At the end of the day, your wedding is a PARTY!  Your guests have all arrived from near and far, dressed in their finest attire, and are here to celebrate your wedding.  Make it a fun and memorable occasion for them, and one they will remember for years.  Here are a few ideas to entertain them.  Let’s get the party started!

The head table could be served their food with pomp and pizzazz.  The wait staff can organize themselves in a line, one for every guest at the head table.  Ask the DJ to play the song “HOT HOT  HOT” quite loudly.  Each staff member will carry the plate of food, covered with an attractive cloche chafing dish, and make their way, in a line, through the venue, meandering among the tables, and finally stand behind their assigned head table guest, wait for the cue from their superior (who is at the back), place the dish in front of the guest from their right.  Then, waiting for another cue, they lift the cloche chafing dish off dramatically, being careful not to knock over any wine glasses.  They then turn altogether, and all exit the head table the opposite way they came in, and return to their back stage work and serving assignments.

All the tables can have names of songs.  When the song is played, the guests at the table can all get up, rush to the dance floor and show the audience how to dance to the song, and encourage the rest of the guests to join in.  Songs like “The Locomotion”, “The Chicken Dance”, etc.

A large crossword could be placed near the head table, where guests can come up and circle the words they find.  Words can be specifically related to the new couple.  Perhaps a secret message can be revealed, once all the words are found.

Each table can sing a song to the Bride and Groom.  Perhaps each table can also assign a spokesperson, and give the Bride and Groom some good marriage advice, or ways on how to cope with stress – from their own experiences.  The tables could take turns throughout the evening.

To keep things interesting, the emcee could have different questions about the young couple or guests that the other guests can answer.  A Spin the Wheel, can be turned by the person who gets the correct answer.  The Spin the Wheel can have instructions like “The Bride and Groom kiss”, or any other appropriate activities such as – Moonwalk back to your seat, Sing a verse from a love song, Toast the Bride and Groom, Your table to make an animal sound, Toast or give advice to the Bride, etc.

A raffle could be up for grabs.  Every guest gets a raffle ticket.  Throughout the evening guests could earn extra raffle tickets by doing interesting things.  Perhaps every guest could be given a name of a famous couple taped to their back.  They must find their spouse by asking others questions about the identity of the mysterious person, to which others can only answer with yes or no.  Once they have found their significant other, they could get an extra raffle ticket each.  Perhaps interesting facts about guests in the room could be given, and others need to find that guest and be rewarded by an extra raffle ticket.  Certain guests, who would be carefully picked for appropriateness, can courageously do what they do best and entertain the audience in their own way, for an extra raffle ticket.

When the guests are clinking their glasses with silverware, pull out a name of a guest from a bowl/basket and get them to sing a song with “Love” in the lyrics (they may be joined by their table or a friend), or “Kiss by Example” choosing his or her partner to kiss in a way they would like the Bride and Groom to kiss.  This could also give a guest an opportunity to wish the couple well, say how they got to know the couple and share a funny story, or give some personal advice on marriage.  He or she could also request all the guests to stand up and toast the new couple.

The Shoe Game is a popular game that is often played at weddings.  The Bride and Groom are seated back to back in the middle of the dance floor, holding one of their own shoes, and one of their spouse’s shoes.  The maid-of-honor, best man, or a guest reads out “who” questions about their relationship (i.e. who does most of the cooking, etc.) to which both the Bride and Groom must raise the shoe of the person who best fits the answer.

Who gets the beautiful centerpiece at their table?  There are many ways to achieve this.  Musical chairs can be played to music and the last one with a chair wins.  The couple who have been married the longest at each table wins.  Using an item, i.e.  a napkin, a shoe, a coin, $ bill, or watch, play the hot potato game to music, where the person who is holding the napkin, etc. when the music stops, is out.  Continue until there is only one person left holding the item.  The couple whose anniversary is closest to the new couple’s Wedding Day.  The emcee could also ask a question, like “Who is carrying a picture of their mother-in-law in their wallet?” and is the first to provide proof is the lucky winner at each table.  Simon Says could be played with the DJ playing a song, and the last person to weather the game standing gets the centerpiece at each table.

To honor all wedded couples, the new couple could ask all married couples to join them in their last dance.

The PARTY is over!  Hopefully all your guests had the time of their lives, and will remember YOUR wedding for all of time, as will you!

Cheers!