We’ve all been to receptions that are standard - we welcome and celebrate the new married couple, watch them dance, and enjoy cake with them. But creative couples often enjoy coming up with fun games that include the entire guest list.

Including the guests is an excellent way to get people out of their chairs, meeting people they might not otherwise know and feeling like they are truly a part of the celebration, not just observers.

One fun and active game that can be played by all your guests, including grandma as well as the young children, is “want it now”.

In this game, you designate a master of ceremonies (if you have a DJ for your wedding reception, this person can serve as the DJ). The MC will have a list of “wants” prepared before the reception. Everyone sits at their tables, and waits to hear the command. The MC says he wants a person with painted toenails. All the women with painted toenails run to the front of the room, toward the MC. Each time a table sends someone to the front first, they get a point.

Points should be tallied during the course of this game and prizes awarded at the end of the game. Be sure to have some obvious “wants”, as is the painted toenails, or a man with a mustache or a child with a pink dress. But also include some surprises, like “a man with a brown purse” which will require a man to find a woman at his table with the brown purse and run up to the front of the room with that.

Another fun wedding reception game that includes all your guests is musical chairs using men as the chairs. All the men line up and kneel on one knee. The women begin playing the game of musical chairs, but when the music stops, they must find a knee to sit on. No “chairs” are removed during the version of the game, but instead people are eliminated when either the man falls down when the woman finds his knee or when the woman falls down. Both are out either way, and if both fall down, they are also both out then (as well as perhaps a bit bruised). This is a fun game that often brings on gales of laughter and adds to a relaxed reception atmosphere.

If many guests are traveling a good distance to the wedding or don’t know many other guests, it’s always fun to include a game that will allow them to now only get to know each other but the bride and groom as well. For this game, you’ll need a MC again, which can be a very outgoing member of the wedding party or the DJ. The reception guests are broken into two groups, which can be as simple as having people count off “1, 2, 1, 2″ and so on until the entire guest list is either a “1″ or a “2″. Then the two groups band together for the duration of the game.

The DJ, or MC, offers a series of questions relating to the bride and groom. The teams should work together to answer the questions, then as quickly as possible provide the answer. The bride and groom will confirm if the answer is correct or not. This is an excellent way for otherwise “stranger” guests to get to know one another and have some fun in the process. It’s also an excellent way to get to know the bride and groom!

Organizing games at a wedding reception is a great way to get people involved and make them feel they are truly a part of the celebration. It’s also a way to fill time, if the wedding planners know this isn’t a “dancing” group or if you want to loosen people up for a long night of celebrating. Whether a small or large wedding, reception games work for just about any group.

In addition, don’t assume wedding reception guests will be offended or annoyed by these active games. Most people report to wedding planners they truly enjoy being more active and having fun games to play during a wedding reception.

You will get much more ideas and find more accessories for the wedding when you visit http://www.your-weddingshop.com

The question of who will get to take home the centerpiece can sometimes be a central discussion at reception dinner tables, particularly if the centerpiece is particularly pretty or original.

Making a game of who gets the centerpiece, then, can be an amusing diversion and one many guests will enjoy participating in. Here are some ideas for giving away that reception table centerpiece.

How about a game of 20 questions? Give each guest a piece of paper and a pen or pencil. The MC or DJ asks a series of 20 questions, but first gives the guests the basic background information, that is, that the answer is an animal, place, person or thing. Once that’s taken care of, people can shout out questions and the MC or DJ will answer yes or no, and whoever figures out the answer first gets the first centerpiece, and that particular table is done playing. The game is repeated until one person at each table has won the centerpiece.

One of the most popular ways brides give away the table centerpieces is to put a number on the bottom of the centerpiece and give each guest a number. At some point in the evening, a number is called, each guest checks his or her number and whoever has the called number gets the centerpiece. There are many ways to put a twist on this traditional activity.

For example, you might provide each table with a number, but make it a lower number (ie. between 1 and 10) and the DJ or MC could move from table to table and have each guest do something a certain number of times. So, at the first table, for example, the guests might need to do “head, shoulders, knees and toes” six times and whoever does it first gets the centerpiece. Or, at the second table, the guests might be required to sing the alphabet 3 times or sing “twinkle, twinkle, little star” three times and whoever does that first get the centerpiece.

Another fun activity for divvying up the centerpieces is to require guests to produce a certain item. The DJ or MC moves from table to table, announcing what guests at that table will be required to produce in order to get the centerpiece. Maybe it’s a Georgia quarter or a mint, or a doctor’s appointment card. Whatever it is, the guest at each table who produces the requested item will get the centerpiece.

You can always make it easy and offer the centerpiece to the oldest person at the table, or the one who took the most number of years to finish college. Perhaps you could create an activity where the person who has the strangest talent (as voted on by the tablemates) wins the centerpiece. Then, if possible, that person might show off the talent for the entire reception party.

If you like musical chairs, you can play a game of musical dollar bills in order to give the centerpiece away. Someone takes out a one-dollar bill and music begins playing. Everyone at the table passes the dollar bill around the table and when the music stops, whoever is left holding the bill gets the centerpiece. Or this game can be played a bit more traditionally with the person with the bill being eliminated, and the game continuing until only one person is holding the bill. That person can then be awarded with the centerpiece. Or, for a fun twist, the bill can be passed around and when the music stops, the person holding the bill is told to return it to the person who first supplied it. That is the person who gets the centerpiece.

Some fun, and fairly traditional, ideas include the birthday person getting the centerpiece. At each table, the person who has a birthday closest to the wedding gets the centerpiece. Or if there are married couples at the table, the couple who have been together the longest can get the centerpiece, or the couple who were married most recently. Perhaps the centerpiece should go to the person with the longest hair, or the strangest shoes (again, this would be voted on by tablemates).

You will get much more ideas and find more accessories for the wedding when you visit http://www.your-weddingshop.com

If you are planning a wedding and plan to have a unity candle as part of the ceremony, you might want to think outside the box.

Traditionally, the unity candle involves three candles. The bride has one, the groom the other, and their two lighted candles light the third candle. This is done to represent the coming together of the two people to make one unit. In some alternate methods, family members are invited to participate in the unity candle lighting, often the mothers of the bride and groom, or other close members of the family. Each family then lights a candle, and together they light the unity candle to symbolize of the coming together of the families.

Now, there are a few twists you can add to this fairly conventional aspect of a wedding ceremony. You can provide each guest with an unlit candle when they arrive at the ceremony. After the couple lights the unity candle, they can ask the guests to move to the front of the church (or wherever the ceremony is being held) and light their candles with the lighted unity candle. This can take a bit of time and might be best with a smaller guest list. But it is a meaningful way to not only get your guests involved in the ceremony itself, but also symbolize the union of family and friends with the marriage.

If there is a large guest list and it would be a prohibitive waste of time to do a candle lighting involving everyone at the ceremony, some brides and grooms like to bring the unity candle to the reception. Light the candle again and provide each guest with a small votive candle (the candle holder will be on the tables at individual table settings). As guests come into the reception area or hall, they can light their votive and take it to their table to place into the votive holder. This small votive candle can double as a wedding favor, particularly if you decorate or enhance a plain votive candleholder in some way to coordinate with your wedding.

Of course, you can forget having a unity candle at the ceremony altogether. Many brides these days are trying to reduce the length of the ceremony and spend more time planning the reception. In that light, some choose to do away with a unity candle altogether. You can certainly do this, or you can cut it out of the ceremony and make it part of the reception.

To do this, you can use the votive candle option suggested above, or you can simply incorporate the unity candle lighting into the reception activities themselves. For example, you might choose a quiet moment in the reception to have a lighting of the unity candle. It might be during a short prayer prior to the serving of the meal, or right before the cake is cut. In this case, the unity candle can then be used as decoration on the cake table. As the bride and groom cut the cake and pieces are served to guests, the candle can also serve as a reminder of the couple’s new bond and that the bond is shared with all the guests as well.

Although having a unity candle at the wedding or reception isn’t necessary, it is certainly an option that many brides and grooms opt to include. But it’s important to remember that as with so much surrounding wedding planning there are ways to make it unique and interesting and special to the couple getting married.

You will get much more ideas and find more accessories for the wedding when you visit http://www.your-weddingshop.com

Summer bridal accessories are fun to search for and buy, simply because summer is the best time of the year. There are lots of different places to have your wedding and there are several topics you will be able to make your selection from when you are planning your marriage. The unmatched favorite is the tropical wedding or beach weddings. You may choose to hold your marriage outdoors under a gazebo or in a wooded area enclosed by trees and wildlife. Depending on where you plan to have your wedding, will influence the summer bridal accessories you choose. Shop around on the internet and discover all the different things that are available for different wedding themes.

If you are planning a garden wedding, your bridal accessories for the ceremony will include dress, shoes, headpiece, ornaments and flowers. Even if you are marrying in a garden, you still prefer to have a bouquet. It could be something that corresponds with the blossoms in the garden or other flowers that symbolise a summer theme. Since numerous summer brides prefer roses or callas as a wedding flower, you might even prefer to have a few silk flowers in baskets lining the isle that you will be walking down to meet your intended. There are numerous flowers you can pick out during the summer, even something a bit different from everybody else has got is unique.

Some elegant wedding favors for a summer wedding to add to your bridal accessories list could be scent rose petal in a heart formed box, calla lily satin pillows, a calla lily bottle stopper or two peas in a pod salt and pepper shakers. The wedding favors for a summer wedding are infinite. You will be able to plan for any theme or any location. Calla lilies or scented candles with name cardholders, you will be able to create a beautiful wedding and reception.

The invitations for a summer wedding are so gorgeous too. You can find many different wedding invitations and thank you cards online or in your local card store. You might even prefer to have your cards specially produced and you are able to even do this yourself. There are a lot of places online where you will be able to make your own cards or you could buy a software package that helps you with every step of producing the loveliest wedding invitations. The sky is the limit when you are planning a summer wedding. If you think about it, you can be very creative when using software to design and create your own wedding invitations.

The dresses, shoes and all your additional bridal accessories are easy to find online. You could try browsing around to find ideas about what type of wedding you want. In today’s society, themed weddings and casual wedding are taking the place of conventional weddings. You do not need an big-ticket wedding to experience a extraordinary wedding day. It is all in the preparations and how you organize your time. Find and purchase everything you want early enough. Take the time to see all the different things you can do with a wedding, especially during the summer.

You will get so much more ideas and come up with many more accessories for the wedding once you visit http://www.your-weddingshop.com

Music is as much a component of a good wedding as food and drink. You can have a wedding without music, but it’s likely it will seem a little quiet and dull. So whether you have a full live band, a string quartet, a DJ spinning tunes or recorded music from a boom box, it should be included.

But music’s not just for dancing. There are a myriad of activities you can plan around the music that will add an element of fun to your wedding.

One popular idea is to play musical chairs. Sure, this is a fun kid’s game and you don’t want to insult your guests in any way, but you can have some fun with this version of musical chairs. The chairs can be just about anything, from chairs lined up from the food tables, to the floor, if you think your guests might be open to sitting on the floor (and then having to get up and down again). One fun option is to use the men as the chairs - they kneel on the floor, with one knee on the floor and the other bent. The women sit lightly on the men’s’ knees as they are playing musical chairs. When either the man or woman falls down, that couple is out, until one couple is left.

Some brides and grooms like to play musical chairs in order to give away the table centerpiece, which many guests like to take home. Instead of assigning a number and awarding the centerpiece to the person in possession of that number, you have each table play musical chairs until the person left standing is the one that gets to take home the centerpiece.

How about a rousing game of “name that tune”? This is a game that’s best for a smaller, intimate wedding where everyone knows the bride and groom well. Prior to the wedding, whoever is planning the wedding should get a list of favorite songs of both the bride and groom. Create a CD of those songs, and then create a game of “name that tune”. Guests can be divided into teams and then be played just a small snippet of each song.

After guests hear that first snippet, they can then “bid” on how quickly they can name the tune. So one group might say they can name the tune in 10 seconds, while the other group might say 5 seconds. Once one group has bowed out, the other group will then have to “name that tune”. This is a fun game that gets everyone involved and which the bride and groom are particularly delighted by.

Depending on the style of the wedding, there are many fun games you can play to get the bride and groom out on the dance floor. Now, if this is a very large and very elegant wedding, this option might not work since there is certain decorum to maintain, but for a casual, fun, family-centered wedding some of these games can be fun.

If guests want to “call out” the wedding couple onto the dance floor, they can be asked to get out on the dance floor themselves first and hula hoop or perform their own version of a break dance. Much in the way guests sometimes have to “perform” to get the couple the kiss this is another way to get the guests involved and having fun in order to create fun wedding memories for the bride and groom.

You will get much more ideas and find more accessories for the wedding when you visit http://www.your-weddingshop.com

If you are planning a bachelorette party and want to include some naughty games, the possibilities are endless. The games and activities can just barely stretch into the naughty category or they can be all-out embarrassing dirty games.

Before planning any of these games, make sure the bride is willing to play long with them and is outgoing enough for the “public naughty” games. You don’t want to put her on the spot or make her feel uncomfortable. However, if she’s game and willing, many of these games are very popular and extremely fun for girls who enjoy a good time.

First up is “Suck for a buck”. Buy a plain white T shirt and letter on it with fabric paint, “suck for a %”, attach Lifesavers candy to it and have the bride-to-be wear it. When you go out that evening, try to solicit men to suck the lifesavers off the T-shirt. At %1 a man, this is a nice way to pay for a few drinks while you’re out as well!

If the bride isn’t comfortable with the Lifesaver idea, have her wear a candy necklace or bracelet instead and have the men simply bite off a piece of the candy necklace/bracelet.

How about the game where you ask the guests which of them would like her virginity back? The women who say yes line up and are each given a maraschino cherry in a bowl. They are told they have to eat the cherry without using their hands. Doesn’t sound so hard, right? In fact, it gets a little tougher and messier when the host then adds a squirt of whipped cream to each bowl and the women have to find and fish out the cherry all without using their hands.

This activity isn’t quite so naughty, but it could be, depending on the bride’s expressions. As she opens her gifts, and this is assuming there are gifts at this bachelorette party, someone writes down all her expressions as she opens each gift. So there might be “oohs” and “aaahs” and “how cutes” coming from the bride. Once she is done opening gifts, someone says, “If we were outside (bride’s name) hotel room on her wedding night, this is what we’d hear” and you then list the various expressions and comments she made while opening her gifts.

Believe it or not, there are hundreds of products you can buy for steamy bachelorette parties. From fake penises to pin on pictures of hunks on the wall to portable stripper poles, it’s all out there. How about a penis pi

Giving a toast is a responsibility that puts fear in the speaking hearts of most members of a wedding party. While it’s not usually something that is particularly long or involved, it’s public speaking (which doesn’t sit well with many people) and really puts people on the spot.

If you are planning a wedding and know that most members of this wedding party are hams who won’t mind the whole “public speaking” thing, then by all means keep the toasts traditional with dad, the best man and others taking their expected turns at the microphone.

But if you’re looking for something different, either because you want to save putting people on the spot, or you simply want to do something different and fun, read on.

First, you can certainly take the whole toast thing off the agenda if you wish. There are no rules requiring a toast at any wedding. Weddings should be unique events and reflect the personalities of the bride and groom.

But if you want to do something a little different, there are options. You can go the video route, which asks people to essentially make a toast on camera and then the video is given to the bride and groom later. This isn’t a particularly unique idea, but it does solve the issue of not wanting to put people on the spot and still gives everyone a chance to say something special to the bride and groom.

If your guest list includes many outgoing people then consider “pass the microphone”. This can work in several ways. You can either be silly with it, or deadly serious. Most people like silly. Say dad takes the microphone first. His last name ends with T (so, let’s say dad’s last name is Smith). He must find someone whose first name begins with a T (Tom? Tony? Tina? Theresa?) and pass the microphone to that person, who then gives a toast.

This method of giving toasts does put people on the spot (certainly before the fun begins you can warn them so if they are really uncomfortable, they can escape to the restroom or bar) but it can also be a lot of fun. Getting people when they least expect it and then asking them to remember something funny or meaningful about the bride and groom can result in interesting, funny and truthful results.

You might also decide that one person at each table be required to give a toast. Number the tables and at various intervals, have the MC or DJ call a number, which will require guests at that table to decide amongst themselves who will give the toast at that table. Certainly, more than one person can if they like, but there will likely be at least one ham at each table who will enjoy standing up and toasting the newlyweds.

Say you have plenty of public speakers in the group, and finding willing toast participants won’t be a problem. But you think the subject matter might be. There’s an easy solution to this problem. You can provide open-ended topics for the toast speakers. Say you are providing an “open mike” toast arrangement, where anyone can request the microphone and offer a toast. The DJ, MC or someone else in the wedding party (perhaps the maid of honor or best man) can offer the speaker a surprise topic, which might be pulled from a champagne flute or drawn out of the floral arrangement on the head table. There might be slips of paper to choose, or just one sheet of paper with several ideas.

The speaker might choose to finish this sentence, “I remember when (groom’s name here) was a little boy, he always …” or answer this question, “When was (insert bride’s name here) at her silliest? Tell us the story”. You might have to give each speaker a minute or two to collect their thoughts, but you’re sure to have some interesting stories, some unique anecdotes and some different perspectives on the bride and groom.

You will get much more ideas and find more accessories for the wedding when you visit http://www.your-weddingshop.com

Some brides these days are turning wedding receptions on their head and creating super long receptions that run through the night and into the morning. If this is you, planning some activities for those long nighttime hours is essential.

Generally, if an all-night reception is planned, it goes something like this: the wedding is held in the early evening and reception follows. By about midnight, many of the guests will have left and the group that is remaining (generally the younger guests, but not always) will continue to dance and party and revel into the early morning hours. At some point, breakfast will be provided and everyone will go home to crash.

Why do you need activities for such a reception? The answer is simple. You want to keep people entertained through the nighttime hours, you want to keep them at the reception and not let them give in to driving home to crash and sleep and you want to provide them with a real party. Let’s face it: if they are willing to hang in with you for the duration, they deserve something for their effort.

First, you need to be fairly organized about the activities you plan. Consult with your DJ about these activities and leave it to him or her to keep things on a schedule. Do not plan to cut cake in the middle of the night. That activity should take place during the more traditional evening hours, so those not intending to stay all night can leave. However, if you’re determined to keep your guests all night, you could hold one activity back with the hope it will keep guests in the house longer.

Depending on your guest list, you might hold off on the father-daughter dance until after midnight, or you could save a few toasts for the late night hours. In any event, having some other fun events is a great idea.

As guests begin to fade, bring in a pi

Pictures are an integral part of any wedding. Newlyweds are usually thrilled to get their pictures back from the photographer so they can relive their special day. But there are many special activities you can build into a wedding that involve photos.

One fun idea that many brides employ is to take photos of everyone as they arrive at the wedding, almost like you do at a high school prom or company Christmas party. You can provide a backdrop and couples can pose either for a paid photographer or for whoever happens to pick up the camera. These pictures can be taken with a Polaroid camera for instant fun or with a disposable camera. If you want slightly higher quality photos, go for a digital camera.

This can be an excellent way to keep guests busy and happy until the “official” reception begins with the arrival of the bride and groom.

As an extension of that idea, you can take instant photos and create scrapbook pages or memory book pages with the photos. There can be supplies on hand so guests can create pages on site, or pages can be pre-made and photos simply placed into the prepared spaces. If guests don’t want to create pages on site, or the bride doesn’t want this particular activity going on, the photos can be saved for later. As a gift for the bride and groom, someone can create memory books with these photos.

If Polaroid cameras are used, another option is to have the people in the photo sign the Polaroid photo and place that in a basket somewhere. The bride and groom will enjoy looking at the photos later.

While it’s not a particularly unique idea, many brides like to provide disposable cameras on each table at the reception so guests can capture candid shots of the reception and the table guests. These photos can be added to the newlyweds’ wedding album or they can be placed into a separate album showing the wedding from the guests’ perspective.

Another fun activity sure to be entertaining is to create a “silent photo guess” area. Here’s how this works: before the wedding, someone close to the bride and groom collects pictures of the bride and groom at various stages in life. The photos should depict the bride and groom doing things, not at Christmas or with their first birthday cake. In other words, the photos should include some action, but it shouldn’t be obvious in the picture what has taken place or where the person is.

Much like a silent auction, people will come along and look at the photos, then take a silent guess as to what the photos show. They can write their guess on a piece of paper and put it in a numbered basket that corresponds with the number on the photo. Reading these guesses during the reception is entertaining and sure to be amusing. The bride or groom can provide the real answers. This is a particularly fun activity at a relatively small, family wedding where the participants know the bride and groom very well.

If you want to provide an area for guests to have their photos taken but aren’t thrilled with the “prom night” idea, how about having a photo corner set up somewhere in the reception hall or facility. Here, the wedding photographer will take candid shots of wedding guests. They might be couples, but could also be entire families, friends having a good time, or the groom being carried on the shoulders of the best man. Whatever the pictures end up being, they provide a fun, “let it all hang out” area for the wedding guests and a surprise for the bride and groom. Since they will likely be busy with all the reception details and having the time of THEIR lives, they might appreciate knowing their guests had a pretty good time too, as evidenced in the photos.

You will get much more ideas and find more accessories for the wedding when you visit http://www.your-weddingshop.com