Wedding Favors

Wedding Rehearsal Dinner Games

2010-04-06T15:35:00.000-07:00

Wedding rehearsal dinners are a time to relax, calm down and enjoy a quiet evening before the big event the next day. But adding some fun and games into the rehearsal dinner isn't such a bad idea. It's a great way to help everyone let off some steam, calm down and enjoy each other.

If you're planning a sit-down formal dinner, fun games and activities can still be on the menu. In fact, if a formal dinner is part of the plans, having some interesting activities on the agenda is not only a good idea, but also an excellent one. There's been a lot of planning, and a lot of stress and the wedding party and close friends and family will welcome the opportunity to have a little fun.

The success or failure of any games or activities largely depends not just on the planning but your venue. If you're having a sit-down dinner in a restaurant, try to get a private room. Then a myriad of fun activities can be planned, such as "pin the veil on the bride", in which blindfolded guests spin around a few times, then try to pin the veil on a picture of the bride. Silly, yes, but also fun.

One fun activity sure to help everyone blow off some steam is charades. Whoever is up will act out a scene from the bride or groom's life, so it might be when graduating from college, or getting a huge promotion at work. The "it" person might choose to act out when the bride tripped and fell at another person's wedding or when the groom saved a dog from getting hit by a car. This is a little twist on charades that helps people get to know the bride and groom better, and adds intimacy to what is already an intimate event.

If the wedding rehearsal dinner is a bit less formal and held in someone's home, there are many more activities that can take place. For example, how about a night of playing board games? Who needs formal food? You can have that the next day at the formal wedding. At this rehearsal dinner party, the games are center stage.

Bring in some sandwiches and tell everyone to wear their comfortable clothes and settle in for a night of board games. You can set up games on different tables, divide people into groups of 4 or 5 and have everyone rotate tables at designated times. You can even instruct game players that when they move to another table, the game stays out the way it is. So, for example, dad might begin playing Monopoly where the bride was and he's stuck with only a little money in the bank and no houses on Boardwalk.

So, let's say the bride and groom are big into sports. If the wedding is to be held in the summer and the days are long, how about a game of touch football or baseball? You can play bride's family against groom's family, men against women, or for a twist, the bride plays with the groom's family and the groom with the bride's family. Any combination works. The idea here is to have some fun, relax and enjoy each other's company.

Other outdoor activities can include anything that is physical and might help people blow off steam. Has the bride been more a "bridezilla" than anything? How about a game of tag where she's it? Or you can create two bridesmaid's dress-up trunks. Go to a thrift store, fill the trunks with old prom dresses and large-size shoes, and costume jewelry. Divide the guests into two different teams and have someone sit with a timer. The team who dresses one of the men (ideally, the groom and best man or perhaps the two dads) first wins. Be sure to have a camera at the rehearsal dinner/event, because this is one activity you'll want to have pictures of!

Wedding Rehearsal Dinner Games

2010-04-04T15:34:00.000-07:00

Dance Floor Activities for Your Wedding

2010-03-26T15:12:00.000-07:00

Dancing is an essential component at most wedding receptions. We look forward to the couple's "first dance" and the bride's special dance with her father. It's also a place to get loose and funky, if you're a guest or a member of the wedding party.

But what if the wedding planners decided to add some fun and surprise to the dance floor by adding fun activities there? This doesn't mean a rousing version of the "Bunny Hop", which, while maybe essential, is hardly unique.

There are, however, many fun games and activities you can add to your dance floor activities that are sure to be a hit.

Try a fun game of the "chicken dance". Ok, so that doesn't sound too original. But if most of your guests are just sitting at their tables, watching a few brave couples dancing, or just finishing their meals, you might want to get everyone up and having fun. Try this game.

The DJ announces a number. Everyone looks under his or her chair, where there is a number. Depending on the number of guests at the wedding, there might be only numbers "1" and "2" or more, up to 5.

So, say the DJ announces number "4". Each person checks under their chair to see what their number is. These numbers can be written simply on a piece of masking tape and affixed to the underside of the chairs when the reception is being set up. Each "4" in this scenario will head to the dance floor to do the chicken dance with the other "4s". Not only does this get people out of their chairs and on to the dance floor, they get to know other wedding reception guests they might not otherwise know.

One dance floor activity that's gaining popularity is to bring in a dance teacher for the wedding reception. As a kind of pre-dance activity, the teacher will quickly walk people through their paces on the dance floor, perhaps teaching a bit of the waltz or, for something completely different, a little bit of the tango, before the music officially begins and dancing commences.

Having a dance teacher do a bit of teaching not only livens up the reception right from the start, but it gets people out on the dance floor who might otherwise be too self-conscious normally to get out there and let it all hang out. And practically speaking, it will likely make the wedding guests feel more confident in their skills before the "official" dancing begins.

Another fun activity to get everyone on the dance floor, including even the most reticent, is something you can refer to as the "snowball" dance. This is a good way to jumpstart the dancing at the beginning of the evening.

Here's how the "snowball" dance works. The wedding party, bride and groom included, will head to the dance floor for a fun dance. The music for this dance should be fast, something with a disco beat or a fast song that most people have at least a passing familiarity with. After a bit of wedding party dancing, the music stops. The female members of the wedding party move into the crowd and bring back one male each. The male members of the wedding party do the same, but they bring in female guests. The dancing then begins again. This is repeated until all the guests are dancing. It's truly a snowball effect!

Wedding Favors that Make a Difference

2009-09-30T13:32:00.000-07:00

If you feel like sharing the joy of your wedding day, giving to those less affortunate might be a great option. While you could just make a donation to any charity close to your heart, you might also give in the name of your guests.

There are organisations like Practical Presents that let you chose the good cause you would like to contribute to. The choices range from financing a flock of goats or chicken to buying a well for a village comunity or planting trees.

How do you present these unique wedding favors to your guests? There are various possibilities. The easiest one: just prepare a little card for each guest (they might even double as place cards) explaining the good cause you contributed to in their name. Or you might prepare something a little more elaborate: if you bought some chicken, get a little flower pot and sow some catgrass. Once it has grown (make sure you get the timing right!), place a little plastic hen (from dollar- or toy stores) on the grass. Prepare a little card wich says „there is a chicken with your name“ - on the backside explain i one short sencence where your money went. Sounds too complicated? Just substitute the flowerpot and the catgrass with a little square of articial lawn. Instead of a plastic hen you could also use a quail egg – make little holes at either end and blow out what is inside and just use the shell.

This is just one idea – depending on what good cause you contributed to, you will have to get creative!

Don´t get me wrong – this is by no means a cheap wedding favor. But a very original one, and a favor your guests will remember for years to come. And on top of it you might even change the lifes of people for the better – they will be remembering your wedding day, even if they won´t know whom gave this gift to them – and why...

A Very original Wedding Favor

2009-09-30T13:30:00.000-07:00

How about giving each guest a picture of themselves as a wedding favor? Discuss this idea with your photographer: if he takes a photo of every guest or couple as they enter the reception venue and brings along a portable printer plus an appropriate amount of photo cards, it shouldn´t be a problem for him to provide you with a photo for everybody before the end of the evening. If you want to take this idea even further, you might get personalized photo-frames with the date and your names on them and instruct the photographer (or better an assistant - otherwise you won´t get any pictures of your reception) to stick the photos in the frames.

As part of the entertainment the photographer could even provide a slideshow presentation of the protraits taken – I am sure everybody will be thrilled about the opportunity to get a professional photo of themselves all dressed up for your wedding!