Reception Activities

Never seen games played at a wedding except as advertised on Pinterest or Tiktok which is not representative of real life everywhere. Generally when guests don’t dance, they love the opportunity to socialize without other entertainment. We have attended many weddings that didn’t have any dancing and guests preferred socializing. They ignored games and other alternatives.

View Quoted Comment That’s good to keep in mind, I figure people probably won’t play a ton of them but I like the option to be there if they do especially bc we are having kids of all ages attend. Keeping that in mind though I definitely won’t spend a ton on activities.

View Quoted Comment In our experience as guests with kids at weddings, they entertain themselves easily without toys/favors/games regardless of age range or they are on the dance floor when there is dancing.

I've attended a few weddings where there was limited/no dancing and we honestly left early. Part of that though was probably because we were only really friends with the bride and groom and didn't really know anyone else. But I will say not a lot of people played the games that were there.

We went to a wedding last summer without a DJ and someone created a play list. No one knew when the couple did their first dance or when the cake was being cut since it wasn’t announced. We had fun socializing with people we had not seen in a while. There did seem to be a lot of people leaving early.

View Quoted Comment That was something I considered and I have a friend doing announcements for us as well…the DJ was something that I bounced back and forth between for a long time but ultimately decided it didn’t really make sense for our wedding personally

View Quoted Comment Thank you for your input! I am by no means attempting to limit dancing…it’s more or less for my comfort bc I hate dancing and being the center of attention so having games available I’m hoping will pose more of a distraction than anything. I will probably be out playing yard games and socializing myself but every wedding I’ve ever been too the bride and groom spend 50% of the time at least on the dance floor. Also since we are having a brunch wedding I can’t imagine many people in a “dancing mood” at 1 pm on a Saturday although a dance floor and a very carefully curated playlist will be provided

Photobooths are always a crowd favorite! Plus they also provide a take-home keepsake for guests.
We had a tarot card reader, and it went over really well!

View Quoted Comment Oh fun! I love that!

You really don't need games or extra activities. Personally I find too much of this kind of thing takes people away from the main party. In addition, most people aren't all that into yard games when all dressed up and in heels, etc. I've been to a number of weddings with little or no dancing and in my experience guests of all ages were very happy to eat, drink, socialize and catch up. I don't know anyone with the rude and entitled mentality that if there is no dancing they will leave, but I often see people who leave early when the music is overly loud and relentless.

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I agree. I would only leave a wedding early if I was overstimulated from too much music. I do think most guests are going to be more than happy to eat, drink and socialize. I personally like the idea of having options available for guests but I'm so glad I've gotten some great input and will not be surprised or bothered if they don't take in popularity. I think after considering everyone's comments I am not going to prioritize the activities but I will still plan on setting them up and making what I have available as options.

View Quoted Comment I think this is a perfect idea for a brunch event! I doubt a lot of people will be in the get up and dance party type of mood at brunch time. I think most guests will be content to just eat, maybe have a few cocktails, and socialize. I do think having the activities available is a great idea at that time of day. I know my friends would definitely be up and enjoying the yard games after a couple cocktails!

I love jazz and my FH and I don't really dance so we ended up getting a simple 4 person band to play selections from the 20's forward. And we have some yard games available ( that don't require keeping score) if anyone chooses but I may have a thunderstormy, rainy day. 😑
I mainly am counting on them having fun eating, drinking, and socializing under the tent. Fingers crossed.

We're doing a scavenger hunt. Our wedding is in a museum, so it will be related to the exhibits. It'll help give people a goal while roaming the museum.