Reception Games

Games are a great way to involve your guests in your Celebration. They can help lift the vibe at times where the evening may fall a bit quiet, and they enable your guests to interact with others they may not know. Games are an especially good way to keep children at Weddings entertained too.

1. Shoe Game:

The couple sit back-to-back, each holding one of the other's shoes and one of their own. I ask a series of fun questions, and the couple raises the shoe that corresponds to their answer.

2. Hot Potato Marriage Advice

Everyone sits or stands in a circle. Music is started and the “potato” (a bouquet or rolled up napkin) is passed around quickly. When the music stops, the person holding the potato must share one piece of marriage/wedding advice for the couple. This can be heartfelt, funny, or cheeky (e.g. “Never go to bed angry” or “Always let her control the TV remote”). Keep playing until everyone has had a turn, or for as long as it stays fun. As your host, I will have pre-written prompts in a bowl (e.g. “Best date night tip” / “How to apologise after an argument” / “A silly tradition to start”). The person holding the potato when music stops pulls a prompt and answers it.

3. Musical Chairs:

Pretty simple really. It’s the same rules as from when you were a kid. I use upbeat music and have guests circle a set of chairs. I remove a chair after each round until only one person remains.

4. Scavenger Hunt/Musical Chair Combo

I get 8 guests on seats on the dancefloor. I ask them to go and bring back certain items (a belt, someone older than you, someone else’s shoes of the opposite sex - wear them, a man’s shirt etc.). Then I remove a chair each time (like Musical Chairs) until one chair and one player remains.

5. Peg Game

During canapes service Ill give your guests’ a large bucket of pegs. The objective of the game is for the men to discreetly pin as many pegs as they can on the ladies (and vice versa) without them noticing. Upon entering the Reception room, I’ll get one man and one woman to collect all the pegs from their own team. Whatever team pinned the most people from the other team wins. If you prefer not to use gender teams, you can choose to do family-against-family.

6. Hit the Buzzer Karaoke

Grab a mic and start belting out your chosen tune. At any moment, another guest can smash the buzzer. If the buzzer goes – you must drop the mic immediately and hand it over. No finishing the line, no diva moments. The new singer jumps straight in from where you left off. Keep buzzing, swapping, and singing until the song is done (or the crowd can’t take it anymore 🤪).

Bonus twists (because chaos is fun):

Don’t know the lyrics when you buzz in? You must perform interpretive dance until you’re saved.
Teams can play too – longest streak of correct lyrics wins bragging rights.

7. Karaoke Contest:

If a DJ has been hired, we can set up a traditional karaoke station and encourage guests to sing love songs or dedicate songs to the couple.

8. Balloon Pop:

Place notes inside balloons with different tasks (e.g., "Give a toast" or "Share a funny story"). Guests pop a balloon and complete the task.

9. Wedding Trivia:

A trivia game about the couple, where guests guess answers related to their relationship. This is the game that is best used to decide which table gets their dinner served first.

10. Bingo:

Couple design their own bingo cards with wedding-related words or scenarios. As the night progresses, guests mark off the occurrences, and the first to get a line shouts "Bingo!" You can give a prize if you like (e.g. the winner is allowed spirits and cocktails off the bar tab), or I can present them with something simple like a chocolate.

*Etsy have a range of Wedding Bingo templates you can download

11. Marriage Advice Cards:

Provide guests with cards to write down marriage advice or funny anecdotes for the couple. I collect the cards in a decorative box for the couple to read later.

12. Photo Scavenger Hunt:

Create a list of photo opportunities for guests to capture throughout the night (e.g. a group selfie/ someone dancing on a table). Compile the photos into an album later, or I can ask guests to post them to a Wedding hashtag the couple have created.

13. Jenga Guest Book:

Provide giant Jenga blocks for guests to write well wishes or advice. Assemble the blocks to create a unique guestbook for the couple.

*An alternative to this is to purchase a giant Jenga game and write tasks/dares on each block. When each player pulls out their block they must complete their task before placing it on top of the stack.

The Afterparty!

Reception Games