Table manners when visiting - a few simple tips

Entertainment for a group at the table

"In a plate"

To play “In the Plate” you don’t even need to take your eyes off the dish. Guests must name something on the table, the name of which begins with the letter chosen by the host. The one who does it before others wins. He suggests a new letter.

Songs

For large and small companies, female and male, the traditional folk table entertainment is suitable - singing songs. Funny, lyrical, folk, and even cool hooligan. This can diversify both New Year's corporate parties and family gatherings.

Even if your vocal experience is very small, and you picked up a microphone for the first time a couple of minutes ago, do not be shy, because there are unlikely to be representatives of a strict jury at the table.

"Guess the melody"

To add variety to simple singing, play Guess the Tune. It’s good if you have a musical instrument at hand. But if he is not found, it does not matter. Choose a host to sing the tune, it can be even more fun.

"Memories"

In the game “Memories”, songs can be used in another way: phrases from popular hits are written on pieces of paper, from which you need to guess and sing the intended hit.

"Orchestra"

The game “Orchestra” is dedicated to all connoisseurs of high classics. Participants “play” on the distributed instruments, only kitchen tools are distributed: for men - rolling pins or ladles, and for women - pot lids. Pairs of men and women must play a hidden melody on the instruments they receive.

Board games for companies have been and remain a win-win option.

Preparation for the holiday

Don’t put off preparing for the feast, be sure to:

• write the script;
• select suitable competitions;
• prepare the props;
• think over and buy prizes.

A good option for the holiday is changing the rules of board games. “New Year's mafia,” for example, takes place with the “purchase” of Christmas trees, lots of beards from Lapland, the imagination is not limited. It will be very fresh and interesting.

"Similarity"

In the game “Similarity,” cards are prepared with images of animals, movie characters, or even plants. On another batch of cards it is written “In the morning I look like...”, the same thing - “At work”, “When I drink”. Participants draw cards with quotes first, then cards with images. A fun evening is guaranteed.

"Crocodile"

Participants must unravel the hidden words by depicting them with gestures, postures and facial expressions.

"Dress Up"

Even a simple New Year's masquerade can be turned into a celebration by putting masks and costume elements in a box. It is passed around in a circle accompanied by music; the participant who still has it, as soon as the music is turned off, must randomly pull out and put on an item from the box. Laughter at the holiday is guaranteed.

"CHGK"

Give a collective compliment to one and all, play a mind game, for example, “What? Where? When?”, choosing questions on the theme of the holiday.

"Colleagues"

Another interesting game is called “Colleagues”. In it you need to show the employee with gestures and facial expressions, pulling out a piece of paper at random with his name. Others must guess the identity.

"Photo Pest"

Poets can compete to find rhymes, and photo enthusiasts can play the game "Photo Wrecker." According to its rules, players try to impersonate fashion models, while others try to ruin the photo by getting into the frame.

Forfeits at the table

Play the old table game "Fanta". Place notes with forfeits in a rubber ball, attach them to the wall, and let everyone throw darts, “knocking out” their ball with the task. You can also hide notes in glasses of wine or in a cake. Exclude unwanted ones from tasks, for example, eating lemons, because someone may be allergic to citrus fruits or have stomach problems.

Ideas for forfeits:

• write a congratulation on the prepared Whatman paper, holding a felt-tip pen with your teeth or blindfolded;
• blindfold and guess other guests;
• right during the holiday, exchange clothes with a neighbor;
• bite through the balloons.

Entertainment for a group at the table

Board games

At a wedding, you can organize a separate area with board games where guests can relax and chat. Such an area will be a real salvation for guests who do not like to dance. It can be organized in a separate room or in a corner of the banquet hall. Choose 1-2 games (checkers, monopoly, Jenga, etc.) and prepare everything you need. Come up with prizes for the winners of the games and hold an awards ceremony at the end of the evening.

You can even hold wedding competitions with board games that will be interesting to both adults and children. They will not only entertain guests, but also allow them to get to know each other and make friends.

Fun at the birthday table

A birthday is a special holiday, and the fun should be bright for both adults and children. Funny jokes and humorous games at the festive table are an invariable attribute of any holiday.

“Come on, put it in”

A great game for adults: in it you need to insert a pencil into an empty bottle. The difficulty is that it hangs on a thread from the man’s belt. And the girl is holding the bottle with her feet. If there is alcohol at the table, then the entertainment will be a great success.

"Adjectives"

In “Adjectives,” the first player comes up with a noun, saying what kind of word it is. Then the other two name any adjectives, after which all the words in the resulting sentence are named. For example, 1 - “suit”, 2 - “watermelon”, 3 - “shovel-shaped”, the result is a rather funny phrase.

It’s a child’s birthday: we invite an animator

When the place and menu have been thought out, it remains to devote time to the entertainment program. Many parents prefer to hire animators - thematic characters. This solution has many advantages:

• the child will be congratulated by his favorite character;
• children will be supervised, and adults will be able to communicate with each other;
• memories from such a pastime will be remembered for a long time;
• the entertainment program is designed for a certain age category;
• You can conduct an entertainment event outdoors or indoors.

Among the disadvantages is the high cost of such a service. Another drawback lies in the possible low professionalism of the animators. If a person who does not know how to connect with children is invited to a holiday, there is a high probability that the birthday boy and the guests will be bored with such a “mass entertainer”; parents will have to think for themselves how to entertain the guests at the birthday party. To prevent such a situation, we offer several original ideas.

Entertainment for guests at the table

A huge range of entertainment for guests at the table includes jokes, quizzes, and competitions.

When the whole company has eaten and tasted the wines (and not only), you can conduct a comic test of the company. Such games are especially interesting at corporate events.

Sobriety test

This game goes like the joke with the husband who says he didn’t drink:

- Say Gibraltar!

- Gib...gibbbbb. Drank…

Write in large letters so that all guests can see. For example:

• popcorn bag;
• there is no ring near the well;
• don’t smoke, Turkish, pipe; don’t peck, trigger, or grain;
• the nervous constitutionalist was found acclimatized in Constantinople;
• Pankrat Kondratievich forgot the jack, and without a jack you can’t lift the tractor on the road.

Invite your guests to voice these tongue twisters without making a mistake. If there is a lot of alcohol at the party, this competition promises to be the funniest.

You can also arrange a real quiz with serious riddles. This will make the party more varied. You can create the questions yourself or find them on game sites like “Own Game”, “Who Wants to Be a Millionaire”.

Entertainment for guests at the table

Interactive for guests

During the wedding guests' stay, many of them do not know each other and begin to get bored. To avoid this, organize an interactive meeting of guests that will not let the guests get bored and will allow them to get to know each other better.

Anniversary entertainment at the table

Entertainment at an anniversary or at a corporate party at the table should also not resemble a meeting of aristocrats! They can give a head start to any gatherings of young people. An anniversary is not a reason to rest sedately on the sofas. Show your artistry and dexterity at the Knight Tournament. Knight-Dulcinea pairs fight as in real tournaments: the ladies sit on the shoulders of knight-horses, and their opponents try to knock them out of the saddle.

At any holiday, you can take advantage of a “wedding set of competitions,” for example, the traditional entertainment “Sleight of Hand.” A raw egg is rolled on the table. It cannot be pushed, but must be rolled, covering it with your palm. You can complicate the task - roll the egg using a massive knife, or choose gentlemen's knees instead of a table.

Separately, it is worth mentioning entertainment on special holidays, for example, Easter or Christmas, when the choice of leisure time should be approached carefully. You can make themed quizzes, songs dedicated to the holiday will be suitable. If there are children in the company, organize competitions and costume scenes.

Instabox for a wedding

Instabox is a new interactive gadget that is connected to the Instagram network. What is he? This is a special box that prints photos from the Instagram network, but only on the condition that the people who posted the photo put the correct hashtag. For example, you announce to guests that the hashtag is the phrase #yulya_yura. All photos taken by guests with this hashtag and posted on their Instagram account will be printed in a few seconds using Instabox. This unusual souvenir received at a wedding will please everyone without exception. And the newlyweds will receive many fun photos that guests will tirelessly take at the wedding. In addition, from the photos taken by guests, you can make a presentation on the big screen, which will be broadcast in real time.

Attraction " Dance Heads" (dancing heads)

The Dance Heads attraction is a mini-studio where guests can create fun music videos with themselves in 5 minutes and immediately watch them. The camera in such a studio only films people’s heads, which are superimposed on a pre-selected video sequence. The result is funny videos that guests receive as a gift from the newlyweds. In addition, the most creative videos can be shown during the wedding on the big screen, or you can use the “Dance Heads” mini-studio for competitions: invite guests to shoot a congratulation video, and choose the winners at the end of the evening.

New Year's themed evening with dress code for adults

It is expected that all guests will be warned in advance about the small “masquerade” and they will agree to come in appropriate costumes. You will need to think over the appropriate surroundings of the holiday, prepare a menu, drinks and music. Everything is relatively simple:

Party in the style of the Italian mafia

Table covered with green cloth (scattered chips, dim lights), risotto, ravioli, pizza - martini, whiskey, gin - jazz compositions. For entertainment, be sure to offer the card game “Mafia”; it can be played by groups of all ages. Target shooting with toy pistols is also suitable.

Party in Hawaiian style (a small island of summer in the middle of winter)

Preparation: baskets with exotic fruits on the table, vases with candles floating in water - seafood snacks, baked chicken or fish - bright cocktails - fiery Latin American rhythms. Be sure to greet your guests with the famous “Aloha” and hang bright garlands around their necks. Entertainment: Hawaiian themed quiz, dance competitions.

Japanese style party

Bamboo mats, miniature rock garden - sushi, rice with chicken, seafood - sake, tangerine wine - traditional Japanese music. Entertainment: running in mincing steps with tied ankles, folding simple figures using the origami technique, drawing hieroglyphs with wishes for the New Year 2021.

Calm and active games for children for New Year 2021

We must also not forget about the children present at the New Year celebration, otherwise their pranks or whims can ruin the entire celebration for adults. Depending on the age and temperament of the children, you can offer different entertainment to young guests.

Games with snow

There is no need to go outside at all - excellent snowballs are made from cotton wool or crumpled sheets of paper. Game options: collect soft lumps from the floor into baskets, throw them from a distance into empty buckets, build a “snow” tower.

Guess by touch

Participants take turns putting on thick mittens and blindfolds, after which they must guess which vegetable or fruit is lying on the table in front of them. You can use everything you can find in the kitchen: carrots, beets, potatoes, tomatoes, cucumbers, oranges, bananas.

Dress up the mummy

Divide the children into groups and ask them to create a mummy by wrapping toilet paper around one of the team members. If the entertainment seemed too short, you can continue it - invite the children to paint their “creation” with acrylic paints.

Prepare small prizes that you will give to children for winning competitions. Don’t deprive the losers either - let them get the reward “for the will to win”, otherwise you will not avoid tears and resentment.

Interactive leisure

If the banquet hall has a large screen on which you can broadcast images from a computer, interactive music and video competitions for the wedding are held. For example, there is a game called “Guess the Movie,” which is suitable for both a classic wedding and a Hollywood-style celebration. It is necessary to make a compilation of moments from famous films, and the one who gives the most correct answers will receive a prize.

A karaoke competition will look good, for which tracks with words from the selected song will be broadcast on the screen. For such a competition, it is advisable to select several collections of musical compositions so that each participant can choose and perform the version that suits them. Find out about other singing competitions.

The “Musical Impromptu” competition is suitable for a wedding. To do this, several participants are called and stand in one line. The screen shows moments with simple dance movements that must be repeated as close to the original as possible. To complicate the task, you need to quickly switch dances, then it will be more difficult for the participants to change positions. More music competitions at the link.

You can always come up with interesting and funny wedding competitions for guests and newlyweds, regardless of the theme of the holiday. The celebration will be lively and positive if the presenter can harmoniously combine the games with each other.

Anastasia Belozerova

Wedding planner

Previous article

Throw on the extra stuff: do-it-yourself wedding capes for brides – sewing patterns

Next article

New Year's evening of forecasts and predictions

Tested by experience: on this extraordinary night, even the most inveterate skeptics begin to believe in the fulfillment of desires, astrological forecasts and predictions of the future. Why not solve the problem of how to entertain adult guests at home for the New Year in this direction? Here is an approximate action scenario:

• Invite each guest who crosses the threshold to pull out a note from a hat (vase, bag) containing a forecast for the coming evening. The simplest examples of texts that they can contain: “Today you will meet a new acquaintance,” “This night will be unforgettable for you,” “You will be successful with the opposite sex.” Such messages will set the guests in the right mood, especially if they are greeted by the hostess in the guise of a gypsy.
• Turn the traditional making of wishes during the chiming clock on New Year 2020 into a real ritual. Invite guests to write their desires on paper, fold and sign the leaves. Dry the empty champagne bottle from the inside, put notes inside it, seal it with wax or sealing wax and hide it in a secluded place. You can check whether your wishes have come true in the same company at the next New Year’s celebration.
• Invite your tired guests to combine New Year's fortune-telling with a game of forfeits. Ask those present to “donate” one small personal item (hair clip, phone, headphones) for a while, put everything in a box. In another opaque container, prepare items that will signify the events of the coming year. Next, two guests simultaneously take out the first things they come across from the boxes, and you announce a prediction for the owner of the dropped forfeit: a globe-shaped keychain - travel, a screwdriver - repairs, a ring - marriage, a pacifier - the birth of a child, a book - study, and so on.

Fun for newlyweds

At the very beginning of the banquet, when the newlyweds have just arrived at the cafe or restaurant, you can organize a “Living Corridor” competition. To do this, all guests line up in two lines, with a distance of approximately 3 meters between them. The newlyweds must walk along this living corridor, carrying two lit candles so that the flame does not go out. Guests are blowing on it at this time, so the couple will have to act together. Interesting wedding competitions for newlyweds will not let the spouses get bored. And they will allow guests to relax a little and watch the young people.

The host can test the newlyweds on their ability to manage a family budget. The couple is invited to the center of the hall and answers questions about the cost of things needed in the household. The one who answers the most questions correctly or close to the truth wins.

Interesting! You will find more competitions for newlyweds in this article. And here we have collected original entertainment for parents.

You can ask about the following purchases and who will make them:

• bricks for construction;
• baby pacifier;
• transport pass;
• a liter of gasoline for a car, etc.

Newlyweds can also compete in their ability to compliment their significant other. The couple is given an apple with matches or toothpicks stuck into it. Spouses should pull out one of them for every pleasant phrase addressed to their partner. It is necessary to leave the entire hedgehog without needles, and, of course, love wins.

Let's go visit: etiquette when visiting

But not only hosts have responsibilities towards guests. Guests also have their own responsibilities. What are the etiquette rules for behavior at a party ?

When you are invited to visit, you must answer categorically whether you accept the invitation or not. If you cannot come to visit , be sure to indicate the reason that prevents you from doing so, otherwise your refusal may be perceived as discourtesy.

If you are invited to lunch or dinner, be specific. You can only be late for a cocktail.

A polite guest usually presents the hostess with flowers. They can be replaced with a box of chocolates, a bottle of suitable wine or some elegant trinket.

It is customary for guests to praise the food, but only if there are only a few guests and, moreover, they are all friends of the house. At large official receptions such praise is inappropriate. The guest should not wait for the hosts to persuade him to try this or that dish - this custom is outdated. In modern society, the guest accepts in advance that the hosts will be pleased if he likes the treat, but that they will not be offended by him if for some reason he eats a little or even does not try some dish at all.

The guest should try to maintain a conversation with the other guests, should contribute to the creation of a pleasant atmosphere, but he should not absorb the attention of those present with long stories about his family, about his work, should not be immersed in memories, have quiet confidential conversations (whispering, of course, should not be discussed at all). out of the question!) or tell indecent jokes.

If a guest needs to leave early, he should choose the right moment, say goodbye to the hosts, thank them for their welcome, and leave quietly so that other guests do not take his departure as a sign that it is time for everyone to leave. It’s good to call the owners by phone one of the following days and thank them again for the hours you spent with them. And when a certain time has passed, you need to think about a return invitation to visit. This can be replaced with an invitation to the theater or concert. However, such invitations are not always required. So, for example, if young people were invited to the parents of their friends, then they are by no means obliged to invite them to their place in turn.

Options without toastmaster

Couples in a relationship are invited to participate in the “I Know Like Myself” competition. According to their number, chairs are arranged in two lines with their backs to each other. Girls sit facing the other guests, and men sit with their backs. Those present take turns or at will ask the couple a question about their hobbies or morals.

For example, “How do you like to relax?” or “what is your overall favorite movie.” The girls write the answer on pieces of paper and show it to the guests in turn, while their men give the answer out loud at that moment. The pair with the most answers wins.

You can hold a dance competition so that guests can warm up a little. Moving music is turned on, and all participants are given the command to dance. When the composition switches, the task becomes more difficult - you need to dance while sitting on a chair. The next song involves dancing without legs, then without arms, and the last one with only facial expressions. At each stage, the least convincing player is eliminated until one winner remains.

Men take part in the “Ladies' Man” competition and are given the same number of rubber bands, each in a different shade. The goal is to “ring” as many women as possible with them, and you can put the elastic band on any part of the body, and not just on your finger. For example, on the wrist, ear, ankle, etc. The winner is the participant who rings the most women in the allotted time. They may refuse to allow men to seek an individual approach.

It’s easy to come up with and carry out interesting competitions for weddings without a toastmaster. The sincere desire of the newlyweds and a little imagination are enough.