7 Tried and Tested Wedding Games (and 4 You Should Avoid)
Here are some popular games that add some fun to Singapore Weddings. I've explained how each one works and rated them out of 10 for fun and inclusivity (whether all your guests can participate), based on my experience hosting 200+ weddings.
I've also included a section on games to avoid, with my reasoning. (Hot take: The Shoe Game is in there!)
Big Games (~30min)
Bingo
How to play:
Give each guest a bingo card with random numbers on a 5x5 grid (you can buy these from Shopee)
Generate random numbers and guests mark them off on their cards
The first 5 guests to complete a straight line of 5 numbers (horizontal, vertical, or diagonal) win
Fun: 5/10 – Players just sit and wait for their numbers to be called, so it's not very engaging.
Inclusive: 10/10 – It's completely luck-based, so everyone has an equal chance.
Professional's touch: Bingo can feel flat on its own. But a good emcee can engage and joke with your guests at their tables. This adds much more fun and laughter.
Couple Trivia/Kahoot
How to play:
Use the Kahoot platform to display multiple-choice questions about the couple on screen (e.g., how you met, your first date location)
Guests answer on their phones. Correct answers earn points, with bonus points for speed
The top 3 players win prizes
Fun: 6/10 – Guests learn about your love story, which is enjoyable. It's quite fun for guests to guess the answers based on what they know about you.
Inclusive: 4/10 – Older guests often don't participate because they need to scan a QR code and use their phones. Even with English and Chinese translations, it's difficult to get them involved. Also, your closer friends have an unfair advantage.
Professional's touch: An experienced emcee can ask the couple to share stories behind the answers. For example, if the answer to "Where was your first date?" is "Cafe," the emcee can ask if anyone was late or about first impressions.
Beer Relay
How to play:
The bride and groom each nominate 4-5 friends to form Team Bride and Team Groom
Set up a long table on stage with 10 glasses of beer
Each team decides their drinking order and lines up
When the emcee starts the game, the first drinker on each team starts
When the first drinker finishes, the second drinker begins, and so on
The team that finishes all 5 drinks first wins
Fun: 8/10 – It's exciting to watch and cheer for your team.
Inclusive: 5/10 – Only 10 people actively participate, but everyone else can enjoy watching and cheering.
Guess the Song/ Lyrics
How to play:
The DJ plays a short clip of a song (from Spotify)
Guests who recognize the song raise their hands to guess the title and win prizes
Repeat with as many songs as you like
Fun: 6/10 - Guessing the title of the song is ok.
Inclusive: 6/10 – Not everyone gets a chance to win.
Professional's touch: Emcees can get guests to not just guess the song title but also sing along. Which makes this game MUCH better, easy 8.5/10 for both fun and inclusiveness because everyone can sing together.
Scavenger Hunt
How to play:
Place 6 chairs on stage
The emcee calls out an item (e.g. a women's handbag)
The first 6 guests to bring the item on stage get a chair and advance to the next round
Remove 1 chair (leaving 5)
The emcee calls out a new item
The 6 guests race to find it, but only the first 5 back get chairs
Continue eliminating guests until there's one winner
Fun: 8/10 – The drama of people finding the items is quite entertaining.
Inclusive: 5.5/10 – My only issue is that fewer people stay involved as the game continues. But it's still entertaining to watch people rush around searching.
Observation Trivia
How to play:
Prepare a Powerpoint/ Deck with pictures of both of you, with a blank slide between each photo. Pictures should NOT be to minimalist (have things happening in the background and foreground). You can try pulling up some unglam photos from your childhood to get people laughing
Show the first picture for 20s, guests are supposed to observe and remember as much of the photo in their mind as possible. No taking pictures of the slide allowed
Go to the blank slide
Emcee asks a question about the photo that is silly or unexpected e.g. What is the colour of the rubber band used to tie the bride’s hair.
Correct answers win a small token
Go on to the next photo and repeat
Fun: 6.5/10 – It’s quite fun but can get a little boring after the 3rd photo because the mechanic is always the same. I sometimes ask 2 questions per photo just so more people can win.
Inclusive: 9/10 – My only issue is that fewer people stay involved as the game continues. But it's still entertaining to watch people rush around searching.
Small Games (~15min)
Pot of Gold Lucky Draw
How to play:
Get a fishbowl or box
Players who want to join put in a $10 note and photograph its serial number (this photo is their lucky draw ticket)
At the end of the wedding, draw one note from the bowl
The emcee reads out the last 4 digits
The person with the matching serial number comes on stage to win all the money
Fun: 6.5/10 – The money makes it quite exciting.
Inclusive: 9/10
Emcee Cheng's tip: You can split the pot three ways – 3rd prize $10, 2nd prize $80, 1st prize the rest. Have your groomsmen carry spare $10 notes for guests who want to play but don't have cash (guests can PayNow to get a note). You can also do a $2 version to keep costs down, or let players contribute whatever amount they want.
Final Number (终极密码)
How to play:
The emcee secretly picks a number from 1-100
Going around to different tables, the emcee asks guests to guess the number
After each guess, the emcee says whether it's too high or too low
Continue until someone guesses correctly and wins
Fun: 6/10 – I always think this game won't be that exciting since it's just guessing numbers, but it always turns out a little more fun and intense than expected.
Inclusive: 8.5/10
Games I Would Avoid
These games aren't my favorites for typical Singapore weddings. I explain why below. Of course, if these concerns don't apply to your wedding, these games can work fine.
Shoe Game
Why it doesn’t work: While this is a classic, I think Kahoot is more fun for learning about the couple. Older Asian guests usually aren't very interested in questions like "Who's the messier one?" Younger or more Westernized crowds enjoy this more.
How to play:
Place 2 chairs back-to-back on stage
The bride and groom sit (unable to see each other) and exchange one shoe, so each holds one of their own and one of their partner's
The emcee asks questions like "Who said I love you first?"
The couple raises the shoe of whoever they think is the answer
Human Bingo
Why it doesn’t work: Social media videos from America make this look fun, but the whole point is for guests to meet each other. At most Singapore weddings, guests aren't interested in meeting strangers from other tables, so this game doesn't work. It might work for younger or more Westernized crowds, but I wouldn't risk it if I were you.
How to play:
Give each guest a bingo card
Instead of numbers, squares contain traits like "has brown hair" or "plays the piano"
Guests walk around asking each other questions to find people matching the traits
When they find a match, they write that person's name in the square
The first 5 guests to complete a straight line win
Wedding Speech Bingo
Why it doesn’t work: The speech is potentially the most emotional part of the wedding. Turning it into a game takes away from its importance and intent. I also don't want a guest shouting "BINGO!" in the middle of your heartfelt speech.
How to play:
Print bingo cards with common speech phrases (e.g., "thank you," "I love you")
Guests listen to your speech and mark off phrases as they hear them
The first 5 to complete a straight line win
Groom Guesses Who’s the Bride Based on Touch
Why it doesn’t work: This game was very popular over 10 years ago, but it doesn't feel appropriate for modern times. Some ladies might not be comfortable being touched.
How to play:
Blindfold the groom on stage
Bring 4 ladies and the bride on stage
One by one, they approach the groom, who touches their hand or arm to try identifying the bride
Musical Chairs
Why it doesn’t work: I'm not a big fan because Scavenger Hunt is livelier and has more room for creativity. Plus, men tend to have an unfair advantage because they’re not in dresses, skirts, or heels. The world is already unfair, let’s not make it worse :-)
Are There Even Better Games?
Professional emcees (like me) have even more games that we have refined and polished over hundreds of weddings to make them both fun & inclusive for the Singaporean Wedding. Enquire with the emcees to find out more.
Still confused? Stressed? Engage Emcee Cheng for your Wedding Banquet - I’ll fill your wedding with fun and wonderful memories. Instead of dealing with all these details, you can relax and enjoy the experience stress-free! Don’t take my word for it. Watch the video showreel!
