Reception Seating Game

nylovescali

We are having our ceremony and reception at the same site.  In order to prevent guests from getting restless during the 1hr of pictures after the ceremony my fiance and I thought we would make a game out of the table assignments.  Instead of just assigning guest to table #s their escort cards would have their name and team(my fiance is a huge college sports fan).  They would then have to match it to the mascot name on the table (ie John and Jane Smith Team:Notre Dame They would sit at the table named "Fighting Irish")  We thought this would encourage guest to walk around and mingle with each other in order to figure it out.  Any thoughts?  Has anyone done this before?  How did it turn out?

danieliza1127

I guess it would be fine but it's perfectly common and normal to just have a cocktail hour with drinks and light appetizers during that time while you're taking pictures.  I don't think any extra planned activities are necessary.  It's pretty much the nature of the cocktail hour to mingle around.

mbcdefg

You should be having a cocktail hour for that one hour while you're taking photos. Otherwise, all the games in the world will not prevent them from getting restless (and angry). That is all the "entertainment" that's required while you and your FI are not present.

You don't need liquor during cocktail hour if you don't want it, and the appetizers don't need to be fancy. At least offer free ice water and sodas, and then some light snacks ... cheese and crackers, fruit platter, vegetable platter, stuff like that. If you want to offer other things on top of that - juice, beer and wine, hard alcohol, hot hors d'oeuvres, etc. - that's awesome, but you don't have to. As long as you have SOMETHING for them to nibble on while they're waiting for you, you're covered.

As far as the table names ... a lot of people name their tables rather than number them. But be aware that a lot of people just want to find their seat, not make it into a scavenger hunt. So you may want to name AND number them to make it easier on people, or at least provide a chart at the front so that people know where their table is. And people are going to be screwed if they don't know offhand what each college's mascot is - even with the "obvious" ones, because not everyone is into sports. I don't want to chase a bunch of strangers down and ask each of them what the Auburn mascot is. (Naming your tables after schools or mascots is a cool idea ... just don't do it in the fashion that'd make it difficult for guests to find their seats.)

And you can't force people to mingle. If people want to mingle, they'll do it no matter what the circumstances are. If people do not want to mingle, then they are going to get MIGHTY irritated if you push them into it.

MyNameIsNot

If I were a guest, I would be more annoyed that I had to play a game to find my table.  A lot of guests are going to be confused.  Actually, in my group, people would just give up and sit wherever they want.

Just host cocktail hour.  That's the point, to keep guests entertained during the hour you take pictures.  Open whatever bar you are having, serve some apps, and let people mingle.  They'll be fine.

trix1223

ditto the other advice you've been given here.

I really hope that you planned for food and beverage during the hour long photo taking.  Because unless you have 50-60 tables, it's going to take any smart person 10 minutes to figure out their table.  And then what?

As for making people play a game to find their table:  please don't.  Games at weddings are annyoing at best, and excruciating at worst.

The purpose of table names/numbers is solely to help your guests find their way to their seats.  Turning it into a "game" isn't fun or entertaining.

I don't care what the mascots of various sports teams are, and I love sports.  And I go to weddings to catch up with friends and family that I haven't seen in a while.  I don't necessarily want to have to "mingle" and socialize with people that I literally will NEVER see again.

For example:  We flew to Texas for our nephew's wedding.  The wedding was the first time we met the bride.  I will never be in a place where I will see her cousins, aunts, uncles again.  I don't feel a need to get to know them.  I can be cordial to them, but for us, it was the chance to see our family who are all over the US and we don't see often.

Presumably your guests are adults who are adept at entertaining themselves with the food and beverage that you WILL be providing them.

Treat them like adults, and skip the party games.

aerinpegadrak

In Response to <a href="http://forums.theknot.com/Sites/theknot/Pages/Main.aspx/wedding-boards_reception-ideas_reception-seating-game?plckFindPostKey=Cat:Wedding%20BoardsForum:5Discussion:2f6230b6-9495-4c66-a08a-0cb9a5de7974Post:9482cd98-5df5-4b92-8e59-3591a7cdf882">Re: Reception Seating Game</a>:
[QUOTE]And I go to weddings to catch up with friends and family that I haven't seen in a while.  I don't necessarily want to have to "mingle" and socialize with people that I literally will NEVER see again. For example:  We flew to Texas for our nephew's wedding.  The wedding was the first time we met the bride.  I will never be in a place where I will see her cousins, aunts, uncles again.  I don't feel a need to get to know them.  I can be cordial to them, but for us, it was the chance to see our family who are all over the US and we don't see often.
Posted by trix1223[/QUOTE]

This is very, very true.  Your guests will stick with the people they know, and that's perfectly fine.  No one goes to a wedding to meet people unless they're single and desperate. 

Honestly, if I got into a reception and found that I had to play a guessing game in order to be allowed to sit down, I'd either ignore it and sit where I chose, or leave immediately.  I'm not completely against games at weddings as long as guests aren't forced to play and they're not annoying to others.  But when I get into a reception, I don't want to be grilled on college mascots, I want to get something into my stomach and start looking for people I know.

jenn.daniel

I would be very irritated if I had to go around asking people what a team's mascot was.  not entertaining. at. all.

laurening

Skip the game. It will take all of 5-10 min and if it takes anyone longer, they'll be more annoyed than anything else. You can certainly use college teams/mascots as table names though.

You really should provide a cocktail hour of some sort if you'll be gone. People will want a drink and a snack while waiting. An hour is a long time.  As others mentioned, if alcohol and hors d'oeuvres are not in the budget, stick with soda/juice/water and basic snacks like veggie trays and crackers and cheese and nuts. But there needs to be something.

If your venue has a separate room, have the cocktail hour in there. It helps promote mingling since people can't just sit at their tables. Otherwise, don't force it. People see weddings as a way to catch up with family and old friends. Don't overthink it too much.

MeaghanandMichael

Food and booze is all I need at a cocktail hour and I am WAY fine. Games make me feel like I am in college orientation. Got it? Good.

flutgrl1

I would just go to the bar and drink instead of finding my seat

lyndausvi

DH and I are up on the whole-team mascot thing.  So the game would only take as long as it would take to find the table.  So what  1-3 minutes depending on how far from the door our table was.  Then what are we going to do for the other 57-59 minutes?

Point is, if you have a bar and passed hors d'oeuvres that is all people need to mingle and kill time for an hour.