When planning a wedding, you’re focused on so many different variables. From centerpieces to vendors, planning your big day is so exciting! But how many weddings have you been to where the reception is a total dud? Not everyone is comfortable on the dance floor, so including a few wedding games at your reception can keep your party going all night!
Wedding games can not only help keep the party alive, but it gives your guests a chance to connect with you on so many different levels. Rather than just showing up to see your vows and eat cake, wedding games can give you a chance to show off who you are as a couple and allow the guests to soak up your love throughout the entire day! Let’s talk about the best wedding games you can have at your reception.
The Best Wedding Games to Keep the Party Alive
Garter/Bouquet Toss
When you’re thinking of wedding games to have at your reception, make sure to keep the classics! The bouquet and garter toss have been around for ages, and most wedding guests look forward to this portion of the reception. If you’re not one for tradition, don’t worry! There are so many ways that you can customize and make the bouquet and garter toss unique for you. Here are some fun ways to mix it up!
- Invite everyone to the floor and do the tosses at the same time! Not everyone loves showing off that they are single, so being in a bigger crowd can make them more comfortable.
- Instead of using your own bouquet, have a breakaway bouquet! As soon as you throw it in the air, the flowers will come apart giving everyone in the crowd a chance to have a piece. Why give the luck of love to just one person in your life?
- If you want to keep your bouquet, use your maid of honor’s bouquet for the toss instead.
- Instead of wearing your garter the entire day, make it a joke and have them fish the garter from someone in their bridal party!
Oldest Couple Dance
This is one of those wedding games that brings a smile to everyone’s face! Start by calling up all the couples for a couples dance. Then have the DJ tell couples to set down if they’ve been married for 6 months, 1 year, 3 years, 5 years, and keep counting up until only one couple is remaining. Ask this couple how long they’ve been married and present them with a small gift for being a role model as the oldest couple at your wedding.
You can also play this game backward and start with the oldest couple! Add on couples who have been married for less time and watch the dance floor grow into a huge amount of love.
READ MORE: 8 Tips For Planning An Eco-Friendly Wedding
Couple Trivia
After your guests have heard incredible (and sometimes embarrassing) stories from the speeches, you’ll want a smooth transition so guests don’t drift off. Try having wedding games that include your guests as much as possible! Host a couple’s trivia that your guests can participate in.
Ask your guests questions related to you both individually and as a couple, and have them grab the mic if they want to answer. Instead of having party favors, you can inform your guests at the beginning of the night that you’ll be having a few wedding games where they can win small prizes. This will keep your crowd interested to stay through every question, and you’d be surprised at who knows what about you.
Corn hole
If you’re hosting an outdoor wedding, you may want to have a few wedding games that will entertain the guests during cocktail hour. Corn hole is a classic game that everyone loves at a party! The best part is you can have custom corn hole boards made just for your big day and to keep forever as an heirloom.
Money Dance
Why not include wedding games that can help pay for your honeymoon? The money dance is a wedding tradition celebrated by so many different cultures! After your first dance, have your DJ play a tasteful song with the word “money” in it and allow your guests to come up for a personal dance. Your guests will then come up to you to pin money and have a few seconds of dancing. Their dance ends when another guest pins money on you.
The money dance is great for couples who have established households and don’t need traditional wedding gifts. Plus it gives you a chance to interact with individual guests you may not have been able to see before!
READ MORE: 10 Ways To Save Money On Your Wedding
Polaroid Fun
Ditch the traditional guest sign-in book and instead purchase a few Polaroid cameras for your guests to use! Guests will have a blast taking portraits of each other to hang up and sign, and it’ll become one of those wedding games that everyone can participate in. Imagine the fun and unique ways your guests will pose for their “guest book signature”!
Polaroid Scavenger Hunt
While you have those polaroids, introduce a wedding game that will create little heirlooms for you. Create a scavenger hunt for 4-5 guests to play at a time during the reception. You can have a big sign with a checklist so guests know what photos have already been taken and what to look out for next.
You’ll have so many little moments documented and your guests will be entertained with finding things that matter the most to you.
Coloring for Kids
If you plan on having kids at your wedding, you’ll want to ensure that you have a few wedding games for them in case they get bored, especially during more adult moments. Customize a few coloring sheets to keep kids entertained during the speech, that way your guests don’t feel like they have to rush to get the kids home.
READ MORE: 5 Tips For Attending A Wedding With Your Kids: A Survival Guide
Shoe Game
Wedding guests love seeing the couple interact together, especially when it comes to things they may not agree on. The shoe game is the perfect game to not only cause an uproar of laughter in the crowd but to also see where your spouse stands on certain topics. Questions can include:
- Who is more romantic?
- Who is the best driver?
- Who has the best in-laws?
- Who is the better singer?
- Who is more likely to save all their money?
- Who won the last argument?
- Who takes the longest to get ready?
Your guests will love seeing the different answers and laughing when one of you seems a bit nervous to answer.
Interactive Dessert Station
Wedding games don’t necessarily have to be a competition. Sometimes the best wedding games come from something that is simply interactive, like a dessert bar. From a chocolate fountain to a waffle bar, there are so many different options for an interactive dessert station. Your guests may love seeing who can eat the most chocolate or how many waffles they can stack in one pile. An interactive dessert station will keep your guests coming back around for more food and more entertainment.
Themed Photo Booth
Skip the traditional photo booth and instead choose one that is themed, like a photo bus! Props are fun, but ones that are more specific will keep your guests on their toes wanting to create the perfect photo booth picture. This will also lead to other photos and videos taken outside of the photo booth and your guests won’t feel limited with just a single photo.
Live Performance
We all love a good DJ and the wedding games they come up with, but mixing it up during the reception can keep the party going for a lot longer. Host a live performance where your guests can sit and watch the show, be pulled up on stage, or dance around the tables. There are an endless amount of performances from live bands, dancers, circus performers, or even a dance instructor to help teach your guests! Hosting little wedding games and performances that are unique can help keep the party going all night.
When you’re thinking of wedding games for your reception, don’t feel limited to what you can or cannot do! Each little game or event is meant to keep your guests entertained and remind them of the love you two share for one another. Adding just a few of these wedding games to your big day can make it more meaningful and become the party your friends will talk about for years!
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Photo credits: Lauren Benson Photography
