10 Creative Wedding Reception Activities

When the time comes to plan your wedding reception, one of your main concerns will be keeping your guests entertained. Since a reception can last hours into the night, it’s important to ensure your family and friends have plenty of activities to keep them occupied and smiling. In addition to your normal wedding stationery essentials, there are a variety of advice card ideas and activities to make your reception unique. Here are plenty of creative ideas for interactive wedding reception activities.

  1. Wedding photo scavenger hunt—Give your guests a scavenger hunt list of photos to capture during your reception. For example, ask them to get a shot of someone laughing, the best dancer in action, someone’s tears of joy, a playful child or a kiss between the bride and groom. Include a wedding hashtag on the scavenger hunt card so guests can tag any photos they post to social media. This idea is a great way to ensure nothing about your wedding night is missed.
  2. Interactive food station—Keep guests happy and satisfied by setting up an interactive food station at the reception venue. A fun dessert bar with a chocolate fountain or a build-it-yourself taco bar are just a couple fun ideas to keep guests busy.
  3. Facts and a lie—List a few facts about yourselves, along with one hidden lie. See who knows you best when you find out how many guests can guess which fact is fake with entertaining and customizable trivia cards.
  4. Question cards—Leave random question cards on your guests’ tables, asking for their answers to fun questions like “What should we name our kids?” or “What romantic place should we visit together?”
  5. Date night ideas—These elegant date night idea cards allow your guests to share their suggestions for the perfect romantic date. Not only is it fun for everyone, but it’s an easy way to gather date ideas to keep your love strong.
  6. Words of wisdom—Your wedding guests are full of advice and tips about having a successful marriage. Now is the perfect time to ask for their ideas. If you don’t want to go the usual route, this playful marriage advice mad-lib is a unique and funny way to ask for advice.
  7. Raffle—When guests arrive at the reception, give them a raffle ticket. Also, at each table, provide a list of ways that guests can earn additional tickets. Make it fun by encouraging guests to participate in silly dances or correctly answer trivia questions about the bride and groom. When the night is over, raffle off small prizes, such as the table centerpieces or fun gifts.
  8. Wedding doodles—Encourage guests to draw their interpretation of various things that they see at your wedding. Provide customized doodle cards or just plain cardstock for a fun—and often humorous—set of wedding keepsakes.
  9. Dance requests—Ask each guest to write down a few wedding songs they love dancing to, to ensure your reception dance floor is always full. Give the song request cards to your DJ or band to keep the danceable tunes playing all night long.
  10. Caricature art—Hire a cartoonist to draw quick caricature sketches of your reception guests. This gives each guest something memorable and fun to take home with them when the night is over.

For a fun and successful reception, pick your favorite activity suggestions from this list. Using just a few of these ideas will ensure your wedding reception is a blast for everyone and give you memories that are sure to last a lifetime.