Wedding Entertainment

Wedding entertainment

Wedding entertainment, by which I mean making the drinks reception bit more special for the wedding guests. So I am not talking about the Band, the DJ, the photo booths, or even the fireworks, all that is the evening stuff but what can happen in the afternoon. With the ceremony complete, for most weddings it is then about ninety minutes of drinks and canapes, sometimes more. As a wedding photographer, it is a time to look to capture the characters, the atmosphere, the interactions and the emotions as the wedding couple attempt to meet all their guests before the meal.

But basically, it can be a lot of similar pictures of people standing holding drinks or eating canapes…so after a bit you are looking for something different. Beyond those different expressions, beyond the laughter. So when some forms of entertainment have been laid on for the wedding reception, it helps break up any image repetition and greatly adds to the storytelling. As well as being more fun for the wedding guests on the day.

So what are the options? I’ve seen Scalextric setups, acrobats and fire-eaters over the years, but the most obvious is lawn games.

For a quintessential English summer wedding the classic game of croquet for example…

Wedding Games

But there is more than croquet available. Quoits, bowls, badminton, Connect 4, Smite (Mölkky), sack races, coconut shy, cricket matches, and even Wellington boot throwing, to name a few…

Wedding Jenga

Then there is that other favourite – Jenga. From a wedding photographer’s perspective, there is that classic toppling picture that you want to capture but there is also the waiting for it to happen. Do you wait and wait and wait to catch the topple? Or do you move on and look elsewhere for better images only to hear the topple happen seconds later?

There is even golf…

If you have the budget you could even install a funfair with full-size dodgems…

Or you could hire a wedding venue like Maison Talbooth in Essex and your wedding reception can become one big pool party, with tennis and lawn games too…

More wedding entertainment

It is not all about sports and games. A roving magician or cartoonist can be excellent wedding entertainment for guests. They work indoors too, so good for winter weddings. From the perspective of photography, they give good reactions from guests* and nice moments during the day. (*but what they draw on the magician’s card…)

Got a Summer wedding? Get a maypole!

I’ve only seen this once but a nice idea when your wedding day is in May. A Maypole was erected on the lawn for a wedding at Smedmore house in Dorset. Like ceilidhs, it gets the non-dancers involved too. Everyone was as clueless as everyone else on what to do. Plenty of smiles around this bit of wedding entertainment. A nice one for a summer wedding.

Game of rounders

I know I said this post was about wedding entertainment during the drinks reception but this example happened at sundown at Southend Barns in Sussex. You could hold it earlier but it is hard to beat it taking place in the early evening, just as that lush golden light floods the nearby fields. A way to find the most competitive wedding guest!

ICE Cream Van

After all that running around…some ice cream.

SINGING WAITERS

Okay, not strictly the drinks reception as this usually takes place during the wedding meal. But as entertainment goes it is hard to beat – getting all the wedding guests singing along.

The most unique wedding entertainment?

But the prize for the most unique idea for entertaining the wedding guests during the drinks reception? This has to go to two Californians who came over to the UK to get married in Devon. The entertainment – duck-herding!

So a few ideas for providing a bit more entertainment for your wedding guests, from lawn games to duck-herding, from games of croquet to pool parties. Singing waiters, magicians, cartoonists and even Maypoles. Not only do they add to the experience of the day but they also give the wedding photographer something more than just people chatting over drinks.

Then again, maybe all you need is a football?