35 WEDDING ENTERTAINMENT IDEAS

Your wedding day is probably the biggest party you’ve ever hosted, even if your wedding is small, you are the ones hosting it and you want your guests to have the best experience.

Wedding entertainment can be so much fun and it’s also an opportunity to show off your personalities.  Whatever your interests, there will be something out there that you could share as entertainment on your wedding day, and here are thirty five wedding entertainment ideas that I’ve coming across recently…

wedding entertainment ideas Oxford

1. FORTUNE TELLER

I must admit, this wedding has been the only wedding I’ve seen a fortune teller… but my goodness, it was soooooo much fun and seeing all the guests reactions was priceless! Read more about this wedding here: A RELAXED OXFORD CITY WEDDING.

wedding entertainment - Photo Booth

2. PHOTOBOOTH

I’d say 90% of weddings I shoot have a photo booth set up after dinner.  They are so much fun, and guests love having their photo taken with their friends; old friends and new ones just made at the wedding!

3. CROQUET

Croquet is a very popular garden game that is always a winner in England!

4. ICE-CREAM VAN

Who doesn’t love this idea!! An ice-cream van can also be used for dessert after dinner.

5. MAGICIAN

Magicians are becoming quite popular to have at weddings, they are usually hired for a couple of hours to mingle with guests after the ceremony and before dinner.

6. FANCY DRESS ON THE DANCE FLOOR

I would highly recommend this!  I’ve seen fancy dress used at many weddings, it encourages everyone to go wild, and even the most shy guests to join in the party too!

7. SPARKLERS

There is something so magical about sparklers, I mean who doesn’t love playing with them anytime of the year!! For some top tips read this post: ARE YOU HAVING SPARKLERS ON YOUR WEDDING DAY?

8. GUESS THE BOOK (AND TAKE IT HOME)

I love this idea and came across it at a wedding where the couple  book worms. This was ‘so them’ as the guests kept saying.  On each wrapped up book is a quote and the guests had guess which book was inside, then they got to take the book home.

9. EL MARIACHI BAND

Oh yes, sooo much fun! This was at a Mexican themed wedding.

10. TABLE GAMES

At this wedding the couple left instructions on the tables for guests to draw a dinosaur.. almost every guest got involved as it’s easy to doodle while chatting.

wedding entertainment ideas - the Oxford wedding blog
11. PINBALL

A retro classic, not seen at many weddings at all, but my gosh… this was epic!

12. SILLY PROPS

There is something about silly props and weddings that seem to go so well together!  They encourage people to get involved, take photos of each other, and just be silly!

13. LIVE MUSIC DURING DINNER

As the guests were walking into the reception to find their seats, this is the scene they were met with… epic doesn’t even come close.

14. HOOPLA

Great for adults and kids, affordable, and gets people mixing.

15. JENGA

Another popular garden game that can be played outdoors or indoors.

16. PERSONALISED GUESS WHO

This was brilliant.. the wedding couple put photos of all their guests on the game of guess who, it got everyone involved!

17. NIGHT TIME MUSIC

Band or DJ, nothing like getting everyone on the dance floor.  For tips on choosing a band, read this post: Tips on choosing your wedding band from Ear Candy Oxford and for tips on filling your dance floor read this blog post: HAVING A WEDDING DISCO? MY TOP TIPS ON CREATING A BUZZING DANCE FLOOR.

Also, if you haven’t the budget for a band or dj and creating your own playlist, I can’t recommending reading this blog post first: THAT EVENT DJ – CREATE A WEDDING PLAYLIST LIKE A PRO.

18. HANGOVER KITS

This went down soooo well!!!

19. EXTREME GARDEN GAMES!

Yes, this is a wedding!!! The guests had to run with wotsits and throw them at the other guests who were wearing a shower hat filled with cream!! The team with the most wotsits on their head won!

20. SACK RACE

Another way to get all your guests involved is to have a sack race.

21. THROW THE BOUQUET

Throwing the bouquet isn’t a tradition that I see much these days, but it is actually such a fun part of the day. If you feel uncomfortable just asking the ‘single girls’ to try and catch it, ask everyone who is single!

22. SUPRISE CRAZY FIRST DANCE

No one would expect this kind of dancing on your wedding!!!

23. DATE NIGHT IDEAS

Always up for hearing ideas for date night.

25. BUBBLES

Giant ones are the best, and it won’t be just the kids using them!

wedding entertainment ideas by Philippa James Photography

26. TOASTING MARSHMALLOWS

This is a real cosy thing to do at a wedding as everyone snuggles around a fire chatting til early hours of the morning, toasting marshmallows.

27. TABLE OF SWEETS

This idea is always a winner, I mean ALWAYS!!!

punting in Oxford - wedding entertainment ideas

28. PUNTING

Best entertainment idea! Especially if you are getting married in Oxford – it would almost be rude not to! The rest of this wedding can be seen here: RELAXED WEDDING AT THE PERCH OXFORD.

29. TABLE FOOTBALL

A table football is such an easy entertainer at a wedding and can be played in teams or just as and when your guests fancy.

Philippa James photography - wedding photographer Oxford

30. SURPRISE DESSERT

The guests loved this surprise desert and massive sparkler!

31. GLOW STICK BAR

Glow sticks are great to be used for the dance floor – again, this is for all ages!

31. THE SHOT BAR

The most lethal entertainment is the shot bar!

the silent disco - wedding ideas by Philippa James

31. SILENT DISCO

If you’ve ever experienced a silent disco you’ll know how utterly cool they are!!  This is great to bring out after hours….!

32. CULTURE VULTURE

This wedding had some really great mini-entertainment ideas, this being one of them…. Culture Vulture, which is a list for guests to fill out at their tables… great conversation starters. I nicked this idea for my own wedding!

33. SINGING

I know I bang on about this one a lot, but honestly, it’s so high on my list of: SIX WEDDING CEREMONY IDEAS YOU WOULDN’T HAVE THOUGH OF

Garden games at The Maybush Tipi Wedding Venue

34. ARCHARY

Archery is another garden game that works really well at weddings.

wedding entertainment ideas - 35 ideas by The Oxford Wedding Blog

35. SMOKE BOMBS

Obviously great for pics, but so much fun… when else would we get to play with smoke bombs!

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