Breaking the Ice at your Wedding

Strangers are often thrown together at a wedding so it can be a good idea to include a few games and activities to help  guests get to know each other better. A private villa provides the perfect venue to add a sense of fun to the day.

It’s the pre-ceremony drinks stage of your wedding day, and small groups of guests who don’t know one another are huddled together around the private villa’s swimming pool. For many people, the idea of being forced into small talk with strangers at a wedding is something of a nightmare, and even in a warm, tropical climate it can be a good idea to help them break the ice.

To smooth away any awkward social situations, some couples come up with fun ways for their guests to mingle more easily, adding some games and activities throughout the day.

Here are some creative ideas to bring your guests together.

Crafty Fun

Get your wedding off to a flying start by giving your guests the chance to take part in some art and craft. A popular addition at many modern weddings is a hat making table, where guests can design and make their own flamboyant head-wear to wear during the ceremony. Guests quickly lose their self-consciousness with a common goal and it also gives them the chance to get to know each other whilst they get creative.

Social Storytelling

One great way to get your guests in a good mood at the wedding meal is to introduce paper clues that tell the story of how the bride and groom first met. In addition to place settings, the couple can arrange for each seat to have a piece of paper attached with one part of a story written on it. Once everyone is seated, guests read out their portion of the story to one another and work together to put the pieces in the right order. This problem solving activity never fails to get people laughing and chatting before the first course has even arrived.

Down Memory Lane

Once the speeches are over and everyone has eaten their fill, you can avoid a post-dinner lull by getting guests involved in a game like “A trip down memory lane”. In this activity, each guest writes down their funniest recollection of the bride or groom and anonymously places it into a hat. Once all the memories have been collected, it is the bride and groom’s responsibility to take it in turns to read out these funny memories to all of the guests before guessing who wrote each one. As well as getting guests to howl with laughter, it is a great way for everyone to get to know the happy couple even better.

Show and Tell

When dinner is done and its time to start the party, a game of Oddball is a great way to get people mingling. Each guest is told before the wedding that one part of their outfit must be “odd”. Depending on how extreme your definition of the word is, this could encompass everything from a novelty pair of socks to a specially printed t-shirt with a funny picture of the groom printed on it. Guests then talk to one another to guess what the “odd” item of clothing is and why they chose it.

Sing Along

If dancing is not everyone’s thing, then why not get some of your guests singing? Karaoke DVDs are easy to find, especially if you are hosting a destination wedding in Asia where sing-a-longs have long been a popular party choice. Ina private villa you can even set up a karaoke room and after a few drinks your uncles and aunties will be happily crooning their favourite power ballads and having a laugh at the same time.

 

 

by MAX VEE

 

 

 

"The Signature Weddings is a bespoke destination weddings service offering a wide range of options to couples. However, some of the products and services mentioned in the blog articles on this page may not be available as part of the Signature Weddings' service."