Wedding receptions can be a blur: mingle, eat, drink, dance, cut the cake, eat some more, dance some more, drink, go home. After a while, all the wedding receptions you’ve been to can run together. Want to make your reception stand out? Mix things up with activities, games, and twists on tradition.
Change Up the Guest Book
Many couples have a pretty white book with signatures tucked away in a box somewhere, probably the attic. Make your guest book something to remember by asking guests to do more than just sign their name.
In recent years, photo booths have become popular at wedding receptions, and with good reason. We don’t know many people who won’t get into a photo booth and mug for the camera. Keep the photos as keepsakes for yourself and your guest book or let guests take them home as favors. If you can’t afford the cost of renting a photo booth, go the DIY route. Put out instant Polaroid cameras or a digital camera and printer and ask guests to take their picture and then include it in your guest book with a message. (Be sure to have someone there to provide tech support if you go the digital camera-printer route.)
For extra fun, we love these chalkboard speech bubbles. Combine them with either guest book idea above, and you’ll get a guest book that will leave you in stitches.
Mess with Tradition
Guests will remember your reception if you take tradition and turn it upside down. Some couples don’t like the bouquet and garter toss – it can be embarrassing to single guests, and many brides don’t want their new husband digging for a garter while Grandma is watching. One alternative is to skip it altogether. There’s a pretty good chance no one will miss it.
Another alternative is to keep the bouquet toss for the women – it’s a lot less embarrassing – and plan something else for the guys. One couple whose wedding we attended planned a scavenger hunt for the men. They had to find things like shoes of a certain color, a woman wearing a certain type of clothing, etc. The last guy to find the item each round had to sit down. The winner was given a prize.
Other couples like to honor the marriages among their guests by giving the bouquet to the longest-married couple. Invite all married couples to stand or dance, and then ask them to sit as you list number of years married. The last couple standing gets the bouquet!
Some brides take the bouquet toss as a chance to publicly thank the women in their lives and bridal party. A pre-made bouquet designed to be taken apart is created so she can give each woman a flower.
Play Around
Games aren’t just for kids – adults enjoy them, too! Place ice-breaker games at your tables to get guests talking – common ideas include cards with questions on them at each place setting or cards that tell each guest something interesting about the other people at their table – or take a break from dancing to play a game. To make it fun, don’t make participation mandatory. Some guests will have a better time watching than playing. Here are some fun ideas:
- Guests have to do something other than clink glasses to get you to kiss. Some ideas: http://www.partypop.com/forums/Weddings/m38153.htm. We attended a wedding once where guests had to sing a song lyric that included the word “love” in order to get the couple to kiss.
- Play the “Newlywed Game”: Ask guests questions about you as a couple. Give prizes for correct answers. You can even divide your guests into teams by table.
- Set up a scavenger hunt.
- Play musical chairs – fun for all ages!
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