Engagement Party Games

Engagement party games are generally the last thing on your mind when you decide to break the news to your family and friends, but these great pre-wedding activities can help everyone lighten up and enjoy the union of two people. Learn the different ways to break the ice to bring the families together so everyone can share the love.

The engagement party is a time when the families of the couple get together to get to know one another and in some cases, might be the very first time the families meet. Or maybe you want a party for your group of friends to meet their group of friends. Either way, most engagement parties are ice breakers and welcome events.

No matter who plans the engagement party (it will most likely be the bride's family, but it can be organized as a couple or someone else can throw the party for you), you should plan a few fun games and activities that are designed to help everyone at the party to get to know each other.


One popular icebreaker activity you can add to your engagement party games is commonly used at corporate functions or company parties but will work very well at engagement parties as well. When people enter the party, tape a blank index card to their back and encourage him or her to walk around and mingle with as many people as they can. This is great way for people to get to know someone they've never met before. Also hand that person a pen or pencil as they enter and tell them that when they get done talking to someone, they must jot down a quick comment about the person they talked to on the card on the other person's back.

Common comments are usually impressions your get when you meet the person, such as "he knows a lot about the weather" or "she has a beautiful smile". The mingling session usually lasts about twenty to thirty minutes at the beginning of the party. At the end of this period, the people get to take their cards off their backs and read them. This is the best of all engagement party games for people to get to know each other and also find out a little bit about themselves that they don't get to see from other people's perspective. Also tell people to be honest but keep hurtful or derogatory comments to themselves.


Another one of the engagement party games that comes to mind is a "Trivial Pursuit" type game that you put together with inquisitive questions about the bride and groom's lives. You can include questions that are just facts and events relating to both the bride and groom (such as how long until she said "yes", where did he propose to her, where did the couple meet, and so on), or you can ask questions that pertain to each of their separate lives before the two met. This is not only a fun game, but it can also be a quite entertaining way for people to get to know one another as well as the engaged couple.

For an activity that doesn't quite put people on the spot quite as much, consider letting the already married people help out the couple to be married. You place two poster-boards on the wall and title them "wedding planning advice from women" and "wedding planning advice from men". This provides great wedding planning ideas to the couple. Advice from the older people at the party can be a lot different from the younger men and women in the group, giving a wide range of ideas for the upcoming wedding.

Here are some more engagement party games to gather ideas from!

Wedding Budget

The wedding budget is one of the most important aspects of any wedding. This is what determines how extravagant everything is throughout the wedding. But it's not always about how much money you have, it's how you creatively apply the funds that makes the difference.

There are so many things you can do with the wedding to save money, but no one thinks about them during the spur of the moment during the planning process. Most people who plan their own wedding or are planning the wedding for a friend don't think about discounts, coupons, or things that will lessen the burden on the wallet.

There are some important pre-wedding planning things to consider before you even start planning for the big day. And it all starts with how much money you are able to use for the wedding?

Determining how much money you have available for the wedding is something that should be set from the start and NOT CHANGED once it's set. Now, there are circumstances out of our control than can affect this amount, but for the most part, this amount should never change. Why is this important? Because you aren't trying to start your new life together in debt. And you don't want to take away half of your parent's retirement savings either.

There are many ways to have a wedding on a budget but not make the wedding look like it was on a limited or low budget. First, you need to do some research into the various purchases you have to make. This includes everything from gifts to services. Here is a printable wedding planning checklist you can use to help determine all of the needs for the wedding you are planning. Before planning out your wedding budget, you need to know what all you'll have to pay for and what things can be done at no cost.

For instance, maybe you have a friend that is a DJ, or you have a family member who is a professional photographer. Both of these, if you pay for professional services, can cost a lot of money.

There are also many things you may not have thought of that you can get coupons or discounts for. The key to saving money on all stages of a wedding is knowing how and where to find the discounts. Do you need to spend $100,000 on a wedding to make it look like a $100,000 wedding? Absolutely NOT! You can make your wedding look like $100,000 with $25,000 and easily find the deals with some great resources. Part of the research is also looking around for vendors and getting an idea of their prices.

The next thing you must do after you research everything is to write down your budget. A wedding budget on paper is gold while if you just wing it will be crap. You want to write down everything you plan on purchasing, like decorations, the cake, the wedding dress, gifts, and so on. Then write down how much you think it is going to cost based on your research. This is your budget amount for that particular item. All of the budget items and their amounts you write down should add up to 90 percent of your total budget amount. Always leave at least 10 percent as a buffer to handle any unforeseen expenses.

Next, you must go back to your coupons and discounts and look for the deals. Learn negotiation tactics designed to save you 10 to 20 percent or more on everything. Most vendors that provide services are negotiable. Products such as gifts and decorations, on the other hand, can be a little trickier, but can most often be found online for discounted prices with allowable discount codes.

Making bulk purchases on things can also save you money. That means knowing how many people are going to be at the wedding reception and various parties is a must. That's why short term weddings are generally not as well planned as those that are a year out.

If you are determined to seek the assistance of a professional wedding planner, just remember that they cost money too and that you can negotiate a price that works for you. That doesn't mean you don't have the final say so for the wedding budget.

Finally, track down all of your expenses for the same budget. Put those amounts beside the budgeted amounts and track your savings. This savings can be used to apply to other more costly items that weren't expected or to the honeymoon fund after the wedding. All of the money left over from your budget can go towards spending cash for the honeymoon or you can simply save it for a future vacation fund.

The goal is to save as much money as you can without taking away from the final wedding look and feel. Here's a great tool and more great information on the wedding budget that can help you plan the perfect wedding.

Bridal Shower Games

Bridal shower games are necessary when it comes to having a successful shower for the bride to be. Everyone loves the games and activities that get everyone in the wedding spirit.

If you are the hostess of your friend's a bridal shower, you can choose from hundreds games to entertain the guests. Some of the games are silly and some of them are serious, but they are all about having loads of fun with the bride before she gets married. Here are a few ideas for bridal shower activities.

A fun game that really tests the bride's knowledge of her future husband is to ask her about his life. Prior to the bridal shower, have someone interview the groom with a series of predetermined questions that his future wife should know the answers to, such as his favorite song, where he gets his hair cut, and so on. As part of the bridal shower games, put the bride on the spot by asking her to answers the questions. She should get at least half of them right, and hopefully she does. She should get a prize either way, unless she gets none of them right, in that case she should reconsider marriage until she knows him better. (Just kidding).

Another really fun game that will be a hit is by making the bride to be get "Dressed In a Hurry" while blindfolded. The bride must pretend she is on the honeymoon and the hotel lost power. She must get dressed and prepared for her wedding night in complete darkness. Put together a suitcase filled with various items such as a flannel nightgown, garden gloves, oversize sunglasses, fuzzy socks just to make it fun. Now blindfold and time her. She must get dressed in 2 minutes time with no help from the guests. This is a great photo opportunity so make sure there is someone standing by to take a picture of the final results.

The next pick of the bridal shower games will involve everyone and put them on the spot more than the bride. This game has everyone put their purse in the center of the room. Create a list of common items and not so common items that are found in a purse, assigning each item a point value. The less common items should have a higher point value such as 15 points while the more common items get 2 or 5 points.

For an example of common items, you would give a driver's license 2 points, lipstick 3 points, and a tampon 5 points. But a pair of underwear could be 10 points and a stapler could be 15 points.

Now go through all of the purses in the center of the room and award points for all of the items in their purse. The person with the highest number of points (and probably the most less common items) a prize. This can be fun and entertaining, as well as embarrassing to some.

One all-time favorite of the bridal shower games is "toilet paper wedding dresses". This fun game involves separating guests into teams of 2 to 5 people. Give each of the teams a roll or two of toilet paper and have each group fashion a wedding dress out of the toilet paper. One team member from each group will volunteer as the "dress" model.

You should provide a "dress up trunk" filled with various costume jewelry, dress shoes and such. Although they have to make the wedding dress out of the toilet paper, they can accessorize the outfit with the provided shoes, jewelry, hats and gloves. Place a five minute time limit on this game and have the bride vote on the winning dress. Provide prizes for each member of the winning team.

Like I said before, there are literally hundreds of bridal shower games that you can use to create the best pre-wedding send off (besides the bachelorette party) that you can give to the future bride. Everyone loves having fun and your party will be sure to be a hit if you do some research before the party to see what bridal shower games are out there.

Wedding Reception Games

Wedding reception games have a way of making your wedding fun and entertaining while making your special day even easier to remember. There are some games you can plan into your reception that can liven everything up a bit and make people want to stay until the end.

We've all been to those boring receptions that make you want to leave early. You know, the ones where we welcome the new married couple, watch them dance, eat the cate with them, take some pictures, eat some food and go home. But creative and fun receptions are often filled with exciting games that involve everyone on the guest list.

Including all of the guests at the wedding reception is an great way to involve people, getting them out of their chairs, get them meeting people they may not otherwise know, and make them feel like they are part of the actual celebration, not just petty observers.

One of the active wedding reception games that everyone, including grandparents and young children, is called "Want it Now". In this fun game, a designated master of ceremonies (a DJ can also serve this role) will have a list of "wants" prepared prior to the reception. Everyone will sit at their assigned tables and wait to hear the command. The MC will say something like "I want a person with painted toenails." Every women with painted toenails must run up to the front of the room toward the MC. When a table sends someone to the front of the room first, they receive a point.

Points will be tallied up during the course of the game and prizes will be awarded at the end of the game. When you are putting the game together, you must come up with some unique but obvious "wants" such as with the painted toenails or like a man with a mustache. To make it interesting, also include some surprises such as "a man with a Coach purse" which requires one of the men from a table to find a woman with a Coach purse and will run up to the front of the room with it.

Here's more fun wedding reception games including all your guests. One is a creative game of musical chairs using the men at the reception as the chairs. Every man in the room lines up and kneels on one of their knees. All of the women then begin playing the game of musical chairs, walking in a circle around the men. But when the music stops, the women must find a man's knee to sit on. None of the "chairs" are removed during the game, but people are eliminated when either the man or the woman falls down. Just make sure to warn everyone about falling as they can get hurt when they fall.

Wedding reception games are also a great chance for people to get to know one another, especially if many of the guests have to travel for the wedding. This is also a great chance for everyone to get to know the bride and groom better. You'll need the MC for this game as well. The wedding reception guests are broken down into two groups, which can be done by having everyone count off "1, 2, 1, 2" and so on until all of the guest list is either a "1" or a "2". Then each of the two groups gather together for the duration of the game.

The MC offers a predetermined series of questions relating to the bride and groom. Each group will work together in order to answer the questions, then as fast as they can, provide the answer. The bride and groom confirm whether the answer is correct or not. This is a perfect way for an otherwise "stranger" guest to get to know each other and have some fun in the process. Guests will also learn a lot about the bride and groom that they didn't already know.

Organizing wedding reception games can be a wonderful way to get people active and involved during the ceremonies and will make them feel that they are indeed part of the festive celebration. It's also a great way to fill in some time during the reception. If you know the guests aren't the dancing type or if you just want to loosen people up a bit, these games can do the trick. These games will work for just about any group.

Wedding Toast

A wedding toast is that special moment to recognize the bride and groom during their special day. If you are part of the wedding party, particularly the best man or bride's maid, it is usually your responsibility to give the toast in front of a huge room full of people. Coming up with the right words to say isn't easy, and if you aren't used to speaking in front of people, you may become very nervous when you are in the spotlight during the wedding reception.

Giving a toast is a traditional responsibility that often scares both the speaker and the recipients. You never know what the person saying the toast is going to say until it's too late. While most times it's not something particularly long or involved, it's the public speaking aspect of the toast (which doesn't seem to sit well with most people) and can really put the people giving the toast on the spot.

The first thing you have to decide when planning the wedding is if the wedding toast is going to be kept traditional (the best man, maid of honor, father of the bride speaking at the wedding reception) or if you are looking for something a little different to spice it up. In a traditional sense, the toasts can be just a few words congratulating the bride and groom on their special day. Find the best wedding toast if you are the best man, father of the bride, bride's maid.

Or, if you want to add a more creative touch to your wedding by removing the traditional toast all together, you can try something different from the normal venue. Understand, there are no set rules that require a toast at any wedding. In my opinion, weddings are unique events that should reflect the unique personalities of the bride and groom tying the knot. There are many activities you can do differently and there are plenty of options if you want to deviate from the traditional wedding toast.

A fun and memorial way to add a twist to your wedding day is to go the video route, which typically asks all of the guests who attend the wedding to essentially make a wedding toast on camera after which the video is given to the bride and groom to help them remissness in the future. This isn't a unique idea, but it does solve some of the issues like putting people on the spot and will gives everyone a chance to say special words to the bride and groom.

Another fun way to liven up the wedding reception is to "pass the microphone". It can either be a serious activity or a silly one, depending on how outgoing the people are at the reception. Most people who choose to do this like to keep it silly to enlighten the mood. Say the bride's father takes the microphone first and says a few words. Then he chooses who to give the mic to next. This can be done using the last letter of their last name and selecting someone who has a first name starting with that letter. The passing of the mic continues until everyone who wants to say something gets a chance.

Passing of the microphone to foster a wedding toast from multiple people does still put people on the spot, but it can also be a lot of fun. Getting people to say something from the hip when they least expect it about the bride and groom can result in interesting, funny and truthful results.

Yet another great way to make the wedding toast more interesting is to have one person from each table give a toast. You can number the tables and at random times during the reception, have MC or DJ call a number requiring the guests at that specific table to decide amongst themselves who will give the toast for that table. Certainly, more than one person can give the toast if they want to, but there will most likely be at least one person at each table who will stand up and toast the newlyweds.

There are many options to add a wedding toast to your wedding. It's not just about tradition. Who wants the same ole wedding their friends or family had. You want something special and different that you can remember for the rest of your life together.

If you are tasked to come up with a toast for someone's wedding, I recommend visiting the Wedding Toasts link to the left under Helpful Wedding Links to help you create the perfect toast that will accommodate the personalities of the couple getting hitched.

Cheap Wedding Ideas

Cheap wedding ideas don't have to take away the value of your special day. Just because you don't have a huge budget doesn't mean you can't have the most beautiful and special wedding you can imagine.

There are so many things you can do to add the perfect visual appeal to your wedding and not have to spend an arm and a leg to get it. Your wedding isn't about how much money you spend, it's about what you want to get from it.

There are many aspects to consider when planning out your wedding. You need to start with the date, location, and how many people will be attending. The location may determine who can come and who cannot come, depending on if your guests are local or have to come from different parts of the country.

If you are looking for cheap wedding ideas, don't go to a professional wedding planner. There are several work from home wedding planners that can do just as good, if not better, of a job as a professional and cost thousands less. A planner is a great idea if you are a busy person and don't have a lot of time to plan out your events. But if you want to save even more money, you can do everything yourself as your own wedding planner.

You must consider several things that go along with the wedding such as flowers, dresses, tuxedos, transportation, lodging, the reception, catering, invitations, hair, make-up, gifts, and entertainment. These things can suck down your budget very quickly, but you can find out how to save on many of these items and actually get more for your money

I found a great guide to wedding savings that you can find on the blog pages in the Navigation bar (this is a post) on top of this page under Wedding Discounts that provides hundreds of wedding coupons and promotions for online wedding purchases (who says you have to buy everything at your local wedding stores that price things ten times the amount they should), dozens of industry secrets proven to get wedding vendors to lower their prices, and has tons of simple tricks to planning a lower-cost wedding regardless of your wedding budget.

Stretching your wedding budget three times more than you have is what it's all about and you will have the most spectacular wedding that will impress everyone. Use these cheap wedding ideas to save thousands and give you more bang for your buck.

Pre-Wedding Activities

Pre-wedding activities is something a little extra you can do for that special day that isn't required, but can certainly add fun and excitement for all of your guests. There are some very creative activities the bride and groom can add in before their wedding that will be sure to liven the day.

In order to plan pre-wedding events and activities, you should always keep in mind the distance some guests have to travel to attend your wedding and always keep activities relevant to the level of fatigue they may be experiencing. As you go about planning exciting activities for the wedding, you must keep in mind other factors as well.

For instance, will many guests have children with them? Will childcare be provided for your guests or will you allow children to participate in the pre-wedding activities? If you have several older guests, maybe you should have activities tailored so they can participate as well.

Some more popular pre-wedding activities include things that can relate directly to your wedding like a group manicure. Every women in the wedding party or those who are close to the bride (but this is not all inclusive to women as some men like manicures or just want to hang with the ladies) can head on over to a nail salon and have their nails done. This can also help relax the women and provide a welcome respite from all of the stress involved during the wedding period.

Another great activity for the women is to get their hair done as a group. This can not only be fun, but can be very beneficial to everyone as well. It can help all of the wedding party women match hair styles and can significantly reduce the amount of money needed to get everyone's hair done.

And don't forget that all of the women and all of the men can go as groups to find their dresses and tuxedos. This is also recommended so everyone matches perfectly and a consensus can be reached on dress and tux styles. Be sure to ask the store owners if they offer discounts for group purchases.

The men of the wedding party may choose pre-wedding activities a little more like men such as choosing to play golf as a group or play other games such as tennis or basket ball. These activities help give the men something to do while the women pretty themselves up.

Here is a fun pre-wedding activity that can be done a week or so before the wedding. Have someone, preferably the best man or maid of honor, begin a creative gift basket. A theme of the basket could be "Advice for the Couple".

The basket would be taken to someone's home, perhaps an aunt or cousin, and leave it on the doorstep with directions. That person will add an advice item such as a book on how to end spousal arguments or a CD containing romantic music. Once they add a gift, they take the basket to another relative or friend's house (preferably one who will be attending the wedding). Let everyone know in advance that the gift box is circulating around so it won't get lost or not passed around.

Keep in mind that the gift basket idea is only good if most of the guests who plan on attending are local. An alternative method of delivery is to have someone volunteer to take it around from house to house to keep good track of it.

Once the gift box is fully circulated, the person in charge of it can put the basket items together and wrap them all up as a gift for the rehearsal dinner or as a wedding gift in itself.

There are many traditional pre-wedding activities to consider as well such as a bachelor and bachelorette party, wedding rehearsal dinner. But on top of that, you can have a separate game night for anyone that wants to attend, a luau, a lake or ocean cruise on a party boat, karaoke, or even night of dancing.

Many brides and grooms choose to have structured activities for their guests a few days prior to their wedding. But be sure to include everyone so no one feels left out. Think about what everyone likes to do and center your pre-wedding activities on things that everyone can participate in. Be sure that you limit the drinking and partying as this might not sit well with some family members, unless of course your entire family loves to party.

You can check out some more pre-wedding activities that can help make your special day even more memorial by visiting one of my blog pages (this is a post) called Wedding Activities using the navigation bar on top of this page.