WEDDING PARTY & WEDDING GAMES
Are you wondering how to entertain your guests during the reception at your wedding? What wedding games to choose and what will your guests enjoy?
I want to share with you, what I think works at the weddings and what often does not work at all.
Just a small spoiler alert - if you are looking for a list of dozens of wedding games, you will not find it here and I recommend googleing. You will find a huge number of articles on the Internet, including detailed instructions.
TIP - however, a few of my favorite wedding games can be found a little bit below in the article
Preparations for the wedding party
When we discuss with my clients their day, how they want to enjoy it, they usually think about what reception games to prepare for their guests. They go through online articles and lists of wedding games, trying to choose which ones are the best. And they often forget about one important thing.
People want to have fun and organized entertainment throughout the evening may not be ideal (although exceptions prove the rule).
What always works is music and the opportunity to dance. It often doesn't seem like it, but almost every one of us likes music, and when guests have the opportunity to spend their time on the dance floor and dance to their favorite songs, they will be very happy to do so. If you have an experienced DJ (or a band) at the wedding, who knows how it works at the wedding, you can see your guest dancing a whole night until six o'clock in the morning.
But what is important - talk to your DJ before the wedding. Tell him, what your guests are like, what your favorite music genres are and what kind of music will not work very well for your group of friends. This will prevent moments when the DJ tries to play super modern songs, but no one dance, because your friends wants to hear Míša David. All this is good to clarify before the wedding. And the DJ can give you a few extra tips on how to plan and schedule your first dance etc.
From the experience of various DJs and me, I recommend not to plan the first dance and dance with your parents for late hours. Guests who want to spend the night on the dance floor, but can't, because they are waiting for the bride and groom to open the party, usually lose their desire to dance at all. Of course, it is very individual and nobody can tell, when is the best time to start, it depends on whether you have a wedding outside, inside, at what time of year, when you have a ceremony, etc., however, the first dance at half past nine in the evening is not a good idea.
Don't be afraid to start earlier, unless you have a ceremony until late in the afternoon. I shot weddings with the first dance around five o'clock, everyone met on the dance floor and when I left at three o'clock in the morning, they were still dancing.
And what about the wedding games?
Wedding games are a welcome addition to your wedding repection, but you have to be careful what number of games are enough. If you want to start with the shoe game, continue with a quiz for guests, follow up with a drinking game and also include the projection of childhood photos, try to slow down a bit.
Give your guests time to have fun and talk to each other, dance and choose one game that you will play when people want to relax after the dance.
My favourite games
The shoe game
One of my favorite wedding games is the quiz for bride and groom (shoe game). This game works almost every time, especially if the questions you get are not what you find on the internet.
If your friends have the opportunity and prepare questions directly for you, your personalities and your relationship, then you and your guest will have a great time.
Dancing around chairs
Another example of a classic but proven game is dancing around chairs. I'm sure you all know her.
In this case, it is important to choose the right competitive competitor who will play the game on 150% and will give to the audience a lot of opportunities to have fun. Having an experienced DJ, who will speed up, slow down and stop the music at the right moment, is also a welcome bonus.
Wedding carriage
One of those controversial games, that I personally like a lot, is the wedding carriage. I believe you have seen this game before. If not, google.
Tip.: I just want to give you one recommendation. If you play the wedding carriage in the late hours, when alcohol is already everywhere, choose the most sober players. If one of the parts of the carriage will be played by a friend who has already had a few shots, it may not turn out well :)
Game of bees
The last of those games, I enjoy, is a game of bees. You tie an inflatable balloon on your butt and another player in your team has the task of burst it. It seems simple, but it is not. And it is often really funny to watch all those even orgasmic expressions of the players.
A game I would avoid
I want to give a tip for one game that I probably wouldn't recommend to anyone. However, keep in mind that there are exceptions, and I've seen this game played in an incredibly entertaining way.
Now I'm talking about the wedding raffle. Gone are the days when the funny names of individual prizes were funny, guests know everything in advance and very seldom really have fun. However, it's always about people, and if the game is moderated by a person who know how to moderate and entertain the whole audience, any activity can be fun.
To sum it up
For me, definitely the best wedding party is a whole night dance party with one wedding game at the right time.
If you are not one of the exceptions that proves the rule, you will see that if the bride and groom are on the dance floor, wedding guests will follow as well and people will have fun late into the night.
And if you are the exception and you know that you and all your loved ones love boards or poker for example, feel free to play board games all afternoon. I have already seen such a wedding and it was really a relaxing day that everyone enjoyed. In the end it really depends on you two and your loved ones what suits you best.
Recommendation
And finally, I want to give you a few tips on great wedding DJs.
I have great experience with Wedding DJs and their boss Schafff is really amazing and one of his kind (in the best sense of the word). With my wife we want to have his at our wedding renewal after 10 years.
I can definitely recommend the incredible Jirka Flaisig and if you want a DJ from Prague, contact Radek Šiml, who will also help you to make the best out of your wedding party.
And that is all from me today. I thought that the article would be shorter, sothank you if you've read it this far.
And I'm looking forward to meeting you soon at a real wedding party;)
your wedding photographer
Jindrich
