Wedding Rehearsal Games

Rehearsal dinners are often thought of as stuffy, formal affairs. This needn’t be true. Whether the dinner is held at an upscale restaurant or in a friend’s backyard, some simple games can help guests to feel at ease around one another, lifting the spirit of the gathering and ensuring some laughs along the way.

Who's Who Bingo

Use this game to help guests get to know one another without the hassle of name tags. Make personalized bingo cards that feature pictures of rehearsal dinner guests in the squares. Print the name of each individual under his or her picture, and then have someone who knows all of the guests call out the squares. When each name is called, explain the person’s relationship to the bride or groom. For example, “Mary Smith, mother of the bride.” Whoever wins a given round should be introduced to the people whose picture they covered with a Bingo chip before the next round of play begins.

Bride and Groom Trivia

Divide the dinner guests in half or into thirds, and quiz the teams on how well they know the couple about to be wed. Before the dinner, ask the bride and groom to provide the answers to several trivia questions. Possible questions include:

Where did the bride and groom meet?
What is the groom’s favorite nickname for the bride?
What is the bride’s favorite feature on the groom?
Where or when did the couple first say “I love you”?

Instruct each group to clink their glasses when they have an answer ready and award a prize to the group who answers the highest number of questions quickly and correctly.

Find Your Other Half

Make a list of well-known romantic couples. Examples include Disney characters Mickey and Minnie Mouse and entertainers Sonny and Cher. Tape one celebrity name onto the back of each arriving guest. Tell the guests that they must find their other half but first must figure out their own identity by asking yes or no questions of the other guests. When guests have guessed their celebrity identities, instruct them to move the piece of paper to their chest, at which point they may try to pair up with their other halves. The first couple to pair up wins.

Write a Toast

Let the rehearsal dinner guests help the best man and the maid of honor write their wedding toasts. Leave pads of paper and pencils at each place setting and instruct the guests to write a short description about the food on their plates—for example, “Very crunchy!” or “Too hot!” Turn the meal into a game like Mad Libs by handing the maid of honor and the best man prompts such as: “When John met Mary and told me she was_______, I knew they would be together forever.” At the end of the meal, go around the table and ask guests to fill in the blanks during the speeches. Following the earlier example, the guest closest to the best man calls out "Very crunchy!" when the best man pauses or points to the guest. When the maid of honor reads the next prompt: "I remember when Mary's mom told me her first impression of John--he's _______," the next guest in line calls out "Too hot!" The game continues until the best man and maid of honor have run out of prompts.

References

• 5 Great Icebreaker Games for Rehearsal Dinner Party