During wedding planning there is so much to think about, sometimes planning activities for you and your guests to do can fall to the bottom of the to-do list. I’ve put together a handy list of 10 of the best alternative wedding activities I’ve seen so far at all the weddings I’ve shot. They always make for brilliant photographs, especially when the couple themselves get involved. If you’re worried about your guests getting bored during your wedding then take a peek at this list and I can promise they will have plenty to do!
Tug of war
I’ve been to a couple of weddings where a tug of war has taken place but Verity and Dave’s wedding totally won in terms of sheer size! After their meal they announced a tug of war on the field next to their venue at the Bridal Barn in Shropshire. Their groomsmen then proceeded to dish out the longest rope I’ve ever seen in my life, I had to get ridiculously far back with the widest lens I own to get everyone in the shot for this one! I absolutely loved how everyone got involved in this, with Verity and Dave right at the front (the girls won, in case you were wondering!). I would love to see more tugs of war on this scale at lots of my future weddings, it’s super easy to set up, all you need is a rope and lots of space!
Silent Disco
I’ve been to a few silent discos but Sarah and Dave’s wedding is the first time I’ve seen one done at a wedding! They are a great idea if your venue has a noise restriction after a certain time and you want to keep the party going. I stayed late to shoot this at Sarah and Dave’s wedding and whacked on a pair of headphones with everyone else so that I could enjoy the music along with them. This also means that everyone has a small choice in the music that they are listening to, most silent discos consist of 2 or 3 channels and you can switch through them easily on the side of the headphones to find the song you like the most and want to dance along with. This has the most hilarious results, with everyone singing along to different songs and dancing at different tempos, it’s worth taking the headphones off every now and then to have a bit of a giggle!
Bouncy Castle
Bouncy castles are ALWAYS a great idea, adding one to your wedding will just make a great day even better. I’ve only had the chance to shoot one wedding with a bouncy castle so far however I really want to shoot more of this very soon! They keep the kids and adults entertained, if you fall over from too much alcohol it’ll be a soft landing and they make for some great photos! I’ve yet to attempt to take photos while being on a bouncy castle but I’m always up for a challenge.
Don’t buzz the wire
This game is endlessly frustrating but really addictive. I was super impressed with this buzz wire that Demsey made for his and Simone’s wedding, it went really well with their copper theme for their wedding day and even matched their Mr and Mrs cake topper! You don’t necessarily have to go to the extremes of making your own games for your wedding, these are available to hire from local party hire shops. They are always great for keeping people occupied and everyone always thinks they can do a better job than the person before them!
Boozy snakes and ladders
I’m not sure if Ashley and James intended for this game of snakes and ladders to be a drinking game when they laid it out for their wedding, but it was brilliant. It’s a very simple premise and can be played with as many people as you like, when you land on a square with a shot in it you have to drink it, easy peasy! This proved to be absolutely hilarious and if I hadn’t been driving home I would have gladly joined in! This might be a good game to save until after you’ve had food though, it could be pretty lethal on an empty stomach!
Flower Crown Making
Flower crown making is a great way of getting everyone involved in an activity on your wedding day. It takes a bit of time for them to create something but means they get an add on to their already amazing outfits. I’ve see this at both Chloe and Kieran’s and Hannah and Ed’s weddings now and it worked brilliantly at both, with loads of their guests getting involved. By the end of the day there were lots of people wearing flower crowns! This is something that Hannah did on her hen do and then decided to incorporate into her wedding day, I thought this was brilliant and a great way of tying both of them together. All you need is some wire, flowers (real or artificial), string and scissors and you’re set!
Guess the guest
Melissa and Peter had so many awesome activities and games at their wedding, it’s hard to choose a favourite. I really liked guess the guest, they very sneakily got an old photo of every guest and had their guests guess who was who. Me and Luke even featured in theirs much to our absolute confusion (I’m still not sure how they got Luke’s photo!). This one requires a fair bit of sneaking around and effort but I promise it’s worth it to see the look on everyone’s faces when they realise they’re up on the board! It was great fun trying to guess who was who, most of the time we were wrong but it definitely kept us occupied for quite a while!
Limbo
Verity and Ste’s wedding is the only wedding I’ve ever been to where they had a limbo! It takes me right back to primary school and was such a brilliant laugh. It suited their relaxed summer wedding down to the ground, they had lots of different garden games scattered around but limbo has to be one of my favourites. Everyone took off their shoes and battled it out to see how low they could go. Verity had a go herself and her (very heavy!) headpiece fell out she was putting so much effort in, it was fully worth it though. I’d love to shoot more weddings with limbos!
Skittles
This is another game that is just as fun for adults as it is for kids. Charlie and James set up their game of skittles by using a thin piece of wood as the alley and hay bales as barriers. This worked really well as it meant the kids couldn’t go too wild with their throwing. The adults were definitely worse than the kids, at one point I very nearly got hit in the head by the ball by a wedding guest who was trying a bit too hard (it might also have something to do with the fact I was stood in the line of fire!). This is a game that requires no explanation and that everyone can enjoy, it’s also really easy to set up!
Sack Racing
There is nothing better than a good old fashioned sack race in my opinion. I absolutely loved photographing this one at Verity and Ste’s wedding last year. I love how many people got involved and really gave it their all. This was after a very delicious and heavy afternoon tea too! This is probably the easiest out of all of these activities, you literally just need a few sacks that are big enough to fit people in and you’re away! Whenever anyone tells me they’re having a sack race at their wedding I get really excited, (and sometimes even take part myself). I highly recommend it if you’re thinking of giving your guests something to do.
I hope this list helps you come up with a few ideas for activities to keep you and your guests entertained during your wedding! (Bonus points if you manage all 10!) I’m so excited to be shooting all of your weddings really soon, happy planning!
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