Let’s be honest, a lot of brides have an irrational, subconscious fear that their wedding will be boring, and if you are surrounded by your loved ones then it most likely will not be – but there are things you can do to make sure that people stay entertained and that your wedding is fun and interactive. See below for some ideas!
If giving back to your community is close to your heart, then you can host a mini drive during your reception to collect books for children, jackets during the winter, socks for soldiers, cans for the food bank, etc. You could also have activities to do while your guests are sitting at their table such as writing letters to soldiers abroad during the holidays or providing words of wisdom / advice / date ideas for the happy couple. Another idea is to provide paper games like MadLibs that you either make to customize to the wedding or just normal store-bought ones. If your faith is important to you then you could have a bible out for everyone to highlight their favorite verse and sign their name or leave a little note.
Photo: Etsy - PicturesKit
Once your wedding day is over, you won’t have many souvenirs other than your photos and your guest book, so make your guest book interesting! (Stay tuned for an upcoming post about interesting guest book ideas!) A super cool idea would be to have people write you notes to be put in a time capsule that you open on your first
anniversary. Keep this idea fun but putting the notes in a piñata or a wine bottle.
Photo: Ruffled
Some common and frequently seen ideas that are none-the-less proven effective are having a photo booth and yard games. The photo booth can be anything from a professional rental set up to a digital camera on a tripod with some homemade props. Just do what your budget will allow. A similar idea would be to have disposable cameras dispersed throughout your reception and allow people to capture less-formal moments through their eyes. If you are having an outdoor wedding then yard games are almost a must – some solid winners are oversized tic tac toe, ring toss, corn hole, checkers, croquet, and ladder golf.
Photo: Linen Tablecloth
Arguably the most important part of the wedding is the food. No one likes hangry people, nor do they like to be a hangry person themselves. Seated dinners or buffets are the norm, but interactive food stations give the guests something to do while getting food and will leave a bigger impact. You could either have 4-7 interactive food stations in lieu of a seated dinner or buffet, or you could have one or two for the guests to snack on while dancing as an after-dinner treat. Interactive food stations could mean a customizable mashed potato bar, mac and cheese bar, omelet station, chicken and waffle station, etc. The two main points to this idea are to disperse the food around the reception space and make the food customizable through the use of toppings or base options.
Photo: Wilkie
Obviously, the dancing and the food give people something to do, but the key to keeping people entertained and having an interactive wedding is to make the downtime in between those two activities also super fun for all ages. So, pick a few of these ideas, put your own spin on them and spice up your reception! It doesn't have to be perfect, just make it a fun time.