Bring everyone together with these collaborative non-dancing reception activities

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Non-dancing reception activities that bring your guests together
Groomsmen playing “door games”… I think! | Photo by Claudio Raschella
When planning our smaller wedding, we defaulted to dancing as the reception activity since that's usually what happens, but it's not really what we'd do for fun. We'd like to have another kind of activity that brings us together as a community. Any suggestions?

Non-dancing receptions are becoming pretty common in offbeat circles, so it's no wonder folks are considering different kinds of activities. Board games are popular, but they can sometimes keep everyone in smaller groups. I scoured our archives and did some brainstorming to see what non-dancing reception activities would bring your guests together. Here are some ideas…

Karaoke or lip sync battles

Non-dancing reception activities that bring your guests together
Belting it at Brian and Rebecca's wedding. Photos by Beaumond Originals

Karaoke and lip sync battles are often a great way to get your extroverted friends to become cheap reception entertainment. Everyone can get a kick out of watching it, and it's always fun to actually do. No real talent required, especially with lip-syncing. Feel free to give everyone a heads up so they can think of songs they'd like to do.

Large-scale gaming

Non-dancing reception activities that bring your guests together
Photo by Anna Michalska Photography

You'll have to be careful to stay away from isolation land in this scenario, but piñatas, video games that can easily be watched (like Rock Band), lawn games, and (depending on your venue sitch) activities like laser tag can make for a pretty fun non-dance reception option.

Scavenger hunt or mingling games

Non-dancing reception activities that bring your guests together
Minglo! Photo by Jenny GG

We've featured a fair few games that get your guests mingling with each other. MINGLO (people mingling bingo), and geeky scavenger hunts, iSpy games get everyone on their feet and laughing.

Do something creative

Non-dancing reception activities that bring your guests together
Photo by Lydia Maybee

If you've got creative guests, give them a shot at dancing around a maypole, create a guest book work of art (more ideas here!)

Have an open-air photo booth

Non-dancing reception activities that bring your guests together
Slo-mo photo booth by The Adventures Of

Ask anyone who's had a photo booth: they are popular. And an open-air style booth allows guests to watch each other, jump into shots, and generally be more social while getting those new profile photos lined up. Offer up some props and you'll have guests making their own photo booth all over the place.

More ideas than you can count over here.

Give out awards

Non-dancing reception activities that bring your guests together
“a href=”https://www.etsy.com/listing/242855062/youre-a-wiener-greeting-card”>You're a Wiener! Greeting Card from ilootpaperie

A costume contest? Farthest traveled? Longest married? Worst pun? Giving away fun favors for various accolades is one way to break up the evening and get everyone thinking, moving around, or coming up with a great pun. Make the favors get awarded by table to make your guests collaborate. Trivia maybe?!

Offer extra entertainment

Non-dancing reception activities that bring your guests together
Photo by Strattons Photography

Take the money you would be putting into a DJ and funnel it towards a magician, a tarot reader, a face painter, some burlesque dancers, fire spinners, a caricature artist, or any kind of entertainer you like.

Need a bunch more non-dancing reception ideas?

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Comments on Bring everyone together with these collaborative non-dancing reception activities

  1. These are all great ideas- thanks for brainstorming them! We’re putting out board games, card games, coloring books with colored pencils, Mad Libs, and will have an iPod dock for background music. But after reading this, I think we need to have a scavenger hunt as well. 🙂

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