If there’s one thing we all have in common, it’s that we’re all unique, and it’s that uniqueness that we want to express on our wedding day. And to come up with something new in this age of flash mobs and bubble machines, the stakes are due a raise. Yes, we’ve all seen a chocolate fondue; yes, we’ve all been offered a prawn cocktail from a canapé waiter’s tray; yes, we’ve all seen conga lines in front of a mobile disco.
These are tried and true methods of making merry – but change around the letters of ‘tried’ and you’ve got ‘tired’. It’s time for a fresh perspective, so here are 25 unique ideas to entertain your wedding guests that may not have yet occurred to you.
25 Gourmet Hot Dog Cart
Hot dogs aren’t just for fairgrounds and cinemas – you can hire a cart for the day that will ply your guests with delicious gourmet snacks smothered in anything from teriyaki chicken to nacho cheese and jalapeños. It’s fancy fast finger food for all the family!
24 Bouncy Castle
The bouncy castle business has come on in leaps and bounds since your 5th birthday party! You can now hire some seriously stately-looking inflatable structures, so your guests can look more grown up while they’re acting like big kids.
23 Singing Waiters
One minute they’re serving up drinks, the next they’re serving up a song! Your guests won’t know what hit them when they realise the entertainment has been hiding in plain sight.
22 Interactive Photo Booth
You may have seen props, masks and wacky frames at a wedding photo booth before, but you can also hire a touch screen photo booth packed full of crazy effects! You can also fix your image yourself in post.
21 Adult Pinata
This can refer to either the design or the contents of the Pinata. We’ll leave you to imagine the former, but the latter can include mini alcoholic beverages, luxury chocolates or naughty wedding favours, just to name a few. If your guests are bringing their children, make sure you have a kid-friendly pinata kept separate from yours!
20 Close-up Magician
Hiring a magician these days is a far cry from watching a clown pretending to saw an audience member in half. No, these days you can hire close-up magicians whose impossible card and coin tricks will leave you checking your pockets for hours.
19 Giant Games
A game of giant Jenga is a tall order, giant snakes and ladders can get a little dicey, and we’ll be having words about giant scrabble! Oversized board games are great fun outdoors, and can be hired if you’re put off by the equally oversized price tag.
18 Cocktail Making Class
Cocktails are probably the most fun way to drink – but your guests will have even more fun with them if they’re learning how to shake them up themselves! Hire a mixologist to give you the low-down on mojitos and daiquiris – just make sure the lid of the cocktail shaker is on properly.
17 Personal Artist
Photos are pretty much a given these days – we’ve all got a phone now. So why not give your guests a token from the unique mind of a caricaturist, silhouette portraitist or painter for that personal touch?
16 Animated Wedding Cake
The Illuminations at Disneyland are a wondrous sight to behold – but you can recreate it yourself using your cake! If there’s one thing that could’ve improved watching the animations dancing across the walls of Sleeping Beauty’s castle, it’d have to be knowing you could take a delicious slice of it away with you.
15 Pimp Your Prosecco
Just when you thought champagne’s light-hearted younger cousin couldn’t get any more appealing, out comes an enticing array of toppers and mixers! Flavoured cordials and vodkas are an established favourite – and your guests will have plenty of fun with the vanishing candy floss!
14 Confetti Cannon
Why do with your hands what you can do much more effectively with a cannon? Your guests will have a blast firing clouds of confetti over the happy couple – just try to aim well above their heads.
13 Giant Bubbles
For the best giant bubble experience, get yourself a pro to show your guests how to recreate those gravity-defying soapy shapes. Then, they’ll have a ball trying to do it themselves!
12 Fireworks
Nothing makes a crowd ‘ooh’ and ‘ahh’ quite like a firework display! And these days, thanks to modern advancements in firework technology, you can have your display outside with sparklers or inside with fancy lighting and pyrotechnics (though you should always check with your venue first).
11 Petting Zoo
Naturally, this is a lot easier to organise if you’re tying the knot in the countryside, or even on a farm. Fortunately, mobile petting zoos exist, so your guests can enjoy the company of cute and cuddly animals wherever you may wed.
10 Champagne Fountain
The perfect addition to an extravagant wedding is undoubtedly the champagne fountain! At once a feature and a fancy drinks dispensary, you’ve just got to be extra careful not to knock the delicate glass pyramid – especially if you’ve been dipping into it.
9 Vodka Luge
Champagne fountain? Been there, done that. Edge your way into the 21st century with the alcohol-secreting ice sculpture that is a vodka luge! There are enough flavours and designs available for you to give your guests a truly unique luging experience.
8 Guest Video Booth
A modern upgrade from both the photo booth and the guest book, hire one of these to catch your guests leaving you a personalised message of good will on camera!
7 Fortune Teller
Whether they take the form of a palm reader or tarot card reader, you’ll find even your most sceptical guests will be able to suspend their disbelief long enough to be told something fortunate about themselves! If anything, it’s a great conversation starter.
6 Jumbo Chalk
Everyone has fond memories of chalking their garden paths and patios into a technicolour dreamscape as a child – so why not do the same to your wedding venue as adults? It’ll be a fun way for your guests to leave you a personal message, and it’ll all wash off in the rain, so you’re likely to get the go ahead from the venue owner.
5 Swing DJ
When we think ‘DJ’, most of us still think ‘Ibiza’. By all means have a house heavy playlist if that’s your cup of tea – but there are many other brews to sample, such as swing!
There are few more persuasive rhythms when you’re trying to get your guests to the dance floor, and the retro style pumped through modern equipment could be your something old AND something new.
4 Swing Band
While we’re on the subject, you can’t go wrong with a live swing band! Your more mature guests will love the nostalgia kick, and your younger guests will be amazed when your swing band breaks into a Postmodern Jukebox-style cover of a contemporary chart hit.
3 Pin the (blank) on the (blank)
We’re pretty sure all the donkeys have got their tails back by now – so it’s time to get creative! Pin the beard on the groom, pin the toupee on the president, or pin whatever you like on whomsoever you please.
2 Retro Arcade
Sure, the graphics might look laughable next to the latest Xbox offering, but the simple controls can be figured by even the most novice gamer. Plus, it’ll serve as a trip down memory lane for anyone who lost all their pocket money to Pacman in the 80s.
1 Circus Skills
Our top spot is taken by the increasingly popular but nonetheless out there trend of transforming your wedding into a literal circus! Amuse and confuse your popcorn-and-candyfloss-munching guests with fire breathers, acrobats, stilt walkers and clowns, all lead by a top hatted ringleader!
THIS IS A GUEST FEATURE WRITTEN BY // Bands For Hire // Music Agency
Bands For Hire represent a broad and diverse range of wedding bands throughout the UK, from Swing, Rock ’n’ Roll and Soul to Indie, Pop and Rock, there’s something for the whole family. As well as bands for evening entertainment we also work with String Quartets, Harpists, Jazz Bands and Solo performers suitable for Ceremony and Drinks Reception background music.
