The wedding bells have rung, and you’re now married to your best friend. Congratulations! Keep the celebration going at your reception with some unique and fun activities for your guests to enjoy. Regardless of whether your wedding is big or small, it’s important to give your guests an experience that they’ll remember for years to come.
In-Between the Wedding and Reception Ideas
Many couples are now taking time between the wedding and the reception to go take photos or spend a little while alone. During that time, it’s important to have something for your guests to do, or at least a comfortable place for them to sit.
Ice Cream Truck
Provide your loved ones with a sweet treat to relax with! This is a great option if your wedding takes place during the heat of the summer. By also offering a few sorbet options, you’ll give any guest who is lactose intolerant the chance to cool-off as well.
Photo Booth
Photo booths with fancy dress outfits, hats, scarves, and funny eyewear will always go down a treat. It’ll also contribute to the wedding photo collection in fun and unexpected ways! Many photo booths produce a small photo that guests can take home.
Guest Drawing
Hire a caricature or artist for your wedding; trust us, it’ll be a hit! Not only is it a unique addition to your special night, but also gives your guest a custom piece of artwork to cherish.
Yard Games
If your venue has a large garden, then why not use it to entertain your guests with custom yard games? Allow your guests to kick off their shoes and play a few games before your grand entrance at the reception. Check out our wedding yard games section to find a design that fits your wedding theme.
Scavenger Hunt
Create a scavenger hunt list of locations at the reception venue, or of certain people, that guests have to photograph throughout the evening. A few options could be: the bride and groom posing for a picture or sneaking a kiss, a group photo of all the kids at the wedding, or the cake uncut. This is great because not only is it fun, but you’ll get plenty more pictures than you ever would’ve gotten otherwise.
Mixology Bartender
If the hotel or venue boasts fantastic cocktails, then why not showcase these to your guests by hosting a mixology class for them? The bartender can show your guests how to make their favorite cocktails or a signature cocktail that the newlyweds chose.
Wedding Reception Games & Activities
After the dinner, keep the party going and make sure your guests are engaged with a wedding reception full of fantastic games and activities. We’ve rounded up a list of some fun wedding reception activities for you to consider, from lawn games to indoor activities (in case the rain comes), and wedding games for all ages.
Stand up, Sit Down
This is always a good ice-breaker: having a list of true or false questions and getting people to stand up or sit down based on their responses. The best thing is that you know all your guests, so you can tailor the game to highlight some fun facts and things people might have in common.
Wedding Toast Bingo
Provide bingo cards for the guests during the toasts. They can then mark off clichés or phrases during the speeches. Of course, it’s best to keep the descriptions unique enough that they only match one guest. This is a great way of getting your guests talking with people they’ve never met before.
Disposable Cameras
Your wedding photographer can only be in one place at a time. Don’t miss out on photo opportunities; instead, allow your guests to also pick up a camera and capture special moments. Do this by leaving a disposable camera on each of your guests’ tables and let them take photos throughout the night. You never know what amazing photos you may end up with!
360 Photo Booth
Having a photo booth is one option, but if you want to take it one step further, we recommend organizing a 360° photo booth! Your guests will step onto a platform while a rotating camera circles them, creating a short clip. These 360 photo booths have recently gaining a lot of attention, and they’ve been used by celebrities on the red carpet at many award shows.
TikTok Corner
If any of your guests are Millennials or part of Gen Z, then there’s sure to be TikToks uploaded on the big day! Give them a space to create content – much like a photo booth, it should be an area with good lighting, room to move, and a fun background they can stand in front of.
Bride & Groom Trivia Quiz
Create some fun trivia questions about you and your partner for the guests to answer. Keep it simple with a true or false format so the corrections are easier to manage. You can even give some form of prize to the winner!
Reception Playlist
Get your guests to contribute to your wedding playlist. Share a public playlist on Spotify and have them add songs from times you’ve shared together or other songs that have a special meaning to you and your guests.
Advice Cards
Advice cards are always an enjoyable read in the days following the wedding for the newlyweds, and guests could leave some great advice
Cultural Dancers
Display your heritage through dance at your wedding, whether the theme be Hawaiian, Irish or Spanish! This unique experience allows your guests to embrace your culture and get to know you a little better.
Fingerprint Guest Book
This might be a bit more on the messy side of things, but you can’t ask for anything more unique than your guests’ fingerprints as a keepsake. You could go one step further and have the guests print their fingerprints onto a drawing of a tree as all the leaves, or onto another quirky piece of artwork to add extra meaning. This is something you can keep forever as a reminder of all the loved ones who stood by your side to support you and celebrate your special day.
Whiskey and Cigar Bar
Consider having an area for party guests to sit back, celebrate, and feel a little more ‘ritzy,’ with a whiskey in one hand and a cigar in the other. Having a whiskey and cigar bar area is extremely fitting if the groomsmen will be given any kind of cigar box or whiskey glasses as a thank you gift.
Video Slideshow
Share some home videos, and reminisce over important moments from your life as a couple, as well as memories from before you met, too. We bet your parents have a stash of photos that they’ve been waiting to share at your wedding!
His and Hers Cakes
Many couples opt to have a ‘groom’s cake’, which is usually more fun and personalized than the main wedding cake. But who says only one cake has to be special?! Have each person pick their cake or dessert of choice to show your personality and to offer more than one option for your guests. It’s a win-win!
Word Search
Set up a wedding-related word search! Provide a chalkboard with painted-on words, so people can use chalk to complete it and clear it when they’re finished. This sets it up for the next guest.
Beer Pong
This is a fun one for all the friends you met in college. Relive past glories in a bride-versus-groom scenario. You could even do a fully water-based version for the kids at the wedding.
Food & Drink Stands
Sweet stations, burrito bars, burger stations, doughnut towers, sparkling wine towers, gin bars, and more – the feasting and drinking of weddings are a big part of the day, so keep it all coming with handy self-serve stands! This allows guests to choose their own delights and have an evening that fits them.
Line Dancing
Any sort of organized dance is the perfect icebreaker. Dragging everyone up to do something they might be hesitant about only encourages more dancing in the long run! Anything from the electric slide to the cha-cha slide, depending on the generation will get everyone dancing.
Live Music, DJs, Live Bands, etc.
If you don’t want to solely rely on playlists, why not hire a band or DJ for the reception? They might even be willing to help MC for some of the other games you have in store! A live band or DJ will help get everyone on the dance floor and keep things going all night.
Wedding Shoe Game
All you need for this one is shoes and a couple of chairs. The concept is simple: the bride and groom sit back-to-back with the other’s shoe in their hand, while someone you’ve chosen to organize the game reads out questions like “Who does the bulk of the housework?” or “Who takes longer to get ready in the mornings?”, and you raise the shoe in the air if you think it applies to you. The beauty is you’re back-to-back so you don’t know if your other half is answering questions the same way. You can even get your guests involved by asking them to submit questions in advance to the person you’ve designated to be in charge of the game.
Wedding Reception Activities for Kids
If you choose to have kids at your wedding, then you may need to think creatively about how to keep them entertained. Here are some great ideas to keep them occupied:
Hula Hoop Contest
Start off with a friendly competition between the bride and groom’s wedding parties, and then invite everyone else, including the littlest guest. Be sure to crown the best hula hooper in the room at the end with a sash!
Coloring Station
Provide markers, pencils, pens, crayons, and sheets of paper, and just let the children create something special. If you want to give some more direction, you can supply coloring or paint-by-numbers books.
Cookie Decorating
What sugary treat do kids love the most? The answer… COOKIES! Set up a table in the corner with all the fixings to dress up regular sugar cookies. We’re talking about loads of different sprinkles, icing, and the tools for applying these bits. To stay within your décor theme, choose to reflect your wedding colors in your icing.
Tic-Tac-Toe
Ex’s & Oh’s, Naughts & Crosses – whatever you call it, it’s a classic. It’s another simple game that’s been keeping kids occupied for generations.
Lego Stacking
What better way to keep the kids entertained than by having Lego at your wedding? You can even print off some basic building sheets for the kids to follow. Or, simply let them go wild by encouraging them to come up with their own masterpieces!
Wedding Bounce House
There are few things that excite kids as much as a bounce house! The only trouble you might have is keeping all the adults off it as the party goes on!
A Magician
Magicians can entertain everyone, but kids really embrace the wonder and magical side. There are magicians that can go table by table and deliver a unique experience to every guest.
Face Painting
Face painting is another traditional method of keeping children entertained and occupied during the reception. You might even get some adorable pictures out of it, too!
These wedding games can change someone’s whole wedding experience! It’s not just about keeping people entertained, it’s about bringing people from all parts of your life together in fun and unexpected ways. And that’s a good recipe for great memories! No matter what, remember the important thing about the day is that you’ll be married to your new spouse, and starting your life as a married couple!
If you’ve got any more wedding reception activities or game ideas, please share them in the comments below
Editor’s Note: This post was originally published in April 2022 and has been updated for accuracy and comprehensiveness.
Lucy is a Content Specialist at Zazzle in Cork, Ireland. Originally from America, she is now settled in Ireland with her husband and Corgi-mix puppy Dug (yes, like from Disney’s UP!). It’s the simple things in life that matter, so give her a bag of M&M’s and she’s happy. She loves to relax with a good book, cozy up on the couch for a movie, or go to the park for a stroll with the family.
