Hi! I'm Taryn, a writer, designer and soon-to-be-bride from Atlanta, Georgia. Sit a spell with me and catch up as I plan the wedding of my beer-loving, confetti-throwing dreams to the wonderful Mr. Williford.Games, Dancing and (Domo Arigato) Mr. Roboto
Our brewery venue is big and open, and as a result, everything’s happening somewhat in the same place on our wedding day. We’ll hold a ceremony on the patio, then immediately open up the connected tasting room (they share an indoor-outdoor bar) to start on the reception. That means no traditional “cocktail hour,” because, when you think about it, our whole reception is kind of a cocktail hour. We’re feeding our guests from a made-to-order food truck and nixing the whole assigned seats thing. As soon as we recess down the aisle, our guests should start eating, drinking and mingling the night away.
Because we have a long and open reception, and because we’re opting out of some traditional wedding activities (no bouquet toss or cake cutting here), I want to make sure there’s lots for our guests to do all night.
Games
Meredith Perdue
I’m not sure if it’s a Southern thing, but it seems like nearly every bar down here in Atlanta is filling their rooms and patios with games like Cornhole, Shuffleboard and Bocce Ball. They’re becoming increasingly common at weddings, too.
Monday Night Brewing
Because Monday Night Brewing hosts tastings a few times a week, they’ve got cornhole and a keg-hoisted shuffleboard table already set up inside (the events gal told us they might even have a Bocce court installed on the patio by the time our wedding rolls around). We’re going to let our guests play to their heart’s content all night. Maybe we’ll even find some ways to personalize the games, like getting monogrammed bean bags in our colors or something, if there’s time (which there won’t be… but I’m still in the optimistic stage of wedding planning).
Dancing
Paige Jones
Roo and I both love to dance, so we’ll definitely have a DJ spinning all night for anyone who only accepts wedding invites for the chance to get out on the dance floor (and for the free booze…. I kid! I kid!). I’m thinking we’ll have the DJ play more pop tunes at a lower volume during “dinner” (aka when the food truck first opens), then amp it up for late night. We scored a great deal on a new Atlanta DJ, too, because we booked another service from their creative collective…
Robot Booth
Robot Booth
I’ve heard people wax about how photo booths are “so yesterday” for weddings, but I really don’t care. They’ve always seemed like a ton of fun, and offer another way (besides our amazing pro photog) to capture memories. I always thought a photo booth would be out of the budget for us, but we managed to kill two birds with one stone booking DJ Cuttlefish and Robot Booth together at a discount from their creative collective, Far Out Galaxy.
If you’re in Atlanta or San Francisco, check out Robot Booth. Instead of a “booth,” this gear is actually a standalone camera and printer that your guests control with a remote shutter. They can snap as many photos as they want, then the Robot Booth attendant helps them narrow it down onto four shots which get printed on a photo strip keepsake. At our wedding, the Robot Booth will also take the place of a guestbook, when our guests tack their photo strips inside an empty scrapbook and jot down messages for us (I’m thinking we use colorful patterned washi tape to stick the photo strips down, because I’m obsessed with washi tape).
We’re going to position the camera in front of the Great Wall O’ Ties at Monday Night Brewing (the photos below are from the last time Robot Booth worked a wedding at our venue), and I’m incredibly excited thinking about the shots our friends will snap!
Robot Booth
Robot Booth
Robot Booth
I’m hoping the combination of these totally different activities is enough to keep our guests from feeling bored. We will still tackle some of the traditional stuff, like the toasts and first dance, too. What are your favorite ideas to keep wedding or party guests entertained?
