Q & A: Engaging Guests in Your Wedding

Reader Question: In addition to dancing, how do you encourage guests to partake in the other activities you have set up for them, like the board games, etc.?

This question came out of the comments section from last week's post about how to encourage guests to dance at your wedding reception.

Because we rented out an entire B&B for our wedding reception, we were able to take over the whole place. People could soak in the hot-tub, cook S'mores around the campfire, play board games, throw around footballs or Frisbees, or dance on the patio. We found that the best way to encourage guests to partake in the activities was to simply make them aware of what their options were. We did this in a couple ways:

1. We included specific details about the itinerary and all the options on our wedsite. On the invitation, we directed people to our wedsite. Even though it was a free blog, we kept the information static so people wouldn't have to search too hard to find something.
2. Since we knew not everyone would look at our wedsite, we also sent an e-mail update a couple times leading up to the wedding. Within those e-mails, we included highlights of agenda items.
3. We posted a piece of chart paper with the agenda for the weekend in a prominent place. People started to see it as soon as they arrived for the Welcome Picnic (see photo above).
4. We included more information the wedding ceremony programs and asked our officiant to make announcements as well.
   

To take it one step further, you could ask close friends or family members to take the lead on certain activities (be sure to let them pick what they actually want to do!). That way, guests will see other people doing the activities, and they will be less intimated.

Those are my two cents. I'd love to hear other ideas!

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