Fun games for a wedding?
November 18, 2013 10:15 PM Subscribe
What are some fun games or activities that can take place at a wedding and at the reception? I'm hoping to hear about things that you've experienced at a wedding that worked really well, made people laugh or contributed to the meaning of the wedding. Thank you.
A quiet activity, but we used this very casual guestbook at our wedding, which usefully filled in a little bit of downtime between a cocktail hour and a reception when we had a tram bottleneck. My sister and sister-in-law cheerfully pushed pages and markers at people as they entered the reception hall, and even the most initially grumpy gave us neat pictures and thoughts by the end of the night. It also gave people at tables something to talk about if they didn't already know each other.
posted by charmedimsure at 10:34 PM on November 18, 2013
posted by charmedimsure at 10:34 PM on November 18, 2013
In French weddings, it is common for the friends of the couple to plan "animations" throughout the cocktail and dinner, as a way to break things up and give all the guests something to talk about. These can be silly slideshows, writing new lyrics to a song and having all the guests sing, etc. Usually they involve some (very) good spirited mocking of the newly weds.
At weddings I've been to there was the song w/new lyrics, a really well-done flash mob during the cocktail, a ridiculous made up ceremony where the couple's parents were knighted, the slide show of baby pictures, making and playing a music video to a song from the grooms high school band, etc. These don't have to be very time consuming to plan or do, the purpose has been served if you make everyone laugh a bit between the starter and the main course.
Usually there are 3-5 of these in a night, but your average French wedding starts with a ceremony at four, winds it's way through a cocktail, a 4-5 course sit down dinner, and dancing until 4 or 5am, so you can scale as appropriate to your wedding length. These don't work quite as well in the super scheduled everyone out by 11 kinds of American weddings you sometimes see.
posted by ohio at 10:40 PM on November 18, 2013 [1 favorite]
At weddings I've been to there was the song w/new lyrics, a really well-done flash mob during the cocktail, a ridiculous made up ceremony where the couple's parents were knighted, the slide show of baby pictures, making and playing a music video to a song from the grooms high school band, etc. These don't have to be very time consuming to plan or do, the purpose has been served if you make everyone laugh a bit between the starter and the main course.
Usually there are 3-5 of these in a night, but your average French wedding starts with a ceremony at four, winds it's way through a cocktail, a 4-5 course sit down dinner, and dancing until 4 or 5am, so you can scale as appropriate to your wedding length. These don't work quite as well in the super scheduled everyone out by 11 kinds of American weddings you sometimes see.
posted by ohio at 10:40 PM on November 18, 2013 [1 favorite]
At my cousin's wedding where I was a groomsman last month, they had three or four games toward the beginning for the wedding party to determine which gender got to say their speech (or eat or... etc) first. I vs'ed my cousin where whoever got wrapped like a mummy in toilet paper first won a point for their gender. Another game was where each member of the wedding party played a scavenger hunt where they had to find an object the DJ said ("Find a NJ driver's license" "Bring me a belt" "Get a sheet of toilet paper") and whoever was last to get the object was out until there was one person standing.
The last game was called Cookieface I think. The bride and groom sat down next to each other facing everyone, put their head back, and got an Oreo placed on their forehead. Whoever got the cookie in their mouth without using hands or moving their whole body won. Then whoever wanted to do it next was able to try it.
Also, the DJ had the members of the wedding party dance with their respective partner, and then pretty much told us to find someone else to bring to the floor. Pretty much got EVERYONE moving all night.
DJ also told the reception to write down possible names for the future kids and he said them throughout the night. Most were funny or inside jokes but there were also some serious ones.
posted by daninnj at 10:54 PM on November 18, 2013 [2 favorites]
The last game was called Cookieface I think. The bride and groom sat down next to each other facing everyone, put their head back, and got an Oreo placed on their forehead. Whoever got the cookie in their mouth without using hands or moving their whole body won. Then whoever wanted to do it next was able to try it.
Also, the DJ had the members of the wedding party dance with their respective partner, and then pretty much told us to find someone else to bring to the floor. Pretty much got EVERYONE moving all night.
DJ also told the reception to write down possible names for the future kids and he said them throughout the night. Most were funny or inside jokes but there were also some serious ones.
posted by daninnj at 10:54 PM on November 18, 2013 [2 favorites]
The best wedding day games were a full on traditional English/Scottish school sports day with sack races, rounders, egg and spoon race and a rather non-traditional frisbee game. It was fantastic fun and was followed by a ceilidh.
It does require your guests not to be too precious about taking off their high heels and getting covered in whatever was in the sacks before you used them for sack races. It was a rather unique wedding.
posted by kadia_a at 11:01 PM on November 18, 2013
It does require your guests not to be too precious about taking off their high heels and getting covered in whatever was in the sacks before you used them for sack races. It was a rather unique wedding.
posted by kadia_a at 11:01 PM on November 18, 2013
I went to a (German) wedding a little while ago where there was a giant canvas and paints and paintbrushes set up on an easel at the back of the reception, and the canvas was divided into the number of squares that there were guests. The squares were numbered. Every guest was given a tiny square from a larger photograph, and had to render the contents of their square into the appropriate space on the canvas. When the whole thing came together, it turned out to be the engagement photo of the couple. It was pretty cool.
DON'T on the other hand, do what my father did at his (second) wedding, and have a trivia quiz for the guests about the couple that includes the question "when did the couple first get together", when the answer to that question ends up revealing that they were each cheating on their previous spouses.
posted by lollusc at 11:41 PM on November 18, 2013 [3 favorites]
DON'T on the other hand, do what my father did at his (second) wedding, and have a trivia quiz for the guests about the couple that includes the question "when did the couple first get together", when the answer to that question ends up revealing that they were each cheating on their previous spouses.
posted by lollusc at 11:41 PM on November 18, 2013 [3 favorites]
I had a duck race near the end of the wedding with a tent set up before hand for people to decorate plastic ducks with pens and paints and fabric and mustaches and so on.
Also a treasure hunt with a big wooden treasure chest hidden on an island. The problem with that was that one couple really went for it and found the treasure before anyone else really got started. So in retrospect it would have been better for the treasure chest to stay where it was and everyone to find it and take some treasure.
Also a coconut shy and welly wanging. (A traditional English Fete type game).
These were fine, but probably a bit more specifically tuned to the tone of the event.
One thing that worked really really well was not having any fixed table plans or a sit down meal, but instead a buffet and a pig roast. It kept everything a lot looser and informal and I think that really helped people relax into it.
posted by Just this guy, y'know at 2:19 AM on November 19, 2013
Also a treasure hunt with a big wooden treasure chest hidden on an island. The problem with that was that one couple really went for it and found the treasure before anyone else really got started. So in retrospect it would have been better for the treasure chest to stay where it was and everyone to find it and take some treasure.
Also a coconut shy and welly wanging. (A traditional English Fete type game).
These were fine, but probably a bit more specifically tuned to the tone of the event.
One thing that worked really really well was not having any fixed table plans or a sit down meal, but instead a buffet and a pig roast. It kept everything a lot looser and informal and I think that really helped people relax into it.
posted by Just this guy, y'know at 2:19 AM on November 19, 2013
In Orthodox Jewish weddings there's a tradition of tying napkins together to make a huge jump rope, and getting the bride (and sometimes both the bride and groom) to jump during the dancing.
Extra points when the wedding dress is giant and poofy.
posted by Mchelly at 4:17 AM on November 19, 2013
Extra points when the wedding dress is giant and poofy.
posted by Mchelly at 4:17 AM on November 19, 2013
I've seen dollar dances (usually associated with the ethnic heritage/s of the bride and/or groom) and they can be festive and fun.
posted by likeatoaster at 7:23 AM on November 19, 2013
posted by likeatoaster at 7:23 AM on November 19, 2013
I went to a wedding with a series of rotating activities at their wedding--I remember a nature walk, jewelry making, juggling, hip-hop dance, and I know there were others (they had friends or family who ran these, so it was an eclectic mix). The timing was such that everyone could go to one or two, most of them were pretty open-ended, and there was also a "don't do any of these things, go ahead and catch up with your friends" area. It was a nice way to meet some folks at a wedding where I knew very few people.
posted by tchemgrrl at 7:26 AM on November 19, 2013
posted by tchemgrrl at 7:26 AM on November 19, 2013
Does a conga line count?
posted by The Underpants Monster at 7:30 AM on November 19, 2013
posted by The Underpants Monster at 7:30 AM on November 19, 2013
We had a little scavenger hunt included in the program booklet for our wedding and awarded prizes. It was very low-pressure, and the clues were mostly related to my husband and I. Those who were interested participated, and those who weren't just went on with the festivities unperturbed. A decent number of people decided to play along and I think had fun. If you're interested in the types of clues, memail me and I'll send you the text.
posted by juliapangolin at 10:02 AM on November 19, 2013
posted by juliapangolin at 10:02 AM on November 19, 2013
« Older Help me replace Everpix, at least a little. | How do I hack scheduling classes when I work all... Newer »
This thread is closed to new comments.
posted by ohisee at 10:32 PM on November 18, 2013 [1 favorite]