Keeping the guests entertained???

Im in the same position! Our venue is stuck in the middle of nowhere and our ceremony is at 12:30 and then our guests have a 2 1/2 hour wait until we sit down for food. I went to a wedding recently and I found that after the ceremony I was starving and slightly bored (I feel really guilty about saying that!) They had music playing etc and it was my fault as I hadn't eaten breakfast but I would hate anyone to feel like that on my day! However my budget is really tight as the venue is taking huge lump of my budget so I'm really stuck as to what I can do. I have thought of maybe lawn games and want to have someone singing through the drinks reception. I also have the option of having an Ice-Cream Tricycle who will serve people with unlimited ice-cream... Would you want ice cream at 1:00pm if you are sitting down at 3:30pm for food?! What do you think? Sorry I have hi-jacked your post! ?

(There is no time at which ice cream is inappropriate)

It sound like lawn games might be a good idea in both these situations. A couple of tips for anyone having games though:

1) Keep them simple

2) Have the rules printed, laminated and left with the game (I still have no idea what the "toilet-seat-hanging from a tree" game was that I saw at a wedding recently and neither did any of the guests!)

3) Have at least one prize for one of games for highest score or similar.

4) Prime some guests beforehand to start playing the games. This gives all the other guests "permission" and they are more likely to join in.

Hope that helps.

Guy

Definitely! Otherwise people have 2.5 hours of drinking time on an empty stomach as they won't have had lunch! Plus ice cream is always fun.

There are several ways to keep your guests entertained. Photo booths, Caricaturists and of course Magicians. If you are interested in the latter then please visit my website or my listing on Hitched.

I second this. We had horseshoes, badminton, croquet and rounders which were all good fun and people played around with them all day and evening. We had a proper rounders match in the evening, but that may not be for everybody! They didn't cost much either, most of the stuff we had already. The only 'set' we actually bought was for the croquet.

I was recently introduced to the game of cornhole at a wedding. Surprisingly addictive. I'm thinking of making up my own set.

They're all pretty good ideas, thanks guys! I had thought of lawn games and a photo booth but I guess I was looking to offer something a bit different? Am I putting too much stress on myself?!

Not mean at all to say you were bored....just being honest, and I guess you can take that experience and use it constructively for your own day No breakfast and 2 hours of drinking is definately a mistake I've made in the past too! Xx

Hi

We're having a caricaturist to entertain our day time guests

I had this really crazy notion that my guests would entertain themselves for a little while in between the ceremony and meal ( we have about 90 minutes I think) but now everyone seems to be booking entertainment and I'm a little scared that people will be bored at my wedding? We're having a bouncy castle in the evening, it will go up during the meal otherwise I'll have 20 children refusing to eat their dinner and I don't want it in the way for the photographs. I may have to re-think this :/

I was thinking giant jenga and lawn games- def like the croquet and horseshoe ideas

A different perspective - I have been to lots of weddings (and this is my second as a bride) and not once have I been to one with entertainment during reception drinks and yet I have only been bored at one! I would expect guests to be entertained by drinking, chatting and if budget permits nibbling a canapé or two! The one time I was bored it was because the venue had far too many rooms and guests spread out too much to create a good atmosphere.

Having said that, you can never go wrong with ice cream, yum!

I second this... strangely addictive. All these ideas are fabulous. I'd definitely go with keeping it simple, and something big and colourful is always fab for photos. Have a chat with your photographer too if you're worried about people getting bored during your formal photos... They will most likely have ways and means of making it pretty quick and streamlined for all involved

I really wouldn't worry - a 90 minute gap will go really quickly and they'll be enough going on during that time for your guests not to get bored. There'll be 20-30 minutes of congratulations time, 30 minutes of formal photos, and maybe 30 minutes of photos of the two of you - and again your guests will be fine for 30 minutes just having a chat to other guests.

I'd suggest only having entertainment before the meal if your gap is longer than 2 hours - from what we see people only tend to arrange entertainment for a long gap after the meal and before the evening do kicks off as there's much less going on then.

This is something I never even thought about. We are getting married at 11am (this is the only time we could get for our wedding to tie in with the venue date) and we will have around 80 guests for the day who will have about a substantial wait for the evening guests to arrive between 5-7 so I have no idea what to do!! I love the idea about lawn games but I have no idea if our venue would let us do that to their lawn!! My FSIL suggested having bowls of lego on the tables and for guests to make models with them and then the best one wins a prize but without sounding like a snob, lego doesnt really fit in with my theme!! HELP!!!

Between the speeches and when the evening guest arrive is the most popular time for couples to book me to perform close up magic. If you would like to find out more please get in touch.

Just had a thought re "different" and cheap entertainment - we were guests at a wedding where they gave us all a pack of modelling balloons, and honestly they kept us all entertained for about 2 hours!! Sure it won't be everyone's cup of tea but might be worth thinking about for an indoor alternative to garden games ?

I recently went to wedding, where there was giant boardgames, and Jenga for children (and adults, .)

and for the adults, the entertainment, was alcohol, and a photo booth, get the photo booth, it is fantastic, really highly recommend this.

Hi there

This is one of the most common concerns of my brides and grooms - will people get bored? From my experience I would tell you not to worry too much, particularly for the gap between your wedding breakfast and evening reception. People will disappear to stretch legs, freshen up and check into hotel rooms - there's a chance you could spent money on entertaining them during this part of the day and their will be very few people around to enjoy what you have on offer.

Another factor to consider is that it's likely that many of your firends and family will not have seen each other for a long time so they will love the chance to chat and catch up. This is marginally more difficult during your evening reception, where their will likely be loud music to compete with, so the little bits of down time during the day will be appreciated. Maybe some music in the background, just pre-recorded even just through your venue's sound system, during these down times would be good. But personally I wouldn't worry too much unless you have 2-3 hour gaps anywhere during the day.

Hope this helps

James

I had no entertainment and my guests managed to entertain themselves by chatting with others. The gap between the ceremony and wedding breakfast was about 45 minutes and the gap between the wedding breakfast and evening was about 2 hours.

We were going to have garden games as they were included but it rained all day so that is something to bear in mind when wanting to book outdoor entertainment.

I think that sounds like a pretty good idea! One thing I've seen at a Wedding which I thought was really good was a Caricaturist. He had a big queue of people waiting to have theirs done whilst other people were watching his progress over his shoulder. It maid a really good talking point after and loads of people came away with a great hand drawn picture of themselves.... albeit with massive lips and noses etc!

For 90 minutes people will mingle, catch up, talk about the ceremony etc. They are adults and can make conversation for that long. It's a nice time for people to catch up with each other.