Take The Table Game
Tabletop Bowl-A-Mania is an American-Made bowling game that is fun for the whole family. Its hardboard play surface and break-resistant Lexan ball launcher accurately recreates the skill and fun behind big ball bowling. Go for the strike or pick up the spare and experience all the fun of bowling. Blackjack is one of the most popular casino table games and with lots of smoking and non-smoking tables running 24 hours a day, Treasure Island is the place to play. Table limits range from $15 to $2000. How to play: The object of the game is to beat the dealer without going over a point total of 21.
One of the best moments of your wedding day is witnessing so many friends and family gathered in one place. Not only is a wedding a chance to celebrate your new marriage, but it’s also a prime opportunity to let loose with those you love. Fun wedding games of all kinds energize the evening, adding a childlike playfulness to the event and helping groups mingle and socialize.
Wedding reception games get guests of all ages out of their chairs and dancing, taking pictures or throwing that bocce ball. What’s more, many of these games are easy to DIY and require little to no materials at all. Consider this list of wedding game ideas when planning the perfect love-filled wedding day.
Kid-Friendly Wedding Games
1. Ring Toss
Break up into two teams and throw each ring onto your opponent’s hooks. Use wine bottles for a fun wedding twist!
How to play: Purchase two sets of five wooden rings from your local craft store. Paint each set with two of your wedding colors to differentiate between the teams. Place six bottles in an old-fashioned milk crate or use simple dowels on a long two by four foot beam. Lay the board out on the lawn during cocktail hour for ring toss fun.
2. Lego Creations
Put Legos at each table and challenge your guests to build creative centerpieces.
How to play: Guests will love building unique centerpieces out of Legos of all colors. For extra fun for all ages, assign a judge to choose a winner at the end of the night!
3. Giant Dominoes
Add some excitement to this age-old game with comically large, handmade dominoes for an outdoor cocktail gathering.
How to play: This game is easy to make with a piece of plywood and some paint! 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.
4. Marriage Mad Libs
Keep things light and comical with this unique wedding game. Create customized mad libs at each table for pre-dinner fun.
How to play: As guest take their seats, encourage one person at each table to lead the group in the table’s assigned mad lib. 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.
5. Life-Sized Jenga
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.
6. Children’s Interactive Placemat
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.
7. Spin the Wheel
Get the whole room involved with a wedding wheel with instructions like “the bride and groom kiss” or “give a speech!”
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.
8. Lawn Bowling
Set ‘em up and strike ‘em down! Arrange a wooden bowling game on the lawn for some simple, old fashioned fun.
How to play: In a flat area of your outdoor venue space, tape out a bowling “lane” of sorts for an outdoor bowling tournament. 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.
9. The Shoe 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.
10. Photo Scavenger Hunt
Send your guests hunting for the best photo-worthy moments! Include a prize for those who complete their list the fastest.
How to play: If you’re encouraging guests to snap memories throughout the night, include a list of fun possible moments from the day. Include things like “silly dance moves” or “the bride and groom sneaking a kiss.” This helps guests from different groups get to know each other while adding a fun level of competitiveness to the night.
11. Wedding I Spy
Include a list of “I Spy” items throughout the room for kids to find. Encourage them to draw or write what they see on their game boards.
How to play: Either during an outdoor cocktail party or in the dance portion of the reception, send the kids of the night on an “I Spy” adventure either from their seats or around a set space. Include a collection of crayons, colored pencils, and a small notebook at each place setting so kids can document their findings.
Indoor Wedding Games
12. Bouquet and Garter Toss
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.
13. Date Night Jar
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. Guests can use each others’ ideas for unique inspiration.
14. Freeze Dance
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.
15. Couple Coloring Books
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. What’s more, this is the perfect activity for kids as well!
16. Stand Up, Sit Down
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! To play, one of the hosts, a member of the wedding party, or the MC announces a series of hilarious questions, prompting the audience to sit down or stand up for “yes” or “no.” Each table ends the game knowing new, interesting facts about their dinner companions and the newlyweds themselves.
17. DJ Name that Tune
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.
18. Ladder Golf
To play this lawn game, teams toss two balls connected by a string with the goal of hooking their opponents’ ladder rungs.
How to play: Set up simiarly to corn hole, two teams of one to two people toss their ball-and-string combo onto one of three rungs. The “ladder” includes three levels, each of which is worth more points than the others. This is an easy DIY with some piping, paint, golf balls and twine.
19. Guest Guess Who
Change up this classic game by adding small pictures of your guests at the wedding for personalized fun. This makes for a great wedding party game for guests who have known the bride and groom during different life stages.
How to play: By either constructing your own board or utilizing the original childhood game, paste wallet-size portraits of your guests on the game’s flippable doors. Two players pair up against one another and each secretly choose one of the players in their mind. Players take turns asking questions about physical and personal traits to narrow down their opponent’s secret selection.
20. Cake Smash Bets
Who will end up with wedding cake on their face? Let the guests decide! Leave out jars for bets on either the bride or groom.
How to play: It’s pretty inevitable that either the bride or groom goes for a cake smash during the otherwise-innocent cake cutting. Get guests involved in this silly moment by letting them vote with monetary gifts to the couple’s honeymoon fund. The jar with the larger amount decides whether the bride or groom ends up with the cake on their face!
21. Couple’s Crossword
Puzzle-loving crowd? Create your own crossword for your guests with hints and questions from you relationship.
How to play: On each plate setting, include a small crossword puzzle with hints and answers that showcase favorite tidbits from the newlywed’s history. Include “where we first met” or “where the bride grew up” as some fun examples. This crossword puzzle game also gets the table guests chatting and making new friends.
Turn The Table Game
22. Jenga Guest Book
Invite guests to include a message of love before placing their block at the top of the tower. Try not to topple the tower!
How to play: Guest books come in all forms now—why not make yours interactive for the rest of your marriage? Set out a Jenga tower with instructions to write a message on the block itself. Guests can either play the game as they write, or build the tower up from the bottom. Play with the message-filled set after the wedding or arrange the blocks in a large picture frame as a unique collage.
23. Paper Fortune Teller Making
Keep everyone crafting away with some old fashioned origami fortune tellers. Include plenty of art supplies for decorating.
How to play: Popular since elementary school, these fun-to-fold fortune tellers add a special romance and excitement to sitting down to dinner. With minimal art supplies necessary, they make a perfect addition and to the kids’ table as food arrives. Be sure to include a visual instruction for newbies and an adult on hand to help with writing and folding for the little ones.
24. Marriage Advice Cards
Include a collection of cards at the dinner table that encourage guests to share their own marriage advice for the newlyweds.
How to play: Guests old and young share their personalized marriage advice for the couple’s new journey ahead. Include a place for guests to both write and place their advice cards, and later turn these into a unique guest book. For a special touch, arrange a wine bottle for each upcoming anniversary and ask guests to enter cards for each landmark year.
25. Wedding Toast Bingo
What will be said during the toast portion of the evening? Provide bingo boards on each guest’s table to get them guessing.
How to play: There are always a few standard sentiments in each maid of honor and best man speech. Create bingo boards for each dinner plate and let your guests play along with you. Remember to provide bingo chips and a fun prize for whoever reaches bingo first!
26. Dance Challenge
Name each dinner table by song title. When the song plays, the whole table must rush to the dance floor to get things moving!
How to play: Helping a wedding table bond is not always simple. Add a little competition to the mix by challenging each table to rush the dance floor when a particular song plays throughout the night. The best show of silliness or grace wins the dance competition at the end of the evening.
Outdoor Wedding Games
27. Wedding Hopscotch
Let the kids show you how it’s done! Supply chalk or tape for an outdoor hopscotch tournament during the reception.
How to play: Set aside an area where kids and adults alike can spread out and play hopscotch. Use multi-colored tape on a grassier surface or chalk where possible. Be sure to include sandbags for more complex games that can be played on a hopscotch course.
28. Giant Connect Four
Build your own life-size version of this memorable childhood gem and add it to your list of cocktail-party lawn games.
How to play: Drill out 35 large holes—five down and seven across—to build an adult-sized version of this childhood tic-tac-toe inspired game. With one player on each side, guests drop colored discs into the slots in hopes to get a four-in-the-row combination before their opponent. Supply the smaller version for child guests at the party.
29. Balloon Pop Wall
A balloon wall pop welcomes guests to seek messages and prizes inside a wall of balloons just waiting to be popped!
How to play: On a large cork board, attach a decorative collection of balloons in a festive pattern. Instruct each guest to use a safety pin to pop one balloon each. Every balloon includes a secret message, instruction or a prize! Reward a few lucky poppers with first dibs at the dessert table or a champagne toast of their own.
30. Best Photo Booth Contest
Add a touch of competition to the photo booth! At the end of the night, the couple chooses the silliest photo from the evening.
How to play: Encourage guests to be as wacky as possible while arranging their poses in the photo booth. Many photographers will print out the images into a scrapbook for immediate viewing. Either the guests or bride and groom can pick their favorites before the night is up.
31. Painted Rock
This simple and natural addition to outdoor games includes festively painted rocks and a DIY facbric tic-tac-toe board.
How to play: Ideal for simple outdoor cocktail hours and weddings with children, painted rock tic-tac-toe combines hand painted rocks and a DIY board for easy transport and play. Lay out the boards across picnic tables to encourage guests for a competitive game over conversation and wine.
32. Bocce Ball
Set up a board and set of bocce balls to participate in this classic Italian outdoor cocktail and reception game.
How to play: Each team of up to four players throws four balls in a round with the goal of reaching the “jack” or marker ball that is thrown at the start of each game. Points are rewarded depending on proximity to the jack ball. Set up the game in either a measured, enclosed board or on an open, more casual lawn setup.
33. Wedding Pinata
What’s just as fun as cutting into a wedding cake? Whacking a wedding-cake-themed pinata filled with lots of delicious candy!
How to play: Choose an elegant—or completely silly—pinata to shake things up during the dessert hour. Blindfold the groom and bride to see who can break through the pinata to release all the goodies inside. Be sure to include bags or small to-go boxes for all the kids to gather their treasure.
34. Lawn Yahtzee
Set your guests up for a rousing game of Yahtzee as they sip champagne.
How to play: Make five large die by slicing 2X4’s into even squares. Mark each side with the appropriate number of dots and place them all in a bucket or small container. Include a Yahtzee instructional board out on the lawn of your venue to get things started. Pair kids and adults to teach them about this simple, traditional dice game.
35. Mini Golf
Set up a mini course for the golf-loving guests. See if the parents can beat the scores of their newlywed children!
How to play: Build or rent a mini golfing green with plywood, turf and a set of putters. As guests sip a cocktail, encourage a friendly game of mini golf, equipped with small score cards for keeping things competitive.
36. Croquet
Keep things classy with a friendly tournament of croquet. Two teams race to hit their balls through the wicket course the fastest.
How to play: Guests break up into two small teams and move all their croquet balls through a self-made course of stakes and hoops known as wickets. Arrange the croquet set by a nearby chalkboard with rules and tips for playing. Kick off the afternoon with a bride vs. groom match.
37. Couple Trivia
Leave a challenging fill-in-the-blank trivia card at each table setting full of interesting questions about the newlyweds.
How to play: As guests take their seats for dinner, challenge them with a competitive table game of trivia. The first person or couple to complete the questionnaire successfully wins a dessert or a prize. Announce the answers at the start of dinner or leave an answer sheet near the centerpiece so each table can play at their own pace.
38. Corn Hole
Perfect for an outdoor cocktail hour, the classic sandbag game can be customized for a husband vs. bride theme.
How to play: Angle two large rectangles of plywood several inches off the ground and carve out one hole at the top of each team’s game board. The goal of each round is to sink as many sandbags as possible into your opponent’s target. Paint the corn hole set to match your wedding’s colors and theme!
39. Find the Guest
Provide a questionnaire with interesting facts about guests in the room and send everyone on a socializing scavenger hunt.
How to play: Spark new conversations with a “find the guest” game. When guests start their cocktail hour or sit down to dinner, encourage conversation by listing interesting facts about people in the room. Everyone has to mingle to complete their questionnaire faster than their peers.
40. Giant Chess and Checkers
Ranging from large to life size, consider a DIY approach to giant chess and checkers out on your venue’s lawn.
How to play: For both chess and checkers, DIY your board with checkered black and white fabric. A fabric board makes for easy transport, outdoor play and easy cleanup. For a rustic look, cut and paint your checker pieces from wood slices. Get creative with chess pieces as well, like decorated wine bottles or PVC piping.
Whether you’re hosting an outdoor summer wedding or an intimate gathering indoors, wedding games make for the perfect ice breaker for guests. Plan your wedding game to take place during your cocktail hour so guests are entertained while you’re taking group wedding photos or spending some one on one time with your new spouse.
Entertaining friends and family is a big part of the holiday season. In my family, after we have nibbled on appetizers and enjoyed a meal and the dessert plates have been cleared from the table, it’s game time. Literally.*
If you are a game lover (or are just looking for some excitement), consider playing these games—some bought, some improvised—at your next dinner party.
*Warning: Wait 30 minutes after eating before charading.
Conversation Starters
Whether the group you’re hosting consists of lifelong friends, new acquaintances or a combination of both, Table Topics is a game with, according to its tag line, “Questions to Start Great Conversations.” It is a simple concept. The game consists merely of a deck of cards with questions on each, and the maker has come out with decks of different themes—Dinner Party, Not Your Mom’s Dinner Party and Gourmet, among others. From the original deck: “If you could do something dangerous just once with no risk what would you do?” And from the gourmet deck: “Which celebrity chef would you most like to fix you a meal?” Find out things about your friends that you might never have known.
Take The Table Game Table
Another game, called the Game of Things, takes this idea to the next level. A card might say: “Things people do when no one is looking” or “Things dogs are actually saying when they bark.” Each player writes down an answer, and the object of the game is to guess who wrote what. The board game can be improvised if your group comes up with a pile of “Things” prompts. But, I have to say, the topics that come with the game generate hilarious answers.
Trivia
There are so many trivia board games out there that you can pretty much play to a common interest of your group. If you are all fans of TV shows like The Office or Seinfeld, there are games that will challenge you to recall famous quotes and scenes. I recently saw a game called Name Chase, perfect for history buffs, that provides facts and clues about historical figures. The fewer clues you need in order to guess the person correctly, the higher your score. And if you are serious foodies, Foodie Fight, with over 1,000 food-related trivia questions, might be a good choice.
Taboo-Style Games
Catch Phrase has always been a party favorite among my friends. The hand-held electric game provides a word, and, in typical Taboo fashion, you have to describe the person, place or thing (without using the word in question) in a way that will enable your team to guess it. Then you quickly pass it around the room. Whichever team has it when the time runs out loses the round.
What’s great about the game “Celebrity” is that it requires only some paper and pens. Every player submits three or so names of famous people or fictional characters to a hat. The group is divided into two teams and the names into two cups. Each team has an allotted time, say two minutes, to pass their cup around and get through as many names as they can. In the first round, when you draw a name, you can give any clues to help your teammates guess. Then, the names are returned to the cup, and in the second round, you can only say one word and then you have to act out clues. The final round (and the hope is that you get through many names in the first round so that you are familiar with the celebrities in the cup) is purely charades.
In my opinion, this “Celebrity” is more entertaining than the version in which each person at the table writes a famous person’s name on a post-it note, sticks it to a neighbor’s forehead and then asks and answers yes-or-no questions until everyone discovers their post-it identities.
Take The Table Game Ideas
Easy Classics
For the game “Psychiatrist,” one member of the group volunteers to be the psychiatrist and leaves the room while the remaining revelers decide on an ailment. The ailment isn’t an illness in the traditional sense. For instance, you may decide that you will all act as if you are the person to your right. Then the psychiatrist returns and asks questions until he or she successfully diagnoses the group.
This last one risks creating some contrived conversation, but it can be fun. The host of the party pens some outlandish phrases (i.e. “I am loose as a goose” or “It tastes like pickled peppers”) on strips of paper and hides one (or perhaps three, ranging from easy to medium to hard) under each dinner plate. Guests read the phrases to themselves when they sit down to dinner, and then the object is to work them into the conversation as naturally as possible. Try to call out when you think others are using their assigned phrases, and the person able to slip in the most, unnoticed, wins.