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Traditionally, reception guests will tap their champagne glasses
with their flatware as an audible request for the bride and groom
to kiss. As inviting, or ludicrous, as this may sound, there are
other alternatives to this age old tradition - some of which are
listed below. |
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Tell
a Joke
An alternative would be for the emcee to announce that if a guest
wants the newlywed to kiss, he or she must come up to the
microphone and tell a funny and clean joke. |
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Bells
Consider placing hand-held bells on each table at the reception.
The formality of your wedding dictates which kind of bells you
choose. Whether the bell is made of glass, silver or brass, it's a
terrific way to "ring" in an old tradition! |
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Sing
a Song of Love
If a guest wishes the bride & groom to kiss, he or she must stand
up in front of the crowd and sing a song that contains the word
"love" in its lyrics. Here is a poem that was placed on each of my
reception tables:
The bride and
groom are newlyweds
And we think that it has gone to their heads.
So, if you clank the glasses so,
We know their heads will only grow.
So, instead we ask for one little thing,
We request that you only sing.
A line with the word Love in it.
And this will make the couple kiss. |
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Sing
a Song of the Bride or Groom
I have heard of a bride and groom kissing if the guest sings a
song that contains either the name of the bride or groom in its
lyrics. |
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Here's a Story...
Have the guest relate an anecdote about either the bride or groom.
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"Kiss" in the Lyrics
Have a guest sing a song that contains the word "kiss" in its
lyrics. |
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Offer Marital Advice
One of the ideas I came up with is to have the guests come up with
a marital advice for the newlyweds. Some of the advice were
hilarious! (Eg. For the Groom, do not leave the toilet seat up) |
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Putt
for a Kiss #1
For golf enthusiasts, have a small putting green and if a guests
get a hole-in-one then the couple can kiss. |
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Putt
for a Kiss #2
I was at a wedding where the Bride and Groom decided that in order
to have them kiss you had to go up to the miniature golf tee and
take a putt, if you made the putt they would Kiss. It was a lot of
fun, and there ended up to be a lot of Kisses. (a surprise to the
couple!!) |
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Answer Questions or Act Out a Suggestion
On a small piece of paper write down different questions or things
for people to do. For example:
Name three of the seven dwarfs
Yell like Tarzan
Name a pro hockey player
Dance a jig
Then fold up each question or action and stuff into a balloon.
Fill the balloons with helium, tie them around the reception hall,
chairs, tables, etc. When somebody wishes the couple to kiss they
have to pop one balloon and act out or answer the question for the
couple to kiss. We did this at our wedding and all of the balloons
were popped. It was, to say the least, very entertaining. |
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Toast to the Bride & Groom
It is our intent, at our wedding in October, to have a guest toast
the bride & groom, family, and friends in exchange for a kiss. We
have created table cards for each guest. Their name will be
written on the front of the card and a suggestion for a toast will
be written on the back to make it even easier for them! |
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Scavenger Hunt
I was at a wedding where instead of clinking a glass, they had a
scavenger hunt. For example, guests who had baby pictures or a
coin from the year the bride or groom was born would provoke a
public kiss from the bride and groom. More entertaining then just
clinking a glass. |
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The
Guests Kiss
I was at a wedding where if you wanted the bride and groom to
kiss, you and your partner had to kiss. Then the bride and groom
had to duplicate your kiss in the same manner you did. It got
pretty interesting and it was fun. |
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Kissing Box
Get a shoebox and decorate it with paper, then cut a whole in the
top. The master Of ceremonies starts things off by putting a
dollar or more into the box. He then hands it to the bride & groom
and they kiss. They then pass the box to whichever couple they
want to make kiss next. Basically, you get the box, you kiss, you
put money in the box and pass it to whoever you want. That way,
the bride & groom earn money for the honeymoon while not getting
chapped lips! |
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Trivia Pursuit™
We bought the newest Trivial Pursuit™ game, and those who wished
for us to kiss had to come up and answer a question in the
category of their choice. This is a bit of a difficult one! Two
guys who I play baseball with actually answered a baseball
question incorrectly. They went back to the table and kissed
another guy on the team. Oh yeah, and one of our male friends got
a question wrong and kissed the best man. It was hilarious!!!!! |
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Sing A Song With Love
I am planning my wedding for July 2000. I have been using the
Internet to research various ideas. The following is a really neat
idea that I came across and think that I am going to try to use at
my wedding. What to do: Write the following poem on a piece of
paper and place a couple of them on each guest table.
To this formal
affair.
We've added some flair
We won't do a thing
If we hear your glass cling
It will take more than this,
If you want us to kiss
In your suits and dresses,
You all look so grand
Now gather your table
Everyone must stand.
Sing us a song in which
The word "Love" appears.
Only then will we listen.
Only then will we hear.
Give it your best,
It's your chance to star.
We promise the result
Will be best by far. |
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Tumbling for Kisses
Believe it or not, I heard of one wedding where they cleared a
part of the room and placed tumbling mats on the floor. If the
bride and groom were to kiss, the guest had to do a somersault or
cartwheel. Apparently, all kinds of people in formal attire took
on the challenge and tumbled for kisses in long dresses and suits.
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Wedding Bells
For my June 2001 wedding, I am planning on giving out tiny bells
placed on a free standing card with a printed verse. These bells
will be used at the reception to witness the Bride and Groom share
a kiss. This just replaces the old "clinking of the glass"
tradition.
"Let the bells
ring for they're husband and wife,
Ring out for joy for their new life,
Ring for laughter or ring for a kiss
And ring that this couple will always find bliss." |
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Lego
We wanted something different for our "kiss" so we placed a small
bowl of Lego® on every table and had the guests make things out of
the pieces. Then, the guests had to come up to the head table and
tell us what it was that they made. |
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This
Kiss
For my August 2002 wedding, I figure that the Faith Hill song
"This Kiss" should satisfy many of our guests. Especially since it
will be three whole minutes of nothing but "this kiss." Hope we
can pull if off ;o) |
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Love Quotes
For my sister's wedding, we decided that a guest had to come up to
the podium and recite famous quotes that contained the word
"love." Or he/she could name two cartoon couples. No clanking of
the glasses! |
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Making a Basket
My brother, Hal, and his friends are basketball fanatics. So, in
order to get Hal and his bride to kiss, people had to shoot a
basket into one of those little hoops that hang off the back of
the door. Anyone who wanted to try had to place their name in a
hat. The best man would pick a name every 5 minutes or so. The
shooter was given 3 tries and if the ball went in the basket, Hal
had to kiss Michelle. Too cute! |
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Hammers
My Grandpa made little wooden hammers and painted them white. At
the place where the handle and head meet, glue a ribbon in the
color of your wedding palette. When guests want a kiss, all they
have to do is pound the hammer! |
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Guess the Decade
At a friend's wedding, they had six sheets of paper stapled
together with big bold decades printed on each. The first with
1950, the next 1960 and so on until the year 2000. When a table
wanted the bride and groom to kiss, they would hold up the piece
of paper with the decade in which they thought they knew the title
and composer of the most songs. The D.J. would then play a part of
a song from that decade and the table would collaboratively decide
the song. If they got it correct, then the couple would kiss. |
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A
Kiss for a Loonie
For our wedding, we are putting out a basket and collecting a
loonie ($1) for a kiss. Proceeds will go to charity. In our case,
we will give to The Red Cross. |
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Q&A
This is a bit of an extension of the bell idea. Silver bells sound
so much nicer than clinking of glasses. Ahead of time, make trivia
questions about either the Bride, Groom or the couple on pieces of
paper. Questions such as 'What is the brides favourite colour?',
or 'What is the groom's dog's name?', 'Where did they meet?', etc.
Place the questions in a nicely decorated box. When a table wants
the couple to kiss, the guests at that table ring their bells and
the M.C. randomly draws a question from the bhox. If the table
gets it right, the couple kisses. It allows the guests to get to
know little things about the couple that they may not have known
before. Some questions can be pretty funny or bizarre and the
answers can be even funnier! |
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Table Centerpiece
I'm getting married in June. My fiancé and I are both college
students. We are paying for the wedding ourselves, so we are on a
strict budget. I've never really felt comfortable with the bride
walking around with a money purse as if she's "begging" (for lack
of a better word) for money. So we decided to let our centerpieces
double as the monetary gift holder. We found a store that sold
wishing wells for only $8! At each table will be a wishing well,
mini envelopes and heart shaped paper for monetary gifts and
blessings. That way guests could leave not only a monetary gift,
but a good wish for us that we can read and appreciate later. It
is also a way we can keep track of those who gave us money and
send them thank you cards for their "monetary blessing". And it
can become a great ice breaker (ask guests to write on the paper
how they met me or the groom, funniest moments with us, etc.) But
most importantly, we won't have to spend a lot for centerpieces! A
multi-purpose centerpiece/ice breaker/decoration/monetary gift
receiver idea! |
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Putt
for a Kiss
For the bride and/or groom who loves to golf, place a small
putting green in front of the head table. Any guest who would like
the happy couple to kiss has to putt the ball into the hole or
cup. If they get it in the hole - the bridal couple must kiss. If
they don't get it in the hole, the bridal couple draws a name from
a bowl (which contains the name of many other couples at the
reception) and that couple has to stand and kiss. I thought it was
a great idea and I plan to use it at my own wedding this
September. |
