things to make up for it.  If you're speakers are overkill for the party you're having, you just don't turn them up as much.  If they are undersized, there is nothing you can do about it. 

The start and the end time is just the beginning though.  You need to be thinking about how much time you need to get whatever you are doing setup.  The more elaborate the environment you are creating, the more time it takes.  I don't make any other plans on a dance party day.  I start as early as I can doing the setup because it takes almost the entire day.  For the teardown and cleanup, it goes quicker, but only because I don't put everything away, I usually just put it all back in the garage. 

Noise also becomes a potential issue the later into the evening you get.  If you have close neighbors, they might be okay with some loud music at 8, but at 10pm it could be a different story. You can always sneak in "one more song" at the end and go over by 5 minutes, but don't end up in a situation where you go way past the point of fun. 

The point of the fun is to keep everyone interested.  It is a burst of energy being injected into the party every 15 minutes that keeps it going and makes everyone want to come back.  Some of these cost money, others you might just have around and be able to use.  Whatever you do, make a plan ahead of time of what you are doing and when so you aren't having to think about it on the fly.  

Depending on your age range, you might be able to find a live concert recording on YouTube that will be an absolutely hit.  This option can give you a great visual to have on a TV or projected onto a wall.  Some kids might get inspired by the dancing.  If you go this route, definitely listen to the video in full ahead of time to check for any language content you might be ready for.

Making your own playlist can be an option, it takes more time to do.  If you've been having small dance parties up to this point with just your family, then you might have enough songs to make an hour or 90 minute playlist.  If you go this route, I do recommend having at least a 30 minute buffer beyond the planned time for music.  There will likely be some songs that just miss on the night and you want to jump through them. 

If you only have a few lights, look at your space plan and figure out where you can have them to create the most impact. All my small lights are powerful enough to cover two walls in a room if I move it back far enough and point it at the corner.  This is also where the USB lights and USB battery pack combos are helpful.  No need to plug it in and have wires everywhere

You absolutely could do a special drink table for your attendees.  It would be another item in the fun category to bring out 30 minutes or more into the night.  If it's a warm for your party, freezing a bunch of tang and running it through a shaved ice maker would be an amazing pick me up for the kids.  Anything in this space is going to be a big surprise, which also means it's a category that no one will likely notice if you don't have something special here.  

Snacks are a massive win.  We go by Costco and buy a pack or two of the Kirkland granola bars.  They are quick and easy to hand out. Make sure to have a few trash cans out so kids can throw away the wrapper.  You can absolutely have more, but time eating takes away from time dancing. The more complicated the food is, the more likely a mess is.  If I wanted to up this just a bit, I'd probably have someone bring a bunch of Costco pizzas to the party. 

Nosie Safety - How loud is your party going to be.  I highly recommend picking up packages of the ear plugs on my Essentials page. Hearing damage can be permanent.  Have ear plugs and just remember, it doesn't have to be super loud.   Having it loud enough to dance to, but quiet enough for people around the outsides of the dance floor to have a conversation is a perfect volume. 

Cables - Power cables, sound cables, and cables for lights are just the start.  One party, I was trying to run a string to hang stuff on and lost track of it.  The kids found it and were twisting it on themselves during the party.  Thankfully a parent noticed, but always be paying attention to tripping hazards.  Order some gaffer tape that pulls up without leaving residue so you can hold any wires down.  

Heavy Things - For me, this is my speakers and light stands.  Gradually it's becoming my lights as well. Anything heavy that's off the ground should be anchored so it can't fall.  For me, I use some ratchet straps to anchor them to my truck.  I also have some cones out to try and give kids an idea of where I don't want them to be.  If they get bumped, there is a very limited amount of space that they can move. 

Alcohol - We don't provide any for the parents.  It's just not anything we want to do.  If a parent brings some, we're okay with it.  If you're hosting a party where people are of age, you have to make this decision and there is a lot of risk as the host.   This is a high risk item. 

Slam Dancing - Be on the lookout for people intentionally bumping into others. It can quickly lead to an injury.  Stop it before it gets started.  I usually make an announcement talking about having our own space when dancing.  If we feel someone close, move around a bit to find your own space.  The goal is setting the expectation that there shouldn't be contact. 

There's things I won't think about while writing this which is why you should always be thinking about safety when you're having a dance party. 

I hope everything here has helped you build a good plan for your dance party.  If you have any questions, connect with me on Facebook and ask questions.

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