Alternatives to Dancing at your Wedding
The standard wedding flow is a ceremony to cocktail hour to dinner and then dancing the night away. And don’t get me wrong, I love a good dance party, but there are some people who don’t think dancing to Whitney Houston represents who they are as a couple. Here are a few different options for your reception just incase dancing is not something you can or want to do.
#1 Tip: When going the “alternate” route for your wedding, get your key people on board from the beginning. You’ll need folks to “buy-in” to the fact that you’re not just grabbing your fav drink from the open bar and scream-singing. Tell your best person to really get into the game or get everyone else during cocktail hour hyped up for it.
Trivia
Whether you are in a predicament where guests can not leave the table or your family is super into bar trivia, trivia is such a fun way to include everyone. You can make this random bar trivia, or it can be couple specific and include trivia on where they live or their relationship. Each table is a team and is a great way for folks to get to know one another. Since they don’t have to talk about themselves, it’s an easy icebreaker situation. Lastly, I definitely recommend having real prizes people can win just so that more and more folks get involved.
Karaoke Night
This is fun cross between having the band or DJ play but having more guest engagement. This is perfect for smaller weddings and more intimate groups who are down for a laugh. This also guarantees that people will definitely hear a song they like since they are the ones that requested it.
Bingo
Another perfect alternative if you want a fun game to play with prizes as an incentive. Guests can opt-out of rounds if they want a break and can get up to chat with pals or go get dessert. Don’t do too many rounds because then it would be repetitive and folks will start to opt out sooner, but start with smaller prizes and then make the last round for all the marbles.
Casino Night
Hire a couple of dealers and get the reception space set up for a casino night. You can have multiple tables for blackjack, multiple tables for poker, craps tables, and more. Heck, you can even get people to bet on silly things that happen during the night. Like Trivia night and Bingo night, have people play with real chips and win cash. Maybe set everyone up with a few to begin the night and have an option to buy more if they want to keep going.
Wine Tasting
Host a wine or spirits tasting, especially if you are in a region that is particularly known for its alcohol. This is perfect for smaller and more intimate weddings because you can do the tasting all throughout dinner. This way the focus of the evening isn’t so much on the reception/entertainment after, but rather about prolonging and really enjoying dinner with one another.
Food Festival
Instead of having a sitdown dinner, host your event like a food festival. You can either have various stations provided and prepared by your catering team or, if your venue allows, have various food trucks come and let your guests have their pick. This would be a nod to the state fair sort of idea, but you can have a few trucks come in for dinner, and then when dinner is over, a few trucks can come in for dessert and folks get the experience of trying a whole slew of different cuisine.
Dessert Bar
Instead of serving cake to every guest, set up an experience for every guest. Whether it’s an ice cream bar or make your own charcuterie board, get people excited about their dessert. Maybe it’s a champagne cart too! Something that makes the act of creating, the experience itself.
Cocktail class
Similar to the wine tasting, get people excited about their meal and every part of it. Perfect for smaller weddings, get your bartender to think up a signature cocktail for your group and learn how to make it together. This usually lowers alcohol intake because you’ve spent time making the drink, but also people are more attached to what they made and are more cognizant about enjoying it with the rest of their meal.
Campfire and Yard Games
Perfect for any backyard or outdoor wedding, maybe your vibe has always been more chill, and sit around the campfire talking. Get a few bags of marshmallows, graham crackers, and chat the night away with your best people. People can go from lawn volleyball to bonfire to bags. You can still play music, heck maybe your super indie cousin who’s trying to make it big can bring their guitar and you’ll sing camp songs.
Family Feud
Similar to Bingo and Trivia, every table is a team and then gets the whole group involved for Family Feud. During cocktail hour, get everyone’s answers to the topics and have tables compete against one another in front of each other. You can make the topics about the couple or about anything in general. The more ridiculous the better and another great way for people to get to know one another without having to give up personal information right away.
Board Games at Every Table
Maybe your family is really reserved and doesn’t mind a cozy night together. Put a different board game at every table and after dinner, people can go from table to table playing Jenga or Checkers, Monopoly or Sorry. This is definitely less of an organized affair and more pick you’re own adventure.
Hire an Entertainer
Hire a stand-up comedian or a magician to put on a show, gets people laughing, and they always have some level of guest involvement. If you still want people dancing and singing but not a packed dance floor, see if you can hire some drag queens to put on a performance that has people up singing and cheering.