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Just Said Yes September 2020

Restaurant Reception - How to get people mingling with no dancing?

Samantha, on August 26, 2019 at 12:19 AM Posted in Wedding Reception 0 4

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Hey all, so I am having a "destination wedding" (roughly 10 hours away from our hometown). We only have roughly 35 guests. We are doing a mountain-top ceremony then going to a restaurant for a dinner reception. The restaurant doesn't allow a DJ or have space for a dance floor. I was thinking an hour long cocktail hour (long enough? too long?), toasts, and then a buffet dinner and cake. Open bar. I am looking for ideas on how to get people up and mingling/having fun with no dance floor. I have seen multiple forums against the idea of "wedding games", but haven't found any really good ideas to get people up and out of their seats with no dancing. Any suggestions?

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4 Comments

Latest activity by Sinéad, on August 28, 2019 at 8:06 AM

Legend March 2017
Pirate & 60s Bride · on August 26, 2019 at 12:44 AM
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Don’t worry! Your wedding & dinner are plenty entertaining. We had a DW with 15 guests. We had a 60 minute cocktail hour which worked great. We had a ton of pirate decor/props guests ended up losing with for our photographer which was fun, and we had a strolling accordionist during cocktail hour and a few guests actually danced. But we didn’t have a DJ/dancing. Booze & food are plenty fun! A guestbook table with something fun to sign: engagement photo, puzzle or mad libs type suggestions for the married couple might help. An appetizer station and maybe another station for either dinner or dessert/coffee bar can help guests mingle.
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Legend March 2017
Pirate & 60s Bride · on August 26, 2019 at 12:45 AM
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Are guests arriving the night before your wedding? If so, you can host a casual welcome dinner for guests to get to know each other (pizza & beer is fine) at the hotel most guests are staying at.
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Just Said Yes September 2020
Samantha · on August 26, 2019 at 5:05 PM
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Those are great suggestions! Thanks Pirate & 60s Bride!
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WeddingWire Administrator January 2025
Sinéad · on August 28, 2019 at 8:06 AM
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Welcome to the WeddingWire community Samantha!!
As the pp mentioned, having a cocktail hour, a buffet dinner and an open bar will definitely get into the party spirit. Your guests will (for the most part) all know each other and chat/mingle naturally so I definitely don't think you need planned activities to keep people entertained.
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