We all know that wedding receptions are full of family and friend special moments but nothing says you can’t throw a few fun games into your reception. Here are a few of our favourites and a quick overview of how to play them…. enjoy
Table games are perfect for breaking the ice among guests who don’t know each other, or making the time as they wait for the bride and groom to arrive or the buffet line to clear up go quickly.
Don’t forget any little guests that your having, things like colouring in books, blank paper, chalkboards or small/travel games work great for keeping them entertained too. If you speak to your DJ prior they can most likely bring along a few kids songs to get the kids up and dancing while the adults talk or enjoy their meals.
TABLE/GROUP GAMES
1. Photo Scavenger Hunt – This one can require a bit of pre planning but can get those candid and otherwise missed moments at your reception.
You can either provide each table with a cheap camera to return at the end or allow each couple/table to use their own and upload them using a hashtag or Facebook album.
Make cards of what to take photos of (or just a note asking them to snap some great images for you), you can have all guests having the same images to take or you can make 2/3 different sets of them.
Some photo opportunities could be:
The Bride and Groom kissing
The Flower Girl dancing
Someone doing a “silly” dance move
Grandparents laughing
Someone enjoying themselves
Everyone at your table
Someone enjoying their meal
2. Photo booth – Look into hiring a local photo booth company to assist with this one to get the best quality photos and accessories but if your budget fit it you can make one yourself with some sort of back drop and a bunch of accessories.
Things like photo frames, moustaches, silly glasses or hats can easily be purchased from your local party supplier or craft store.
3. Personalised Dare – On the back of all your guests place/name cards, include a fun dare like “Take a selfie with the cutest guy at your table,” or “Kiss the youngest person at the table” or “Take a photo with someone you don’t know.” The table with the most completed photos wins!
This is one that can totally be customised to each guests personality, shyness level and really make some guests step out of their comfort zone its totally up to you.
4. Bride and Groom Trivia – Give each guest, couple or table a bunch of trivia questions about the bride and groom. You can either get someone to give the answers towards the end of the night (if you do this remember not to make too many questions, we don’t want your guests sitting for an hour) or just leave your guests guessing the answers (the discussing between the table can be funny enough).
Choose questions like:
Where did the couple meet?
Who does more housework?
Who went further in schooling?
Who wants more kids?
5. Cards against Matrimony (based on cards agains humanity) – This is a great game to get a table of “strangers” talking and becoming friends even just for the evening. It does require a bit of preparation on your part but well worth it – Just remember to keep things PG rated as grandma might not want to hear X rated questions.
For those that don’t know the game you will require 5-7 answer cards for each person on the table plus one each for each round you want it to go (ie 10 people on the table and you want 3 rounds you would need 50 (10pp x 5) to start plus 30).
You also require question cards for the number of rounds you wish for each table, make these cards a different colour to easily recognise.
Someone then asks the question with the rest of the table putting in 1 answer card, the cards are mixed up and the person asking the question picks their favourite, the winning answer wins the round so another person asks the next question and so on.
An example question: “First comes love then comes marriage then comes…..”
Examples of answers: ” a baby carriage”, “a load of nagging”, “a large amount of debt” or “waiting outside a store while she shops”
6. Wedding Crossword or Find a word – Create a crossword or find a word full of words to do with the bride and groom. Things like where you met, where you live are great to allow all guests to know the answers.
GROUP GAMES
1. The Shoe Game – This can be a very funny game to play and give your guests an insight into your personally that they may not have already known.
The bride and groom sit back to back and take off their shoes, swap one with each other so they both have one of their shoes and one of their partners.
Now its just a case of having a bunch of pre arrange questions be asked (its best if the bridesmaids/grooms men decide on the questions without the bride and grooms input) and the bride and groom answer the question with either the groom (hold up grooms shoe) or the bride (hold the brides shoe).
Some question suggestions could be:
Who is the better driver?
Who is the messiest?
Who says I love you more?
Who causes you to run late the most?
Who made the first move?
Who is the better cook?
These can be totally personalised to suit the bride and groom, choose things that are funny rather than things that could become controversial.
2. Guest Bingo – Unlike normal bingo this one gets guests up and moving around the room. Your mix of bingo cards has questions where the person must find someone who “answers” the question and get them to initial the square.
Some questions could be:
Someone born in March
Someone born before 1975
Someone who went to school with the groom
Someone who has kids
3. Kissing Game – this one works along the same lines as the good old glass clinking. Get your MC or a guest to announce at the start of your reception where there is a large dice so instead of clinking glasses they are welcome to roll the dice and you will complete the task.
The tasks can be as involved as you’d like them to be, obviously you could be doing this for several hours so quick and simple tasks are better here.
Things like:
Give each other a passionate kiss
Groom to kiss bride on the cheek
Bride to kiss grooms hand
