Interesting games and activities for you and your guests. These are great Icebreakers and can help your guests feel more involved in the celebration. If you would like Maine Music Connection to organize any of these for your reception or event just let us know. We've all been to receptions and events that we're standard - we welcome and celebrate the new married couple, watch them dance and enjoy cake with them. But creative couples often enjoy coming up with fun games or dances that include your entire guest list. Including the guests is a great way to get them out of there chairs, meeting people they might not otherwise know and feeling like they are truly a part of the celebration, not just observers.
The Snowball Dance is a great way to get wedding guests to the dance floor. An up-tempo dance is played as the wedding party is called to the dance floor. The Bridal Party begins dancing. When the music stops, the members of the bridal party go to the seated guests and bring back a different dance partner. The fun continues till every able body is on the dance floor.
I'm not exactly sure what to call this one, but it was memorable, fun and very entertaining. The premise was in the idea that all the groomsman would place a numbered paper bag over there heads and have a dance contest. The guests or audience in this case would rate the dancing ability of each individual by cheering for the dancer with the specific number when called out. One by one the dancers will be eliminated from the contest. The last dancer on the floor will be declared the winner. The hilariously funny part of this is that immediately after the start of the contest all the groomsman took there paper bags off there heads and left the floor. The best man is unaware of this and unwittingly danced the entire contest by himself. Obviously there we're a number of people involved in the joke but it sure was funny and the guests just loved it.
Provide index cards and pens at each guest table. Instruct the guests to come up with the best marriage advice they can give the newlyweds. Then throughout the evening have the DJ / MC occasionally read one of the suggestions to everyone. You can even give awards for the funniest or best advice. Good way to give some of the center pieces away!
During my interviews with you, I will be gathering alot of information. We can use this information to create a Love Story which will be set to music. This is usually read during dinner and can contain some serious and funny moments in your lives that led up to your special day. The Love Story is a great way for those on both sides of your family (and friends) to get to know a little more about the two of you as a couple.
It should be noted that this game needs to be approved by the bride and groom prior to actually performing it, since it could cause them to be uncomfortable or embarrassed otherwise. Who knows, the bride and groom may not be planning on having children.This is a fun event for the reception and helps fill idle time during dinner. Cards are available on the tables with instructions to help the bride and groom select there childs first name. Then near the end of dinner, have the DJ / MC read some of the suggestions. They can be humorous at times.
NO HANDS ALLOWED! The guests are lined up in two rows and an object such as an orange or tennis ball is passed one to the other using their chin to hold it. The first team to get the object from the beginning to the end of the line wins. If the ball is dropped then they have to pick it up and continue or start over. This is another good way to distribute center pieces for an award.
This one is best performed earlier in the evening and is good for getting people involved in the festivities. We invite all of the married couples to the dance floor while playing a series of slow romantic songs. After a minute or two we politely ask all couples married for 5 years or less to take there seats. After another minute or so, we ask couples married 10 years or less to take there seats. This repeats till we have one couple left on the dance floor. This one married couple is the longest married couple at your reception. They are congratulated, applauded, made to feel special and perhaps given a gift from the shortest married couple, the Bride and Groom. They are then given the microphone and asked to give the Bride and Groom some advice which can be serious or good for a laugh.
Not so much a game, but more of a cute icebreaker. Have all of the guests stand up. Explain that this is a new tradition that has started in recent weddings. It signifies a special time and everybody needs to witness this rare moment. Invite pictures to be taken. Ask the Bride to hold out her hand palm down. Now have the Groom place his hand ever so softly on top of the Brides hand. DJ / MC will now announce that this is the last time the groom will have the upper hand in this relationship!
Before a friend's wedding reception, we passed out keys (Blanks) to several girls and 1 guy. Before some toasts we're made, the best man said to the guests, "Now that the Groom (Insert Name Here) is married and no longer available, it is probably a good idea to have any of you girls out there with keys to his apartment to please turn it in now". Then the pre-selected girls (About 30, or as many as can be) slowly walk up and hand in there keys as they make bedroom eyes at him and flirted a bit, some of the girls would turn in not just one key, but six or seven of them. Then the guy walks up, turned in his key and kisses the Groom on the cheek. This can also be used for the Bride as well. In which case we would pass out about 15 keys to the guys and 1 elderly female, I would announce the same as when we would for the Groom, and have them place there keys onto a tray that has been set up, whereby the pre-selected men would walk up and turn in there keys, with the elderly female turning her key in last.
For those unfamiliar with this game the Bride and Groom sit back to back on chairs. Each holds one of the Brides shoes in one hand and one of the Grooms shoes in the other hand. The DJ / MC reads various questions, like "Who eats more?" and "Who is the boss in the relationship?". Then the couple holds up the appropriate shoe indicating his or her answer. When they disagree, this is when the fun starts and the hilarity ensues. Another variation of this game uses a beer bottle to represent the Groom and a champagne glass to represent the Bride. You won't have to take your shoes off and you'll have something handy to drink as well!
Traditionally, the mother-son and the father-daughter dances have been distinctly seperate events at the wedding reception. The father-daughter dance signifies the special relationship the father has with the Bride. The mother-son dance is a more modern tradition signifying their special relationship as well. At the majority of receptions the Bride and Groom will have there first dance followed by the father-daughter dance, and then the mother-son dance. In some European countries this is reversed. The father-daughter dance is first followed by the Bride and Grooms first dance. We have recently noticed that more couples are opting to combine the father-daughter dance and the mother-son dance, with both couples dancing to the same song simultaneously. This is absolutely acceptible and a good way to help keep things moving along. In the case of multiple sets of parents you may consider having all the couples dancing together at the same time.
The dollar dance is rooted in the idea that guests could buy a dance from the bride by secretly slipping her some cash. There was even the idea of a bridal purse being used to keep it safe. The money was intended as pin money from which she could start her new household. Some say this tradition is Polish in origin and was first introduced in the 20th century. In modern times many couples find the dollar dance unnecessary. Not needing the cash and otherwise being financially secure. But an often overlooked opportunity with the dollar dance is the chance for your guests to get a moment alone with the Bride or Groom, say hi and share a few nice moments. In this case it is still possible to have the dollar dance, but we will call it the wish dance. We can also announce that proceeds will be donated to charity, or request that money not be given.
