What can I do instead of dancing?

I recently photographed a wedding whose reception took place at the Oviatt Penthouse in Los Angeles. The couple decided against dancing, not for them, not for the guests, but they did have a three person live band playing music through dinner.

After dinner the lead guy grabbed a mic and went to stand by the sweetheart table. He proceeded to bring people up for toasts, and then spent a good hour and a half to two hours running games for and with the guests and the couple. For example, he had the bride leave and asked the groom five questions (like what's the best meal she's ever prepared, where was your first kiss, what's her shoe size, etc) and had another band member write down the answers. He then brought the bride back and asked those same questions to see if her answers matched the groom's. Then he did the same with her.

Then he brought a few guests up and show them a set of moves they had to replicate (they were all over the top ridiculous), which when done to drunk people can result in some pretty funny shenanigans. He then picked two guests, and sent them (one at a time) on a kind of scavenger hunt to the sound of silly music. He'd give them things to find as they brought back the previous thing. Stuff like "a dessert", "an old lady", and so on. They timed the performances of both guests and at the end revealed the winner.

The whole thing was in Spanish, so I only gathered bits and pieces of it (I don't speak Spanish but I'm Italian, so I can understand it if I pay attention), but even I was laughing my butt off on more than one occasion because of the guy's energetic personality, and it as one of the most fun wedding receptions I've been to. If you do go this route, make sure you pick someone who can actually get into it and isn't boring, otherwise it really won't work.

I know that people on here hate the thought of games at a wedding but we're having outdoor lawn/board games at ours as well as dancing. It fits the vibe of our wedding and we know our crowd. I think you need to think beyond, we hate dancing. My fiance and I hate dancing too. We're still having dancing for guests who like to dance and something for those that don't.(which is 90% of our guests) I've also been to a few weddings now with games and they were always popular but again, it was a know your crowd thing. I've been to weddings where games definitely wouldn't have gone over well.

We're doing a dinner party that has no room for dancing but we know our crowd. No one is interested in dancing so eating and knocking back a few drinks is more than satisfactory for everyone. We'll end the evening with cake and coffee and everyone will go back home or to their hotels. This is for a small guest list of about 26 people, also.

How many people are you having?

It just depends on your guests. My family weddings are always about calling the guests out in embarassing games and having a good time socializing. Either way this is about celebrating your marriage and nothing else, people who care about you would show up even if it was a cupcake with a candle and a game of duck duck goose lol

I've watched plenty of 80 year olds get on the dance floor.

Whatever you do, don't make it a game centered reception. Frankly, I find them ridiculous. It's not the company picnic, it's a wedding reception.

Add a card to your invitation asking every guest to name three songs they'd love to hear. Then, hire a professional DJ and make sure those songs are played. They'll get up and sway, if that's all they can do.

Stations for different adult type games/ activities! Card games, especially drinking games or cards against humanity, could be really fun if you had the right crowd. Other stations could be poker/black jack, cigar station, photo station (you could even have a bunch of cheap picture frames for people to DIY craft to put their pictures in)... just think outside the box!

We are not having any dancing either. We do have a vocalist that will be playing guitar. The reception is about 3 hours but we are going to have wine and brandy tastings and a cigar cart. We are going to have a couple different lounge areas set up and our photographer will be taking photos of everyone in them.

I really only think dancing is a thing if people want to party all night.

I too am worried about this. Our venue is small, under 50 ppl are attending but a lot of our guests DO dance and Is the Bride I guess I'm expected to dance when asked. I'd rather get kicked in the arse. I'm hopeful the space set aside for dancing will be minimal, but idk how the venue sets it up after the dinner... good luck to everyone who doesn't wanna dance!

I know this is an old question. But I just wanted to add, let your day be your day. There is no law that says thou shalt dance at a wedding. If your guests are “mad” that they didn’t get to dance at a free event, they are entitled jerks who didn’t care about you in the first place.

Dinner party with hired dancers, like belly dancers or fire dances, magician!! Ive looked into them, it isn’t that expensive and you can have say in what they wear.

Guests mingle and chat when there is no dancing

View Quoted Comment Thank you for adding this, some of the other comments were so discouraging!

View Quoted Comment You are welcome. My sister and her husband chose not to dance. For entertainment though, each couple from the bridal party chose and entrance performance based on one of the couples’ favorite movies. The crowd voted on the best performance by cheers. Also, there was an interactive photo booth. Everyone had a great time!