Hosting an engagement party doesn’t mean just having delicious food and drinks at a fun location—it also means having plenty of enjoyable (and sometimes hilarious) engagement party games on hand too. Why? Well, traditionally speaking, an engagement party is a celebration that’s hosted early on in a couple’s engagement by the bride’s parents to announce and celebrate their impending nuptials, and to introduce family members and friends to one another. But now, either or both sets of parents, or other family members and friends, can host an engagement party. One of the best ways to have guests (who may not know each other) mingle and get acquainted is to play a few engagement party games and icebreakers. Of course, playing engagement party games definitely isn’t mandatory engagement party etiquette, but it can only add to the fun. Below, 10 of our favorite engagement party games.
Engagement Party Game 1: How Well Do You Know the Couple?
What you’ll need to play: Pads of paper, pens or pencils, prizes
How to play: This versatile trivia engagement party game is fun, foolproof and all about the couple. Create a list of 10 to 20 questions (or as many as you want) about either the couple individually (like their favorite band, food or season) or their relationship (like the date of their first kiss, date or dance). Have the to-be-weds answer the questions beforehand so you have a correct set of answers. Read each question out loud and have guests write down their answers, then call out the right answers at the end, counting one point for each question answered correctly. Whichever guest knows the couple best wins an engagement party favor.
Engagement Party Game 2: Picture Match
What you’ll need to play: Photos of the couple, scissors, envelopes
How to play: If you’re inviting guests from all over the map, whose only thing in common is their connection to the couple, this picture-matching engagement party game helps jump-start the chitchat. Ask the couple for an assortment of photos of the two of them or print them from online. (You’ll need half the number of photos as there are engagement party guests, so if there are 30 attendees, you’ll need 15 photos). Make sure there are copies of these snapshots if they are prints, since they won’t be returned in one piece! Cut the photos in half and place each half in an envelope to be handed out randomly to guests when they arrive. Guests have to talk to one another to find their picture’s other half—which can lead to some pretty funny mismatches along the way.
Engagement Party Game 3: Wedding Bingo
What you’ll need to play: Homemade Bingo boards for each guest (you can make them out of paper or cardboard), Bingo chips, pennies or other small markers, prizes
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How to play: Who doesn’t love an old-fashioned game of Bingo? It’s a throwback that’s perfect for personalizing, especially for an engagement party game. Instead of standard Bingo boards with letter and number combinations (for example: B5), create a board with fun images and phrases related to the couple’s relationship (their wedding date, meeting spot, honeymoon location and so on). As the Bingo caller, you can opt to play the traditional way in which anyone who gets five spaces in a row horizontally, diagonally or vertically wins, or switch it up after a few rounds to one direction only to make it a little more challenging. Whichever guest wins each round gets an engagement party favor.
Engagement Party Game 4: Guess the Famous Couples (20 Questions Style)
What you’ll need to play: Pads of paper, pens or pencils, bowl, prizes
How to play: For this surprisingly tricky engagement party guessing game, have each guest write down 10 famous romantic couples (alive or dead, real or fictitious, together or divorced) and place them in a bowl. Split guests into pairs. With each team going one at a time, one partner (the clue giver) picks a famous couple out of the bowl and must get their partner (the guesser) to guess the right couple—20 questions style. The guesser can ask up to 20 questions to determine who the mystery couple is, and the questions will be answered with either a “yes” or a “no” from the clue giver. For a little excitement, set a timer for a minute or two for each pair’s turn, and see how many famous couples each team can get through before the time is up! Tally and score at the end, and whichever pair got the most couples right gets an engagement party favor.
Engagement Party Game 5: Couple’s Names
What you’ll need to play: Pads of paper, pens or pencils, prizes
How to play: Fast and festive engagement party word games like this one are ideal for Boggle and Scrabble lovers. Have guests list all the words they can make using individual letters of the couple’s first names—depending on name length and difficulty, add last names too, and potentially middle names and nicknames. The person with the longest list of actual words wins an engagement party favor. Consider rewarding points for categories like the longest word, the most wedding-relevant terms and the funniest word about the couple.
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Engagement Party Game 6: Who’s Who?
What you’ll need to play: Premade lists, pens or pencils
How to play: This engagement party game is all about the attendees of the engagement party. With the couple’s help, make a list of facts about each guest (or do some solo online research if you’re feeling confident!). Everyone at the party receives a copy of the list and a pen, then mixes and mingles to match the fact to the guest by asking questions—without using any words in the fact. For example, if one fact is, “This guest was an actor/actress on Broadway before changing careers,” one guest might slyly ask all the other guests what kind of work they do now, then ask if they’ve always wanted to be on that path.
Engagement Party Game 7: The (Almost) Newlywed Game
What you’ll need to play: Index cards, pens or pencils, two small white boards, white board markers
How to play: The format of the classic TV game show The Newlywed Game works flawlessly for soon-to-be newlyweds too. Upon arrival, each guest receives a blank index card and writes a question for the couple (for example: What’s your fiancé’s biggest pet peeve? What was your fiancé’s first pet’s name?). When it’s time to play, seat the to-be-weds back-to-back in the center of the room. Each guest will take turns asking their The Newlywed Game–style question, and after each question, the to-be-weds will write down their answers on white boards. Then one half of the couple tries to guess what they think their partner answered, then their partner flips over the white board to reveal what they actually wrote, and vice versa for the other person’s turn. The engagement party favor goes to the guest or guests that have the most creative questions. And for a slightly different variation of this game, check out the rules for the Shoe Game.
Engagement Party Game 8: Two Truths and a Lie
What you’ll need to play: A good imagination
How to play: Another awesome icebreaker engagement party game! Guests each get a turn to share three statements about themselves. Two of the statements are true and one must be a lie. Once they’ve made the statements, everyone else votes to determine which are true and which are false with a show of hands. You’ll be surprised how hard it is to guess correctly. Two Truths and a Lie is also a great way to give guests instant conversation starters with other folks they don’t know.
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Engagement Party Game 9: Wedding Practice
What you’ll need to play: Wedding-related props, prizes
How to play: Silly and fast-paced, this engagement party game is designed to replicate upcoming wedding events and traditions. Have the couple race against each other, or choose guest teams in a relay race setup. Try a cake cutting contest, a garter and bouquet toss or see who can dress in wedding day attire the fastest. Whichever team wins gets an engagement party favor.
Engagement Party Game 10: Couple’s Memory Lane
What you’ll need to play: Index cards and pens or pencils, prizes
How to play: This engagement party game is really juicy. Give each guest an index card and have them write out a favorite funny memory with the couple (if a guest only knows one half of the couple, they can describe a memory they have with just one of them). Then collect the cards and read them all out loud (hopefully over roars of laughter), phrasing the statement as, “Who went with the couple to enter a pie eating contest?” for example, and everyone will have to guess which guest did what. Have guests complete multiple rounds if it’s a tight-knit group who love walking down memory lane. Whoever guesses the highest number of correct answers wins an engagement party favor.
Engagement Party Favors
One of the best parts of playing engagement party games, in addition to all the laughs, is handing out engagement party favors. The good news: They don’t have to be expensive. We love mini champagne bottles with cute straws tied on with colorful ribbon, or individual-size bags of the couple’s favorite candy. There are also lots of personalized gifts you can buy in bulk with the couple’s names or wedding date (think: wine stoppers, lip balm, notebooks and so on). A great place to start is The Knot Shop. Most of all, engagement party games kick off the couple’s wedding journey in a fun and memorable way—and that means a happy couple and happy guests!
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