What ‘fun’ wedding activities were actually fun?

[Blinko]

I am in the throngs of planning my wedding and trying to think of fun activities my guests can enjoy. It’s a late Summer wedding in a country house.

We are doing a pub quiz (teams will be the tables) as that’s how we met. There will be a prize as I just think that gets people actually into it.

There is a very pretty lawn so we will be putting out croquet, boulles, quoits etc.

And setting up board game (along with some of our fav snacks) on each table as that’s a big part of our family get togethers.

What fun activities have you ACTUALLY enjoyed? I’ve personally enjoyed tug of war at barn wedding but that wouldn’t exactly fit our vibe.

I know some will say all these games and stuff are just not necessary butI personally enjoy them. And just want the option of doing them

The best plan is for there not to be too many interminable hours for the guests to be hanging around waiting for food something to actually happen.

One wedding we went to had a magician going round doing card tricks and sleight-of-hand with people in small groups. That was good.

Not perhaps what you had in mind, but I was at a wedding where the venue was decorated with old family photos, so guests could work out who was who, older family members could explain and reminisce and chat with bride and grooms friends, go "oh she was so sweet at aged 4" , doesn't Mabel look like great auntie Beth etc - it was something to do/ look at / talk about without needing any instructions or being "organised"

A relative had a long gap between ceremony and reception and a gang of guests played rounders on the lawn. Made for some fabulous photos of the bride running!
But I went for a nap until the evening.

Just let them know what to expect. For the wedding above we were told it would be outside if possible and they recommended flats. I wore a nice floaty summer dress and sparkly sandals and had no problem at all joining in. The grannies that didn’t want to sat on the terrace and drank / ate / chatted / watched and all seemed quite happy.

Lawn games were surprisingly fun at the last wedding I went to. No pressure but it was a nice warm day and it was a nice low key activity that you can do with strangers.

@Blinko if you want a fun game to have out, Herd Mentality is brilliant fun and is sure to cause some laughs.

Your wedding sounds lovely and it’s great you are trying to cater for different tastes ☺️.

Something fun from admittedly a party rather than a wedding, although I think it would work well is a mixologist giving a join in cocktail demonstration. It was just for an hour but lots of people joined in and had fun making their own cocktails. Not everyone will want to get involved, but it offers alternative entertainment to guests either whilst you are having photos taken or later in the evening.

The best wedding fun wise actually had a barn dance, not my sort of music generally, but literally everyone had a go and was equally terrible at the dancing - it was hilarious.

OP, you've been fairly narky on your thread with people who don't love your ideas. You've posted on AIBU, so you really need to be able to hear from people who DO think YABU without being rude to them.

It's NOT miserable to not enjoy games and organised wedding activities. People really do enjoy different things. If you don't listen to these comments with an open mind, what's the point in asking?

Some of your guests will feel the same way as people on this thread. You keep saying it's all chill and opt-in, but are you going to be 'chill' on the day if people just want to drink, eat and chat with people they haven't seen in ages/rarely get chance to catch up with/whatever?

I would be okay with a brief pub quiz, but anything else I'd probably end up doing just to show willing and 'get in the spirit' but actually, I'd much rather be drinking wine and having a laugh with my cousins. People might join in to be nice, but they'd rather not? If there were kids present, I could definitely see the appeal of lawn games, but if it's just adults, probably not.

From this thread, some would love the games and so on, but obviously lots of people just want a relaxed vibe without feeling as though they might be judged for not 'joining in.'

I get the impression that you think people who don't agree are plain wrong, though!

We hired a disc golf basket/discs and popped it out on the lawn, Some people played, some didn't, but frisbee is a big part of our lives so we wanted to share it with our guests.

Sounds more like a team-building day than a wedding 😆

One wedding I went to had a bird of prey display between the ceremony and dinner. That was quite fun, something entertaining without being too participatory.

Yes I agree with @Cressiet you have been a bit grumpy @Blinko with ppl who don’t like the sound of your plans, calling them miserable.

People like different things indeed. I might enjoy a quiz actually but only if it were accessible. And there is a danger of it going on too long. Timing ie when to do it could be an issue as pps have said.

I know you asked for ideas, not criticism if your own, but some ideas are “some ppl wouldn’t like this” which is valid.

I for one would utterly hate the jigsaw piece and writing wishes for the B&G for the next 20 years. So I guess what some are saying is, be prepared for ppl not to take part - as long as you are ok with that, fine.

I think you over thinking it. I have been to many weddings, including my own and people are able to entertain themselves for an hour while photos are taken. However it's your wedding and if you want something like that, go for it. If it is a garden based one, then you can hire oversized garden games, like connect four etc that people like. Those photo booths always go down well. Try this web site and there are loads and loads of others. 30 Fun Wedding Games Your Guests Will Love to Play - hitched.co.uk

I think most posters are assuming that everybody in the world is exactly like them. Most of my social circle would much prefer lawn games/board games to small talk and dancing. (I enjoy both). So sounds like a great wedding to me! 'Spot it' is a good easy-to-understand social game.

That sounds like fun, to me, @Blinko.

Just a thought, but could you have a table with a jigsaw on it? I think people might enjoy stopping and putting a few pieces in.

I have to agree with you here. And I would argue that we're not miserable and are, in fact, likely a lot more fun precisely because we can easily have fun and enjoy ourselves without needing to be told how to do it.

And I'm just not buying that all these laid out activities are going to be as chilled out and purely optional as the OP insists? Especially considering her attitude towards people who don't agree with her on this thread?

I love a quiz and think a short quiz could be fun.

I went to an event in a pub and they did a very clever quiz.

All the answers were numbers.
Unbelievably different questions, and some of the answers were 9 million and some 3.

There were only about 20 questions and you had to write down your answers.

It was in a pub and very noisy and most people quite pissed.

It was clever because at the end, they did not go over the quiz answers, they just said - add up your numbers and the table who are closest to the right number win. Everyone whipped out their phones, added up the numbers and one table won. The worst part of a pub quiz is going over the questions and giving out the answers. It is the boring bit, so this number quiz bypassed that quite neatly
(for any pedants you could stick the anwers up on a board for them to look at while everyone goes off to dance)

I think your wedding sounds brilliant and I (and most of my friends) would love it. Especially the quiz!

Ceilidh/barn dance I'd also love and I do work events where there is always a queue for the Photo Booth, there are some good AI ones now too.

Cringing at the idea that Ceilidh's could ever be considered 'passe'.

They are a core component of Scottish culture and heritage. Not something that goes out of fashion for weddings along with goldfish centrepieces.

Yeah I have been a narky. Some posters got my back up when they kept referring to what I plan to do as ‘forced fun’. I think they were being deliberately sneering and passive aggressive.

It’s annoying when some posters would rather have a go and choose to mischaracterise my plans.

We had lawn games as you describe and also giant Jenga / giant Connect 4 (which we hired from a local firm) and Twister. All went down v well as far as I remember (was a good while ago now!)

How can I enforce people play board games and lawn games? Please do tell. They’ll be on the table and lawn. People can have at them. Or pretend they don’t exist.

To be fair - everyone took part in the jigsaw - it was literally writing your guestbook message on the back, and putting the piece on the table, not much to 'utterly hate' there surely! But take your point, not everyone enjoys the same things, that's the rich tapestry of life!

Well, assuming your wedding guests know you well, I expect they will feel obliged to participate in the activities regardless, just in order to please you? I'm only basing this assumption on the attitude you're displaying on this thread? But I might be completely wrong, so I will bow out of the thread and wish you a happy day.

@Blinko ignore the "forced fun" people.
This is your wedding and your guests presumably know the type of things you and your fiancee enjoy and find fun.
If they don't enjoy it they don't have to join in.
Personally I would dread an invite to a 'traditional" wedding reception because I hate formal meals, hate the drinking alcohol culture, hate dressing up and hate discos.
But if it was a very close family member or friend I'd grin and bare it and go (and be bored out my mind but definitely wouldn't dance).
I'm definitely Team Board Game 🎲

Yes I agree we all enjoy different things. That's my point really. I see that some ppl enjoy coming up with a nice message on the spot like that. I'm not foolish enough to think all would agree with me (as a pp suggested lots of posters thought).

I really don't want to be under pressure to write a guestbook message tho, sorry. I don't think I've ever written a message in a wedding guestbook tbh. The jigsaw piece kind of forces it on me - does that make more sense? I would really panic about not being witty, spelling something wrong, my awful writing...