Wedding Reception Games and Fun

Dinner

First to the Buffet Table

Place a color sticker underneath each of our floral table centerpieces. As the dinner portion of the reception began, the emcee calls out a color. Whichever table had the color sticker that matched the color the emcee announced, the guests sitting at the table were allowed to line up at the buffet table.

Musical Money

This game can be played for the table centerpieces at a formal shower, or at a wedding reception. Have your DJ or a shower guest play some music while you tell ONE person at each table to take out a dollar bill. As the music begins, pass the dollar around the table, make the direction of the dollar bill change a few times, and then much like musical chairs, when the music stops, the action stops. Have the person holding the dollar bill stand up, and all those standing must submit to a game of "Simon Says" (this is your chance to make your friends do some really crazy things!). After the people have been put through the ringer, say "Simon Says go back to your table. Simon says give the dollar back to the person who took it out of their wallet, because THEY are the person who wins the centerpiece!!!!" Everyone will get a good laugh at the fact that these people did these silly things and STILL did not get the centerpiece... makes for great photos as well!

Chicken Dance with Unsuspecting Dance Partners

Count the number of tables at the reception. Place a number under a chair at each table. Make sure that each number has a duplicate number at another table (example two #1's, two #2's....). Have the DJ announce to look under the chairs for a number and call the number holders to the dance floor. Pair off the people with the matching numbers and have them dance the chicken dance with their unsuspecting dance partners !!!

Teams

This game requires that the entire party pay attention and work together. This enables people to get to know one other. It may sound a little complicated, but in actuality it's not.

1) The DJ divides the room into two sides/teams. You can label each side Team A and Team B. 2) Each side should have the same number of tables. Each table is labeled and has a corresponding table on the other team. So for example, both Team A and B have Table Pink, Purple, and Blue, etc. 3) Each corresponding table from each team has a card on the table with a question. 4) Everyone sitting at the table appoints someone to be their Table Spokesperson or Leader. The tables work together to answer the question. 5) The DJ calls the representative from Table Pink from both sides. Interviews them and asks them to answer the question. 6) For each correct answer, that team gets a point. The team with the most point wins.

The great thing about this game is that people can get to learn things about the bride and the groom, and it's a way to get people to participate. You can have a lot of fun with this game.

 

Centerpiece Giveaway

Gold Star

Put a gold star or some other sticker under one chair at each table. At some point during the festivities, have the DJ, emcee or best man invite everyone to look under his or her seat for the gold star. Whoever has it wins the centerpiece!

Long Haul

Have the reception DJ, emcee or best man announce that the centerpiece at each table goes to the person who traveled the farthest to attend the wedding. This way a small token of your appreciation can be given to your dear friend who's made the trip out to be a part of your speical day. Don't forget to personally say thank-you before the reception is over!

Age Before Beauty

With a nod to respect for elders, announce that the oldest person at each table is the recipient of the centerpiece. This is where female guests must decide which they want more-to keep their age under wraps or your centerpiece. Then again, there may be women who want the centerpiece so badly that they’ll add a decade or two to their age just to get it.

Hot Potato

The "Hot Potato" centerpiece giveaway ploy is silly fun. The emcee first requests that someone at each table pull out a dollar bill, which will be returned. Then, without telling them why, the emcee has the guests play "hot potato" with the bill. As the music plays, the bill is passed around in a circle from guest to guest. The dollar goes to whoever is holding the bill when the music stops. The centerpiece goes to whoever pulled the dollar bill out of their wallet.

Quickest Hand

For this method, the emcee can announce up front that it’s time for the centerpiece giveaway. The emcee then says, "The first person at the table to pull out foreign currency from pocket or purse wins" or "the first person to pull out a cell phone that isn’t black wins." Make sure the emcee has prepared several options in case it takes three or four rounds to give away all the centerpieces.

Power Dinner

Finally, if you and your groom share a bizarre sense of humor or simply want to make the evening go quickly so you can get down to a more personal celebration of your marriage, here’s your centerpiece giveaway. Have the emcee announce, after the salad plates have been removed, that the centerpieces go to the person at each table who finishes his or her entrée first. Then sit back and enjoy the next few minutes. It’s fun to see how many people will inhale their food to get that centerpiece!

 

Garter Toss

Hike

A fun way to get the guys to join in on the Garter Toss is to put a Garter around a football. We have had couples/wedding parties autograph the football as a memento for the bride and groom.

Junk in the Trunk

A fun way to entertain your guests during the garter toss is to fill a bag full of props. Using a construction worker as an example, fill a bag with a hammer, level, tape measure, screw driver, etc. and place it under a covered chair. When removing the garter, have the bride sit in that chair and toss all items in the bag out for your guest to see.

 

Money Dance

The Advice Dollar

We use the advice dollar as a memento for your wedding day. There are many ways to use the advice dollar. (1) We put advice dollars in each napkin on the tables. We tell the audience to write advice to the bride and groom. During dinner we go around to the tables and have one person from each table read there advice to the bride and groom. This can be used to give away centerpieces etc. (2) We use the advice dollar for the money dance. We can put a paper clip on the advice dollars and invite the guests to dance with the bride and groom for the advice dollar dance. We announce that if anyone would like to make a donation a paper clip is attached to the advice dollars. (3) The third way to use the Advice dollar is to put a big Jar on the gift table. Have a few Advice dollars in the jar with money attached. We then let everyone know to drop their advice into the advice jar on the gift table.

 

Misc. Games

Love Counts

For this wedding game, you will need bags of Hershey's Kisses, a bucket or box, and the arms of the bride and groom. In this game we've titled, "How Much Love Can You Hold For Me?", the goal is to guess how many Kisses the bride and groom can hold in their hands! This simple game is perfect for a reception of any size.

Round up all the guests who would like to participate in this game. Have the groom dip his hands into a bucket full of Hershey's Kisses to grab as many as he can. With the Kisses still in his hands, the guests must now guess how many Kisses he is holding. As the groom patiently waits and balances all the Kisses still in his hands, have all the guests help in the counting process. The one with the closest guess to the final count will win a prize. Now, it's time for the bride to see how many Kisses she can hold!

Modified version: Have the bride try to pile on as many Kisses as she can onto the groom. She can place them wherever she wants to but he cannot drop them! In this modified version, all the guests can be involved cheering the bride as she piles the Kisses higher and higher onto the groom!

Play that Tune

This is a great game for smaller intimate wedding receptions where many of the guests are familiar with one another. Before the wedding day, create short song clips using favourite tunes enjoyed by the bride and groom.

Round up a group of guests and divide them into two teams. One member from each team will have a "play that tune" face off. First one to recognize the song can shout out the answer. The winner of each round proceeds to the back of the line and continues to play. Others, less fortunate, sweeten their departure from the game, with a sweet gift of candies wrapped in cellophane. Final winner receives a grand prize!

Stick the Kiss

This wedding game is an easy way to get a lot of guests involved with minimal effort from them. All they need to do is peel and stick!

Enlarge full body photos of the bride and groom or draw a cartoon version of the married couple. Using stickers with hearts or kisses, number each one and its backing. The goal for the guests: where does the bride and groom want their first kiss as a married couple to be?

Have the newlyweds write their answers down on a secret piece of paper. Encourage guests to approach the photos and place their stickers wherever they please. You can imagine the possibilities of where the kisses may end up, especially given all the choices! The guest whose sticker is closest to the answers from the newlyweds wins a prize.

At the end of all that, make sure to have the bride and groom demonstrate their answers!

Tribute to the Best

Give a little something back to your guests at the wedding reception. This is a fun way to start the evening off and helps to warm up them up for the more interactive wedding games to come as the night progresses.

To celebrate the beginning of your new journey with your husband, why not celebrate the triumphs and 'bests' of your guests? Have your MC announce a "Tribute to the Best"! Give a lavish gift to the couple that has been married the longest (is that not inspiring?), the most loving couple, the most active couple, and any other couples you admire.

Fancy twist: During this segment of the night, why not also pay a special tribute to both sets of parents with a little video montage of their lives?

When is Your Birthday?

This is a simple wedding game aimed to help the bride and groom give away their beautiful centrepieces to the guests.

Have the MC announce that the person at each table with the birthday closest to the bride and groom's wedding day will become the proud owner of the centerpiece at his/her table. Jazz up this game by using birthdays to select your guests for a raffle draw!

Other ideas: Hide a trinket under one chair at each table; place a special sticker under one plate at each table; first person to sing at each table; first person that used the bathroom at each table...and the list goes on, but you get the idea.

Artists at Work

Bring out the hidden creative talents of your guests with this fun game called "Artists at Work". Gather a group of willing guests who will instantly be transformed into the next Picasso.

Give each a sheet of paper and a large tip marker (allowing seated guests to see the final products). The objective: to draw a picture for the newlywed conveying their well wishes in 30 seconds! The bride and groom will choose the two finalists and the rest of the guests can choose the winner by applause!

Bride or Groom?

This wedding game really helps to liven up the atmosphere at the reception since it requires the participation of the entire wedding party. Guests are sure to love this game.

The women form one team and the men form another. Each receives two signs, one with "BRIDE" and one with "GROOM" written on them. Ensure the signs are large enough for your guests to see clearly.

Have a list of "who" questions such as, "Who do you think will snore the loudest?" or "Who is the neatest?" or "Who will hog the bed?" The entire wedding party raises the applicable sign in answer to the question. Imagine the varying answers you may get! Choose modest questions that will not embarrass the newly married couple too much in front of close family, co-workers, and young children (especially if they are relatively private people). You know them best!

Can't Touch This!

Inspired by the classic children's game of musical chairs, this wedding game requires guests with quick hands and a rhythm for juggling! You will need to create small bags of candy using cellophane and ribbon (or any other trinket) and an energetic song to mimic the up-tempo pace of this game (our title may give hints to a possible song choice).

Have all the participating guests stand in a circle. The objective: at the sound of the music, guests will have to quickly pass the candy around the circle. When the music stops, everyone stops moving. The person with the candy is eliminated and returns to their seat. Let him/her keep the candy as a sweet token for playing the game. This continues and the last person left receives a prize!

Modified version: if you want to see the game go faster, use a bag of ice!

Feed Me, Feed Me

Marriage is all about teamwork. This hilarious game is perfect for the wedding reception and requires the new bride and groom to communicate and work together as a team.

Begin with the bride sitting in a chair while the groom is blindfolded. Place a piece of banana into his hand and spin him around once. Now, listening only to the directions given by his new bride, he must make his way over to her and feed her the banana!

Once he is successful, switch positions. This time, give the bride a nice juicy piece of wedding cake topped with whipped cream. How well will the groom do in guiding his bride to feed him?

A few notes: since the bride is wearing all that lovely makeup, make sure to give the groom a food item that isn't too messy or it may ruin her look and possibly her wedding dress too. Have the wedding party shadow the bride and groom while they are blindfolded to avoid any accidents.

Guess Who?

This is another wedding game for the reception that aims to place the bride and groom in the spotlight using one very simple prop: a blindfold.

To test how well the groom knows his new bride, have him blindfolded and seated in a chair facing all the reception guests. Now comes the fun part. Round up as many guests as possible, from the young to the old, men and women.

The objective: can the groom figure out which one in the line up is his new bride? In the tame version, the groom can shake each guest's hand to find his new wife. Remember to play some fun and upbeat music during this game!

Other possibilities: Have each guest kiss the groom on the cheek; the groom must feel each person's leg (particularly fun if there are a lot of men in the lineup!).

La La La La Love Song

Liven up the wedding reception and get the guests involved! Inspired by the "Shake Shake Shake" game, guests will have to sing a few bars for the bride and groom to kiss.

Determine what songs can be used. You can choose a theme, such as songs that contain the word "love" or songs from the 1980s or have guests sing for a certain amount of time. The point is to have fun and enjoy the entertainment (and to get the bride and groom to kiss, of course)!

Marriage Advice 101

This is a great game to play at a small wedding reception with close friends and family. Raise the laughometer with this simple yet fun game of "Marriage Advice 101".

Provide guests at each reception table with index cards and pens. Their task: to come up with the best marriage advice they can give for the newlyweds. Read out some of the highlights during the night. Award gifts for "The funniest advice given", "The best advice given", and any other category you can think of.

Piggy Back

This wedding game requires a strong groom and a spacious hall. Rather than carrying his bride over the threshold of their new home, this bold groom is going to bravely perform a piggyback ride in front of all the reception guests!

Have the Master of Ceremonies (MC) announce this brave feat of strength as he piggybacks his new bride around the reception hall, symbolizing their new journey together as husband and wife. Make sure to have the guests cheer on the groom. Safety comes first, so please prepare accordingly if you plan on using this game!

Another possibility: Tell the groom he must get from point A to point B in the reception hall with his bride but her feet can't touch the floor! This version tests the crafty wits of the groom and will bring just as many laughs from the guests as the original game.

Shake Shake Shake

Want the bride and groom to lock lips during the reception? Guests will have to do a little moving of their own in this wedding game we call, "Shake Shake Shake".

Create a CD with a variety of fun and upbeat songs (Chicken Dance anyone?). Guests who want to see the newlyweds kiss will have to do a quick boogey on the dance floor! This is a great wedding game to play with a lively group of guests. Children can get involved too!

Aloha hula hula

Have your guests doing a lip hip action with this fun and hilarious wedding game! This game is all about making your guests work for that golden kiss from the bride and groom. All you need is a hula hoop and leis for participating guests.

During the reception, have the MC or someone in the wedding party announce a special hip twist to the night's festivities. If anyone would like the newlyweds to kiss, he/she must hula with the hula hoop for 30 seconds! Now you know this game will produce some laughs!

Celebrate with a Bang!

What's a wedding reception without a little fun aimed at the bride and groom? This wedding game is ideal for any reception.

Celebrate the wedding with a bang! This silly game requires one balloon and the bride and groom. The objective: the new Mr. and Mrs. must work together to pop the balloon using any body part except their hands and feet!

Hmm... this game sounds very interesting. Remember to have the guests cheer on the newlyweds!

Cherry on a String

Now this is one wedding game for the reception that really aims to put the bride and groom in the spotlight. It receives a "spicy" rating because, well, the newlyweds are really going to have to work during this game!

This game requires one bride, one groom, and one cherry on a string held by a willing member of the wedding party. The goal: using only their mouths, the newlyweds must work together to eat the cherry. Begin by positioning the fruit within close reach of the married couple. Raise and lower the treat to add suspense and much laughter! The game ends when the cherry is gone.

Garter the Gander

The saying goes, "What's good for the goose is good for the gander" and what better way to show this off than with a gender switch on this timeless ritual!

For this wedding game, pre-arrange to have the groom put on the garter (without anyone noticing, of course!). Sometime during the reception, gather all the single men and announce that the garter toss is about to begin.

Have the groom act as though he will be revealing the garter on the bride. Now, flip the switch! Play frisky music as the groom begins to pull up his pant leg and hear the guests roar with laughter! Let the bride slowly take the garter off the groom...and the rest, they say, is history.

Key to His Heart

This wedding game really tests how well the new bride and groom work as a team. The only materials required are a long strand of ribbon (enough to wrap around the groom a few times over) and one clean generic house key.

With the groom standing up, have him hold one end of the ribbon while his groomsmen wrap the rest of it around his body. One groomsman continues to hold the other end of the ribbon while the bride is given the 'key to her groom's heart'.

The object of the game: the groomsman strings the key onto the ribbon and the bride must now move the key around the groom until she reaches the end that is in his hand. The catch: the bride can only use her mouth to move the key!

Leggs Work Together

For this wedding game, you will need one relaxed wedding reception, one hard boiled egg, one daring groom, and one bold bride.

The objective: with patience and concentration, the bride tries to transfer the egg up one leg of the groom's pants and over to the bottom of the other pant leg, all without dropping the egg!

Putter Up

This is another great way to have your guests moving and swinging at your reception. All you need is a golf club, some putting green, and guests with a good swing!

Let family and friends know at the onset of the night's celebrations that the newlyweds will only kiss if someone can get the golf ball into the hole! There will be plenty of laughs as guests attempt to putt their way into wedding bliss history! For an added touch, bring along a green jacket (homage to a famous golf tournament) to be worn by the first person to get a hole-in-one!

Show Me Your Love

Rather than the traditional tapping on dinnerware to have the bride and groom kiss, this wedding game requires a little more effort from the guests.

As family and friends begin the classic ritual, have the MC announce a special twist to the night's festivities. Since imitation is the greatest form of flattery, guests who would like to see the newlyweds lock lips must first come up and show everyone how the kiss is done. The newlyweds must then re-enact the same kiss! From the romantic peck on the hand to the fiery passionate hair tossing liplock, what will your guests brave to demonstrate?