Traditional wedding games

Apply market research to generate audience insights. Measure content performance. Develop and improve products. List of Partners vendors. Looking to make your wedding reception a fun and festive affair your guests will never forget?

In addition to a delicious feast, flowing drinks and a killer wedding playlist , some couples like to get the party started with wedding reception games, ice-breakers and other interactive experiences, which might include everything from classic lawn games to bride and groom trivia, a photo scavenger hunt, a well-stocked photo booth and plenty of activities to engage the kids , too.

These sorts of activities work especially well at large, outdoor weddings with space to spread out, but there are plenty of options for indoor weddings, too. If the idea of adding a couple of games to your wedding day sound like fun, by all means, have at it! We've rounded up the 30 of the best games and activities fit for a wedding reception that guests of all ages will enjoy.

Whether you have an affinity for corn hole, croquet or life-size board games, these classic lawn games and tabletop games will keep your guests entertained throughout the afternoon and into the evening. Who doesn't love the classic block-stacking game Jenga? The traditional tabletop version adds a dose of fun and whimsy to any tented or outdoor reception area.

Alternatively, upgrade to a life-size set of blocks that friends and family can build and destroy and build again. If you're up for another wedding DIY project , head to the hardware store for some lumber and request that it is cut into 54 block-size pieces, which you can then stain or paint or otherwise customize however you'd like.

An oversized version of this classic game is sure to garner attention from adults and kids alike. A carnival classic, setting up a ring toss game is sure to bring out your guests' competitive spirit. For extra fun, try writing the names of guests and bridal party members on bottles and rings to see who gets paired with who. This creative couple painted and personalized their boards and the beanbags, too. Who can resist a round of croquet? Invite guests to grab a mallet and get a match started on the lawn.

If you have the space, why not set up a badminton court? The equipment is light and portable, and the classic game is easy enough for guests of all ages to play. If you have lawn space, you can easily make a bocce ball area. An actual court isn't necessary—just set up balls and score cards and let your guests have at it.

Shake things up with a jumbo set of dice! This unexpected wedding reception game is perfect for bringing guests together. Simple and fun, get the party started by ordering a checkers mat so large it can double as a picnic blanket—or DIY your own. Guests will be clamoring for their turn to wield the mallet at this old-fashioned carnival game to see who's the strongest.

Whether you're hosting an indoor or outdoor wedding reception, there are plenty of group games that will keep the party going. This is one of our favorite games to play at wedding receptions! The newlyweds take a seat in front of their guests, sitting back to back. Each has one of their shoes, and one of their partners. The emcee or a member of the bridal party acts as host, and the couple has to answer the following questions simultaneously by holding up the shoe that corresponds with their answer.

Estimate approximately 15 minutes to play the shoe game, and include questions like:. Though your guests won't be playing, they'll be laughing it up as your answers reveal the truth about how you view yourselves and each other in this silly game.

To encourage guest interaction, consider creating a custom wheel of activities that can be spun throughout the reception. Transform a chalkboard into a creative word search that your guests can try their hand at all evening long.

Set aside an area in your outdoor wedding space for this game of giant dominoes. Include simple directions on a nearby chalkboard or card, and even bring kids into the game by pairing them up with an adult teammate. Keep things light and comical with this unique wedding game. Create customized mad libs at each table for pre-dinner fun. The group supplies random nouns, adjectives and verbs for a mystery story.

Invite the leader to read out the table-built story as the grand finale. Stop a 4-foot Jenga set from tumbling down! Perfect for adults and children, be the last player to keep the blocks standing to win. How to play: Cut 54, equally sized pieces from a two by four foot beam to create your own life-sized Jenga set. Before the wedding, paint each block in your wedding color theme.

As each team plays, one block is precariously removed from the stack and added to the top of the tower. Pair young guests with adults if the tower is on the tall or heavy side. Keep kids of all ages occupied with a DIY interactive placemat. Include puzzles, art and word games for endless fun! How to play: When dinner is being served, the reception room can get a bit hectic. Keep the kids happy and seated with a puzzled-filled placemat right at their own dinner spot.

Include extra-fun additions like stickers, stick-on foam and stamps. Be sure to check with your venue before bringing in arts supplies. How to play: Buy or construct your own wedding prize wheel to get guests involved in the spontaneous energy of the day. Write a different prize or instruction on each part of the wheel.

Arrange a wooden bowling game on the lawn for some simple, old fashioned fun. Use large wooden pins that can stand up in the grass and choose a wooden or plastic bowling ball to keep things playful. If your guests are a competitive bunch, include a scorecard to keep track during the game. Place the bride and groom back to back on the dance floor for a classic game of trivia about their new spouse. How to play: In this growing tradition, two chairs are placed back to back during the reception.

The bride and groom sit facing away from one another and exchange one of their shoes to hold in each hand. As playful facts or questions about the relationship are read aloud on a microphone, the couple holds up the shoe for who matches the statement most truthfully. Hilarity ensues as differing opinions emerge. Send your guests hunting for the best photo-worthy moments! Include a prize for those who complete their list the fastest. Encourage them to draw or write what they see on their game boards.

Include a collection of crayons, colored pencils, and a small notebook at each place setting so kids can document their findings.

This tradition has a range of variations. Usually, the bride and groom toss the bouquet and garter into a crowd of single guests. How to play: Though more extensive versions exist, tossing the bouquet and garter into a crowd once indicated good luck in love for the lucky recipient. Many couples are now replacing this tradition by tossing a breakaway bouquet—one that allows everyone to catch a flower, by holding a flower ceremony, or by simply having a girls-only dance off with the bride.

Keep things exciting for years to come! Set up a fun spot for guests to suggest date night ideas for all your years together. How to play: In the cocktail hour area or the dining room, leave a place for guests to come up with unique or traditional date night ideas for your marriage. Either keep their ideas secret with a special box for collecting the cards, or set up a fun display for everyone to see. Get hesitant dancers on the floor with this throwback. The DJ stops the music abruptly while the bride and groom act as judge.

How to play: Interactive dancing games are a great way to break up the last several hours at the end of the night. During one particular song, get all the kids and adults up on the dance floor to show their craziest moves, only to freeze when the DJ abruptly stops the music.

The bride or groom—or perhaps some younger members of the wedding party—can choose the winners after several rounds. Turn a favorite photo into a page from a coloring book! Include colored pencils and a spot for guests to hang their art. How to play: Use an online resource or you own artistic skills to turn a favorite photo from your past into a coloring book page. Spread copies throughout the dining tables so guests can dive into this creative task the moment they sit down for salad.

Break the ice with this group questionnaire game. Guests stand up when they agree with the funny question or statement. How to play: A great way to get stories flowing! When the DJ plays two seconds of the upcoming song, name the tune first for a prize or a special place on the dance floor!

How to play: A great way to get your DJ in on the fun is to incorporate a game of Name That Tune into the dancing portion of the evening. As the DJ plays a short portion of the song, the crowd has to guess the song.

Vary the songs throughout generations, and even include the kids in on the fun. The group can vote for the best single part of the ensemble. The object of this game is to twist someone's words into a different meaning.

It's the bride's words in one version, and the guests' words as they attempt a difficult feat in another version. In the bride version, a bridesmaid or other guest is appointed to secretly write down everything the bride says as she opens her gifts. For example, if she opens a set of luxury towels, she may run her hand across them and comment on their size or texture. After all the gifts have been opened, the "secretary" reads back the bride's comments but puts them in a new context: the wedding night.

So the comment about the blender being so powerful takes on new meaning. There's bound to be at least one twisted comment that gets even the most proper guest giggling. If you need an ice-breaker, guests can become the source -- and target -- of the comments. This game requires a conspiracy of bridesmaids to capture all the comments.

A bridesmaid greets each guest on arrival with a piece of paper, a crayon, and the following task: Put the paper on the floor and trace her hand or foot -- without bending either knee. The bridesmaid stands behind the struggling guest and secretly writes down her name and comments.

When everyone has accomplished, or at least attempted, the task, bridesmaids take turns reading out the comments as if it's what the guest said or will say on her or his wedding night. For example, "On her wedding night, Aunt Bess demanded, 'What's the purpose of this?

The newlywed game tests how well couples know each other; it's ideal for couples showers and especially fun for several couples to participate. Before the shower, the hostess compiles two sets of questions -- one for each round of the game -- to separately ask each partner. The object is to see if what one partner says matches what the other one says. Questions can run along the lines of:. The hostess acts as game show host, asking the questions.

Each couple that participates should write a brief introduction, including how long they've been together, for the hostess to read aloud. As they're introduced, couples come to the front of the room and take their "player" seats, facing the "audience. The hostess asks the first set of questions, and the players in the room write down their answers. Then the absent partners come back. The hostess asks those partners the first question from the same set of questions, and they write down their answers.

One at a time, the couples read their responses aloud. Couples get points if their answers match; they lose points if the answers are different.

Continue until the first set of questions is finished. For the next round, the partners who stayed in the room for the first round leave. The remaining partners answer a second set of questions. Play continues as above until both partners have answered all questions and all responses have been compared.

The couple with the most points wins a prize they can share, like movie tickets or a bottle of wine. This is a challenging sit-down game for all showers. How well do the guests really know the lucky couple?

Find out with a bride or couple trivia game. For this game, the hostess creates a quiz of trivia questions for guests to complete. She doesn't need to know all the answers up front. They'll be revealed in the end. Questions can delve into the past and probe into the future. Here are some examples:. The bride and groom, if present fills out the quiz, too. Their answers become the answer key against which players answers are checked.

The person who's known the guest of honor the longest -- her or his mom -- doesn't necessarily have an advantage in this game. In a variation of this game, the hostess or bridesmaids come up with a list of true and false stories about the bride or couple. They tell the stories, and the guests decide which stories actually happened, and which are pure or mostly fiction. What do the items in a woman's purse tell you about her? Draw your own conclusions with the game on the next page.

Engagements have taken a downturn in length that coincides with the housing downturn that began and the subsequent economic recession. In and , couples were engaged an average of 18 months before tying the knot. That dropped to 16 months for and and was down to 15 months during and [source: McMurray]. Handbags collect all manner of oddities, particularly if the owner has young children.

What can you learn about a woman by discovering what she chooses to pack in her purse? Who is bold enough -- or competitive enough -- to reveal the deepest, darkest secrets of her constant companion?

Bigger is better in the handbag scavenger hunt game. Before the shower, the hostess makes a list of items that might be found in a purse and assigns points to each item -- low points for common stuff and high points for things you don't expect to see popping out of a purse.

Here are some item and point suggestions of course, the items and their points are up to you :. Bridesmaids keep track of the points and announce them at the end. The player with the most points could win an appropriate prize, like a heating pad to sooth her aching back. However, if the hostess is brave and knows the guests well, she could throw in one final item to clench the game. This item needs to be specific and uncommon, like keys to a tractor, a full change of clothes or a taser.

Any guest who can pull that from her bag wins, regardless of points. This game-changer must be handled carefully, though. If it smells too much like a fix, polite ladies could transform into mutinous sailors.

Relationships are all about communication. But what happens when the language of love hits a language barrier?

Lots of fun and laughs. For this game, the hostess assembles two identical sets of small items and a pair of trays for each couple playing. There should be lots of common things, like string, coins, toothpicks, rubber balls, forks and other items that are easy to duplicate -- but less familiar items that at least half of the happy couple won't be able to identify by name work well to turn up the fun.

The sets can contain different items for other couples playing the game. On one tray, the hostess carefully arranges the items, holding them in place with spray adhesive.

The arrangement should be elaborate and layered, with items at angles, overlapping each other and wrapped or tied together with the string. The second set of items is dumped into the middle of the other tray. They are the same items, but the form may be different. For example, there are toothpicks and balloons in both sets.

The toothpicks are whole and the balloon is deflated in the dumped pile; but on the pre-arranged tray, the toothpicks are broken in different places and angled or separated, while the balloon is half blown-up with something unidentifiable inside. In the playing arena, the bride and groom sit back to back with their eyes closed as the trays are presented.

One partner gets the pre-arranged tray; the other partner gets the tray with the pile. The objective is to talk each other through the arrangement so that the unarranged tray ends up looking just like the arranged one. Couples get about 10 minutes to work through the problem. The timer starts when they open their eyes. After the buzzer, guests compare the arrangements on the trays and decide whether the bride and groom communicate effectively or if they need more practice.

If several couples play, guests can vote for a winning pair. The hostess presents them with a prize designed to foster communication, like a pair of toy walkie-talkies.