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Thanks to our amazing sponsor, Cads About Matrimony, for sponsoring this wedding games roundup. The original game and their first expansion are available here!
Pillow forts and welcome bags: 12 ways to entertain kids at your wedding
Having a kid-friendly wedding but don't want all your parent guests to have to miss out on adult wedding fun? Here are some hacks to... Read more
You probably already know that a good portion of Offbeat Bride readers don't love dancing. But they DO love games — board games, card games, lawn games, video games… all wedding games all the time, amirite?! We decided to team up with one of our favorite party games and sponsors, Cads About Matrimony (the wedding game that doesn't suck!), to list out some of our favorite ways to get your party on.
PARTY ON, WAYNE. Gaaaaame on, Garth. Let's do this…
A a laser tag reception
Reader ChicagoGal gave us another rad dance alternative idea: a laser tag reception! If you've got a local laser tag joint that can accommodate your guest list size, you can book a few hours of non-dancing reception fun pew-pewing at each other or just watching the fun unfold.
Cads About Matrimony: The wedding game that doesn't suck
Looking for the perfect bachelor/ette party game? Icebreaker? After party activity? Or do you just need to let off some steam during the stress-filled and super-ridiculous wedding planning process? Cads About Matrimony is here to help you with ALL of that. Cads is a wedding-themed party game that was designed as both satire and homage to all our weird and wonderful cultural baggage around love, marriage, and weddings. Besides Offbeat Bride, this game may just be the best thing to come out of wedding planning frustration EVAR.
A LIP SYNC BATTLE reception
If you're a karaoke buff, it can sometimes be hard to get non-singing guests on board with a live singing reception. But who wouldn't be game to lip sync?! All it takes is the balls to silently belt it out and get your best moves on.
Offbeat-themed I-Spy scavenger hunt reception game
If you're looking for ways to keep kids occupied at your reception, an I-Spy scavenger hunt reception game is a great idea, right? But if you're rocking an offbeat wedding, maybe you'd rather have, say, “Converse” or “piercings” as your items to hunt instead of “something blue” or “champagne glasses.” Here's the free printable for the game.
Lawn games for outdoorsy fun
We love us some lawn games like Giant JENGA and cornhole.
Play a movie-matching game
For those of you looking for a non-embarrassing (but still kinda romantic) wedding or shower activity, we have a great wedding shower game from a reader named Catherine.
A regional classic: the shoe game
Depending on your neck of the woods, your reaction to The Shoe Game could be anything from: “Oh, yeah, that game every couple plays at weddings around here” to “whoa, I've never heard of that! Tell me how to play NOW.” But whether you've seen this game at weddings on the regular or Cait & Matt's wedding was the first you'd heard of it, we need to talk about what an Offbeat Bride Shoe Game would look like.
The RPG achievement game
Dean & Matt did this:
We had achievements! On the back of each program was a list of achievements inspired by video games (called things like “Blood Moon” or “Rucks” or “To Our Hometowns”). We had a big chalkboard explaining what each was, and a custom stamp for people to stamp their program when they finished. I think we had about 25 achievements, and some guests did 15, which is WAY more than I was expecting.
The “stand up/sit down game”
Jamie and Evan had planned a big outdoor game-fest, but some nasty, rainy weather pushed them indoors. The good thing was that they had an indoor elimination game planned with a really special prize.
Rubik's Cube competition
Sometimes you just don't dance. So what do you do if you want to have a little reception highlight as a couple without hoofing it to music? How about a little friendly competition between newlyweds? In this case, Amy and Jess decided on a Rubik's Cube battle!
Big screen video games
Have access to a big projection screen or a big white wall? Instead of using it for a slideshow, use it for epic video game fun that most people can't get at home on their small screens. In Anie and Andrew's case, it's giant Dance Dance Revolution as their “first dance.”
Offbeat Wed Vendor
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About the Author: Catherine Clark
Catherine Clark loiters at her local library, makes art, watches movies en masse, plays video and tabletop games, poorly cooks healthy things, cuddles with her feline fur babies, and blogs at BijouxandBits.com.
Thanks so much for this post! We’re doing a brunch wedding, and we don’t dance, and his half of the family are joyless buzzkills with no imagination (*sigh*) so I’ve been desperate for good activities that could bring them (and my family, who are all snobs) together for more than awkward silences and blintzes. Yay!
No set of words have ever summed up my family more than “joyless buzzkills with no imagination”…