Worried about your unacquainted guests seated together? Break the ice with these fun wedding games and let the conversations begin.
With so much to worry about on your wedding day, your guests should be the least of your worries. With guests arriving from different places, and from different phases of your life, not everyone will know each other. This is where reception games come in handy. These little icebreakers will have them chatting up a storm in no time.
Warning: Not every wedding guest will want to join in. And that’s OK. Those shy ones can just sit back and enjoy the show.
After all, everyone is there for you. It’s your big day. To avoid awkward silence and blank stares, here are some games that can ease the awkwardness for strangers at a table.
The Ice Breaker: Wedding Bingo
You know that time, as a guest, when you get to the wedding reception, and the bride and groom are off getting pictures, and you look at your watch… waiting. An easy ice breaker to ease the tension is a game of Wedding Guest Bingo. With squares about your special guests, strangers become friends while chatting from table to table, introducing each other as they try to get a BINGO.
Table Game 1: Newlywed Mad Libs
Everyone loves giving free advice, and what better way than to hand them your very own custom Mad Libs sheet. This dinner-table activity is also a great way for your guests to get to know each other as they laugh and share each other’s responses. Plus, you’ll get a good belly laugh when you read the responses after the wedding.
Table Game 2: I Spy
This is a great game for kids and adults alike, and a wonderful reminder of your special day. Simply prepare a list of images that you would enjoy looking at after the wedding, and set your wedding guest photographers loose! Make sure you let them know where to post the pictures for easy retrieval afterwards.
The Kissing Game
Clinking glasses is so dated, but no one knows what else to do to get the Bride and Groom to kiss at the wedding. The MC will get up, make an announcement, but between talking and drinking and eating, who is really paying attention? This is why you want a very clear kissing game card that instructs everyone how to get you to kiss. Don’t be shy. The more fun you make it, the more everyone will join in. Don’t make it too difficult, or you just might have to wait until that first dance to get a kiss.
“The Couple’s” Games 1: The Shoe Game
Everyone loves the shoe game. If you are not familiar with the game, it’s when the bride and groom sit back-to-back, exchange shoes, and are asked a series of questions: Who is the better cook? Who will get up first? Who will be better at paying the bills? It is great comic relief, and it’s another way for guests to get to know both of you a little bit better. Most of all, it’s for laughs.
“The Couple’s” Games 2: The Paddle Game
The Paddle Game is similar to the shoe game except you put pictures of the bride and groom on voting paddles. This time, you invite the head table to play along. The questions will also be personal in nature: Who is the better cook? Who will get up first? Who will be better at paying the bills? You might also include questions about the head table, “Who helped out more with the wedding, The Best Man or Maid of Honour?” This games offers great comic relief.
There you have it. Six surefire ways to make your reception memorable and fun. The only thing you need to worry about is getting to the church on time.