October 2014 Weddings

No Alcohol or Dancing Allowed. Advice for Reception!

Just to start off, I feel like I'm living in a real life Footloose.  My parents/family are Pentecostal and are very against drinking, dancing, and music.  My parents graciously are letting us use their backyard for the Ceremony/Reception.  We are allowed to do our first dance, and play music throughout the day. That's pretty much it.

I'm making some cornhole boards for fun, but other than that I have no idea what people will be doing!  We aren't doing a full dinner (can't afford it), and I'm way too involved in planning to plan entertainment too! Help, please!

Re: No Alcohol or Dancing Allowed. Advice for Reception!

  • Cornhole will be a lot of fun! How about adding some ladder golf and bocce ball in to the mix?

    It sounds like your whole family is Pentecostal so they wouldn't be expecting some sort of large, lavish reception with dancing and alcohol anyway so they'll probably do whatever they'd normally do at family gatherings - socialize, take photos, and spend time together. I promise everything will be ok! You can still have toasts made by family, a pre-meal blessing, a grand entrance or something after your ceremony, to kind of give things a sense of movement if you like. What about your FI's family? Is this something they are anticipating?



  • @LaPeanut1018 Yeah, forgot to mention them haha His father's side are all pretty casual drinkers (we all got a little tipsy at his grandma's 80th birthday, including her! she did the congo for hours). They are used to lavish parties, but I think they have a general idea of how my family operates. We are planning an after party at our favorite bar/lounge for that night, so maybe it will all be okay :) I will definitely look into ladder golf and bocce ball! Thanks!!
  • I think an after-party sounds awesome! Seriously I think everything will be fine! Both sides are going to basically get what they want and everyone will be happy. :)



  • Thank you!!! you seriously made me feel so much better :)@LaPeanut1018
  • I found this on Pinterest. I think it has a lot of great ideas to make the reception more fun without just drinking and dancing. 

    My FI's family is very conservative as well, so I'm trying to find ways to make it more fun for them. 
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  • My cousin's venue didn't allow alcohol, and it was small, so they set up tables over the dance floor, and we couldn't dance either. I thought it was going to be SO BORING, but it was a lot of fun! They had alive 4-piece band playing classic rock, their fave, and had board games on a back table that people could bring to their tables. They also had a little croquet field set up on the grassy area where their ceremony took place.
  • We're having our 'reception' at a restaurant and we will not even be in a private room/area - so there will be no dancing (I cannot guarantee my guests will not have alcohol as I will be giving them pretty much the full menu).

    I love the ideas already listed - the yard games and board games
    On the website @Bekt14 posted has a lot of fun ideas too:
    Wedding Madlibs - The 'Idea books - what to do on date night; what to name first child; how to celebrate 1st anniversary; secret to happy marriage' -- Ring toss (to add to the yard games)

    Could you maybe set up an area like a carnival mid-way type thing with little prizes.  Maybe even rent out like a popcorn machine (I'd say cotton candy but it's super messy).


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  • It doesn't sound like it will be that bad considering you won't have a full meal, etc.  You don't need much when it's not some drawn out kind of event.   To me it sounds fun and laid back. 

    I worry at times that my wedding will be boring, too, because we don't have dancing...it's at a restaurant so we'll be just playing background music.  But we didn't want some sort of elaborate wedding so it's what we wanted.

  • If you're in a backyard, you should play croquet!
  • We are not having any drinking or dancing either.  We are just having a cake and punch reception.  It will be good.  I have been to several without drinking or dancing and people had fun just visiting with each other.  Relax and enjoy your day! 

  • What about horseshoes or boardgames as well? Do you guys play cards, you could maybe include them too if you'd like.  Don't stress about it too much, it'll be an amazing day. 
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  • @ashwise gave me an idea - if you wanted you could do playing cards as your favors.  I did a quick google search and found THESE or THESE - heck there are a ton of them.


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  • @ashwise @Dignity100 that is a very good idea!  But sadly, my parents church don't even believe in playing card games because it is too close to gambling :( But I think I might bust out Apples to Apples :)
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