lawn games

We are having a cornhole tournament, a non-tournament cornhole, ping-pong, and karaoke. Between socializing, games, the photo booth etc...I don't foresee boredom.

ETA: we do sing and dance, so there's that. Have you thought of horseshoes?

Eating, drinking, talking, visiting.

Adults don't need games, shoe or other wise. And honestly, if they're not going to drink and dance, they are not going to hang around to play giant lawn chess.

I don't think you need someone to explain. I've been to weddings with lawn games, and people know what to do. I'm planning on having a few games and I plan on just letting my guest use common since and figure things out. Other guest can help explain things of someone doesn't know how to play something? Where do you buy a giant jinga set?

Have your mom read this: http://apracticalwedding.com/2012/08/classic-apw-your-wedding-is-not-a-show/

Don't have someone stand there just to explain the game, just print out a page with instructions and have it set by the game.

Your mom is overreacting. You don't have to find a ton of things to keep people occupied; food, drinks (even non-alcoholic), and conversation are enough on their own! Lawn games are a definite bonus, especially if there won't be any dancing. You could always add some party board games to the mix.

You definitely don't need someone there to explain the games. I've aways been opposed to lawn games at weddings... but I went to a wedding with them a few weeks ago and people really enjoyed them. Only a few people could play, but a lot of people gathered around to watch (especially the Jenga). What does your mom want to add, other than the ridiculous game keepers?

Giant Jenga: i saw easy tutorials on pintrest or you can buy on oriental trader

The comment about not being able to have any fun without drinking and dancing .... lol! You would think that, but we do!

She's trying to get me to realistically see if it would be enough space outside to do these things. She does get that I like the idea, and not completely vetoing it. Just trying to make sure i do my research.

I will also have a photo corner (like vintage "grandmas living room" ) diy smores bar and coffee and tea bar.

Also, most of the guests are my dad's side who all get along pretty well and are really sweet and supportive, plus they all know each other. I also might invite some of my new church family, depending on how many show up to the ceremony.

Rachel, thats a great article! Thanks for sharing. I've definitely felt the pressure to make sure my guests are entertained and I know FH is worried about the center of attention part.

FH and I love lawn games and I think it would be fun to have flip cup and/or beer pong (not sure the logistics on that one at our wedding though... maybe just the after party).

I've seen about 8 people be entertained by giant jenga. I think its a great way to hang out with people you might not know as well.

Really liked the article. my mom is*not* freaking out about entertaining people and neither am I Just arguing about how organizing the lawn games might go. FH and i just want a few things to do. We did talk about board games, but FH shot that down. Basically something action-y is what we are hoping for.

The corn-hole tournament is a super cute idea, but that sounds like someone WOULD need to explain/ orchestrate it, and that's what I'm personally trying not to do. (But love it! Sounds like fun

And again, lawn space IS small, plus I want indoor/outdoor games.

I was thinking of giant Jenga too. My coordinator said people will drink eat and enjoy the view and I don't really need lawn games.

I think that she thinks if only 15 ppl max could play jenga/ bean bag toss (I'm from the East Coast thats what we call it, not cornhole lol) that it's excluding others I guess. But I'm maintaining that it isn't that big of a deal and mostly younger people would play anyway. I was also considering mad libs, and a giant crossword thing for indoorsy people.

Also we are having a "social hour" between the ceremony and reception and that is when most of these things would happen.

I'm also ditching the whole cake cutting (Fall wedding= pumpkin pie cheesecake and smores! THo i like cake too)

No flower toss, garter toss. ect Basically we are showing up and eating with everyone, going around to thank each table for coming, enjoying dessert and leaving to enjoy some alone time before we turn into pumpkins!

The main reason I want things to do is, the last wedding I was at was a tad boring and un-inclusive. There was a photo booth (that only got a tad used). And a cute advice thing but that was all People sat around and talked some, but it felt "dead" to me. So, no one's trying to go bananas about anything, but we do want some forms of entertainment that people wearing dressy "church clothes" can play

How long is your reception? You mentioned 50 to 75 guests and you have three lawn games. That seems like plenty. I just can't imagine that none of your guests will be socializing, getting drinks, snacking. That is what the social hour is mainly for and maybe getting in a quick game or two of tic tac toe. Then as the night goes on and guests have more to drink then they'll play more games unless you have dancing. If your plan is to leave after you enjoy dessert so you "don't turn into a pumpkin" then be prepared for all your guests to leave to. I wouldn't want to be at a reception with no bride and groom.

We do things a bit differently in my culture but that's ok All these articles i see about dragging out the reception more than 2 or 3 hours make me cringe lol. I want to get to the honeymoon part ya know! and since its on a saturday, i still will go to church the next morning so i want to have plenty of time for both honeymoon and sleep. But anywho...

To answer your question 2 or 3 hours and no one will be drinking anything stronger than a good cup of espresso

I wouldn't care if my guests stay after I leave or not. They games would be for while we were still there. like i said in a previous comment, these are my dad's side who all know each other pretty well. (dad + 3 siblings and their families) plus a handful of other close family friends...very small wedding. knowing them, they will still be chatting at each other for a loooong time and will have to be reminded to leave lol, but thats up to them.

Seems like from most comments that the giant jenga is a crowd pleaser that people can play AND watch. thanks!

You don't need someone there to explain or to even put instructions. I feel like you should know your guests and if these are games they'll play, they will already know how. Or honestly another guest oughta know and can explain to the other guests. We're thinking about having a couple lawn games out during the cocktail hour since the space outside we have seems perfect for something like that. Our friends love cornhole and life-size Jenga.

I don't think instructions are necessary. Especially for tic tac toe but if you want to please her you can make cute signs.

I went to a wedding recently that had lawn games. Nobody touched them.

This is a cultural thing. My grand-niece's wedding last spring was primarily people from the small farming towns where she and her husband grew up. They all knew the same obscure lawn-games and danced the same obscure line-dances. We urban guests, if we wanted to play, had no shortage of other guests willing to explain the rules; and if we wanted not to play we had no shortage of friends and family with whom to gossip and catch up on family news. It was an all-day event and some people left "early" but most were having fun until fairly late at night, with no instruction manuals, coaches, or "cute" signs needed.

(I wonder why suggestions about signs and poems always include that they should be "cute". "Cute" literally means "attractive in a pretty or endearing way." No-one's going to make an ugly sign on purpose, and there isn't anything particularly "endearing" about such signs. They're also "neat" and "informative", and no-one feels he need to specify that. Just an off-topic bemusement...)

We had corn hole and giant jenga. People played both for hours. Seriously the entire reception was playing games.

My family doesn't really dance. They drink, sure, but saying if someone who won't drink and dance won't play lawn games either is ridiculous. Some people prefer lawn games. We definitely do.

I don't get why whenever this comes up everyone says stuff like "adults don't need to be entertained". Really? Why do you get a DJ then? Aren't they there to entertain people?

OP, it comes down to what you think your family will do. I had a lot of people here tell me that no-one would play the lawn games. If your family likes that type of thing, they will. Mine did.