Alternative reception ideas?

We are doing dollar dance.

I've witnessed, but wouldn't say it worked best since the couple turned out to be terrible hosts, the snake dance, and money dance. The drunk groom, and his equally drunk and rowdy groomsmen, basically ran around the entire room, while the bride stood on a chair, and the guys ran under her veil for 20 minutes. Then they had the nerve to have to the DJ announce for us guests to take our our wallets and pay for their honeymoon.😐I wouldn't recommend either.

I'm attaching 50 bucks to the bouquet and garter to make the tosses much more interesting. 😁

View Quoted Comment Please don't ask your guests for money. This is so so rude, and it really doesn't matter if it is culturally based.

OP - Are you having a band, DJ etc.? That plus food and booze is a tried and true way of keeping your guests entertained. I think any other "extras" just break up the party unnecessarily.

Two unique things about my wedding:
During my MOH speech, she will host the wedding shoe game. You can look it up on YouTube. It's hilarious and only takes about 5 minutes, but it definitely gets the guests laughing. The second thing is because my FH is West Indian, we will be having a Tassa Band play! Their play time ranges anywhere from 10-30 minutes. Then switch back to the DJ. I can't wait for my Puerto Rican family be apart of this!

We are having a cigar roller near the end of the night, FH is a big cigar smoker & will be having a whiskey & cigar hour.

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Please don't.

Honestly, I would keep it simple. The trifecta for a great party is excellent food, flowing booze, and a great music selection. If you want to make things interesting other than that, try something cool with food like a cool appetizer or a late night snack bar. I would love to have ice cream or boozy popsicles at my wedding, but it may not be in our budget. I’d stay away from forced fun like games.

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Here we go... please DO NOT DO THIS. So so so tacky and incredibly rude. I probably paid for a new outfit, drove (or flew) to your wedding, got you a gift and probably a bridal shower gift, and now you want money TO DANCE WITH YOU? LOL, hard pass.

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Where I'm from in PA its totally common and even as a kid I felt weird about it. Now as an adult living in FL where this is basically unheard of I went to a wedding back home over the summer and it was the most ridiculous thing I'd ever seen. The bride was being flung around the room. You could dance with her for 5 seconds until the next person came in. It was like a conveyor belt of paying and dancing. A lot of guests opted not to participate. She has since asked me if I would be doing the dollar dance at my wedding. Not at all.

We wanted a non traditional reception too. We are doing it outside with yard games (boccee ball, corn hole, and polish horseshoes) and are doing a cocktail style reception with lots of heavy apps. We are having Ben & Jerry's do a make your own sundae bar instead of cake. We are just keeping toasts, first dance and family dances. I am incorporating non traditional decor too like balloons behind the bar that say 'cheers', a sign for a our pizza station that says 'slice slice baby' and a sign for our taco bar that says 'tacobout a party'. Just have fun with it!

As our favor, or in place however you want to view it, we are planning on a caricature artist as something to do. Haven't seen it though so unsure how it'll work out.

I asked my sweetheart if we could have mini lip sync battles. I really want to have a blast at the reception.

View Quoted Comment Dollar dances are tradition in louisiana and I've never seen one that everyone didn't enjoy. Where I'm from, people don't generally have a lot of money and the dollar dance is symbolic of family and friends helping the new couple begin their lives together. It's usually really funny and not weird at all, and the couple usually gets a couple hundred from the dance. I don't know why people on here don't like it. Maybe they just don't understand the purpose of the dance. You do You.