30 Engagement Party Games That Will Make Your Celebration Unforgettable

Yahoo

6 hours ago

Getting engaged is a huge milestone that warrants a celebration. Whether you're the future newlyweds or a friend or relative of the couple, throwing an engagement party is a fun and festive way to commemorate this once-in-a-lifetime moment and shower the duo with love ahead of their big day. While gathering everyone together for drinks and a meal is completely acceptable, adding a few interactive games to the agenda will help break the ice and enliven the atmosphere, contributing to an even more entertaining pre-wedding soirée. Plus, since an engagement party is typically the first of many wedding-related celebrations for the couple of honor, this function is an opportunity to introduce the future spouses' closest pals and family to one another in a laid-back manner before the rest of the wedding festivities unfolds.
Many engagement party games are DIY projects that are relatively affordable, require little-to-no setup, and include easy-to-follow instructions. While some of the activities involve teams and a bit of friendly competition, others are less structured—ones in which guests can play at their leisure. Meanwhile, some are an on-theme version of a classic, like bridal bingo or wedding Mad Libs.
Wondering which engagement party games suit this pre-wedding function? Keep scrolling for 30 entertaining ideas everyone will love.
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Think of this engagement party game as an Easter egg hunt—but with rings. Before the event, hide plastic rings all around the vicinity, and once it's time to play, ask your guests to collect as many faux jewels as they can. Whoever finds the most baubles, wins. Don't forget to have prizes handy, like a Starbucks gift card or a miniature bottle of Champagne.
An engagement party and wedding reception favorite, the wedding shoe game tests the couple's knowledge of one another and their relationship. To play, the couple sits with their backs against one another, while they both hold one of their shoes in one hand and one of their partner's shoes in the other hand. Then, a designated host will ask questions, like "Who made the first move?" and "Who dresses better?" The to-be-weds will raise either their own shoe or their partner's shoe to answer the question, with neither one of them seeing the other's answer.
Beanbag toss, also known as cornhole, is the perfect engagement party game for an outdoor bash. Go all out with couple-themed boards, like ones decorated with a portrait of the soon-to-be-spouses and their joint initials or wooden bases embellished with emblems of the pair's relationship, such as their pet dog or a logo of their favorite sports team. Of course, you can always keep it classic for an authentic touch. One fun idea is to make couples kiss whenever someone scores.
Jenga is a crowd-pleaser, but to make the activity more memorable, have guests sign a tile with their name and write a note to the future newlyweds. Whenever the couple goes to play Jenga in the future, they'll always think of their engagement party and the love they felt from their friends and family. Make the game even better (and suitable for a backyard affair) with giant Jenga.
For couples who love documenting the moment, complete the soirée with a photo booth station. Create a theme and ask guests to take photos that align with your designated concept. Then, gather pose-worthy props—like hats, sunglasses, flower leis, clip-on bow ties, etc.—which guests can choose from before they pose in front of a bright background. Whoever has the best photo, wins a prize.
For another photo-related engagement party game that requires less setup and a lower cost, consider creating a geofilter on Snapchat. With tons of templates to choose from—along with an opportunity to customize the color, font, text, and designs—you can build a personalized filter that mentions the couple's names and the reason for the gathering. While the group can use the geofilter throughout the event, you can also turn it into a competition by having guests compete to take their best snap.Pricing of a geofilter is determined based on the size of the usage area, so for a small venue or someone's house, it's actually really affordable (only $5 an hour for a geofilter that's 20 square feet).A ring toss is an apt engagement party game for any setting and aesthetic, especially low-key affairs in the great outdoors. To implement this activity, accumulate plastic rings and glass bottles and paint half in one color and the other half in another hue. Then, create two teams, who will take turns throwing rings at empty bottles, for a friendly competition that everyone will love.
At the engagement party, play old-school video games, like Pac-Man or Tetris, to infuse the fête with a bit of arcade-like nostalgia. Or customize your own game that aligns with the couple's relationship. With a setup of digital games, you won't need a judge to declare the winner—guests can take turns playing the game and trying to secure the highest score.
For a modern take on 'I Spy,' have guests use their phones to photograph a list of items that they've found. To pull off this concept, jot down a handful of shots to get, such as a photo of the couple holding hands and one of the bride-to-be sipping her drink. The individual who takes all of the pictures on the list first will secure the victory.
To help the engaged duo practice their walk down the aisle, turn the wedding-related event into a three-legged race at your engagement party. Find an open outdoor space, separate everyone into pairs, and have each team tie their legs together. You can even lay out a "white carpet," reminiscent of an aisle, that everyone can run down.
If drinking games are more of your vibe, you can never go wrong with a fun game of flip cup. The premise of the game is to see which team can drink their beverage the quickest and land their cups upside down in order to receive the winning title. It's an amusing activity that will create a buoyant atmosphere.
If you and your friends love all the latest viral dances found on TikTok, set up an area where everyone can show off their moves for the social platform. You can turn this into a competition to see who best performed the dance number, or you can put together a compilation to post at a later date.
Connect Four is a childhood classic, but to make it engagement party-approved, stock the soirée with life-sized boards. Instead of setting up formal teams and sharing a list of instructions, having a few oversized versions of the original game available to play will aid in creating a casual vibe. This way, the focus of the affair will be on conversing with one another, and the games will simply act as a supplement.
Skee-Ball is another beloved arcade game that everyone, no matter the age, will be thrilled to play at the engagement party. If you have the budget and the space, rent a couple of Skee-Ball machines for the group to play in between drinks and appetizers. To recreate an authentic experience, you can even have stuffed-animal prizes for high-scoring individuals.
Drinks are usually part of any engagement-party checklist, but to infuse an interactive component into this staple detail, include a cocktail-making competition. Arrange stations with all of the ingredients and utensils, and have each team whip up their concoction as quickly as possible. The fastest team will be dubbed the winner.
For another engagement party game that guests can play whenever they want to take a break from mingling or dancing, consider life-sized chess. Pairs can battle it out on the board, testing their problem-solving skills, while the rest of the party continues.
Find out how well the couples in attendance know each other by having them play a live version of the Newlywed Game (in the case of the affianced couple, the Nearlywed Game). Give each of them a mini dry-erase board and have them answer questions, like "What would your partner request for their last meal?" and "What's one thing your partner thinks you should take a class in?" Then, read off each question, have each partner answer, and see how close the real answer is to their significant other's guess. Whichever couple racks up the most correct answers, wins.
Since not everyone on the guest list will know one another, why not play the ultimate icebreaker: two truths and a lie. The rules are simple: Ask each person to come up with three facts about themselves—two facts that are true and one that's false. Then, go around in a circle and try to figure out everyone's lie. It's an entertaining way to get to know everyone at the party.
To figure out who knows the engaged couple's love story best, craft a DIY Jeopardy! board with questions about their relationship. Just like the game show, guests will have to "buzz" in to guess the question that corresponds to the answer (you can also have people raise their hands or ring a bell if you don't have a buzzer on hand). For example, if someone chooses "the engagement" for 300, it could reveal an answer, like "13 months," leading someone to buzz in and shout, "How many months were the couple together before getting engaged?"
If most of the attendees know each other, incorporate a memory game into the engagement party. Ask each guest to write down a memory with the couple of the hour on an index card. Then, mix all of the cards together in a bowl and read them off one by one. Guests should then start to guess who the memory belongs to. The person who gets the most cards right is the champion.
If your friends are big on charades, why not play a few rounds? Here's the catch: Whatever movie or book is being performed has to be related to an engagement. Think: My Big Fat Greek Wedding, Bridesmaids, etc.
With a fresh engagement, X and O are at the forefront of everyone's mind. Bring the XOs to life with a giant outdoor game of tic-tac-toe. You can easily pull off this idea yourself, creating a board with rope and cutting out large Xs and Os on cardboard.
For a play on the common wedding phrase, "tie the knot," one engagement party game idea is having each invitee try to tie cherry stems into knots. Set out a bowl of cherries and see who can "tie the knot" the quickest. For a little extra fun, soak the cherries in vanilla vodka overnight.
Want to get invitees better acquainted with one another in a playful way? Compile a list of fun facts about each guest in attendance. Then, pass out a copy of the list of tidbits to every attendee, and have them go around and find out who is who.To make it more interesting, implement the rule that you can't flat-out ask about the fact directly: Guests will have to make casual conversation to figure out who is who. For example, if a fact is "This guest is an opera singer," you might bring up music and see where the conversation leads.Shower the couple with well-wishes from their friends and family by having each attendee write congratulatory messages on slips of paper. Build a station equipped with a glass bottle, pieces of paper, and permanent ink, so guests can craft their notes. After the party, give the couple the display jar full of heartfelt letters to open.
Turn your love story into a game of Mad Libs. To make the activity laugh-out-loud funny, feel free to elaborate and exaggerate details. Then, leave blanks where guests can add in ridiculous adverbs, verbs, adjectives, and nouns.
For a twist on traditional bingo, create your own bingo cards where all the squares are engagement- and wedding-themed items, such as "Mr.," Mrs.," and "Love." You can even print premade cards for a seamless way to enact the activity.
Turn the engagement party into a fête fit for Las Vegas. Pull out all the stops and rent casino-style tables, so you can play games, like blackjack, craps, and roulette. Your guests will surely have a blast with this themed activity.
Hand out patches of fabric to each guest, along with fabric paint, beads, and string. Then, have each person create their own patch in honor of your forthcoming union. After the party, collect all of the patches and have them sewn together into a quilt to commemorate the duo's engagement.
You've likely already played this game as a child, and this age-old classic is a great activity for your guests to partake in at the engagement party, too. All you have to do is fill a jar with Hershey Kisses and ask the crew to guess the amount of "kisses" in the jar. Before the end of the night, count the "kisses" to see who guessed the correct (or close to the correct) amount.
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