Fun Kissing Games to Play at a Wedding Instead of Clinking Glasses

We've all been at a wedding where guests begin clinking their glasses to get the newlyweds to kiss. I have to tell you — I am not a fan. Not only is it noisy, but glassware simply isn't as thick as it used to be, which means breakage and spillage. It's also far too easy, so the couple ends up harassed almost constantly through the evening and never gets a chance to eat dinner. From a planner's perspective, it's trite and overdone.

There are so many better ways to alter this tradition and make it more interesting. The key is that it has to be planned ahead of time and explained to your guests early in the reception, by your emcee, during their welcome notes. Below are some of our favourites.

The Art of a Kiss

The idea here is that if guests want the newlyweds to kiss, they have to come up and demonstrate a kiss themselves. The advantage is that it naturally limits how many people come up — and if your photographer is on the ball, you get some wonderful photos out of it.

Have your emcee explain that as guests, they have a responsibility to help educate the couple. If someone comes up to demonstrate a kiss, purely for educational purposes, the couple then has to imitate it. It's best to have another couple on hand to provide the first example and kick the evening off. It could be a dip. It could be a jump into his arms. I've even seen a couple involve the DJ and recreate the "Titanic" kiss, complete with Céline Dion singing "My Heart Will Go On" in the background. This one is usually a crowd favourite, doesn't take much advance planning, and limits how often the newlyweds have to put down their forks.

Support Your Favourite Charity

Choose a cause that matters to the two of you — a cancer foundation, the Alzheimer Society, a food bank, your local humane society, or something else entirely. You'll need a small container placed in front of you at the head table. Have your emcee explain during their welcome that in order for the two of you to kiss, a donation has to be made. They can even demonstrate what a $5 donation gets you versus a $20 or a $50 one.

This one is easy to organize and lets you do some good at the same time. All that's left is to thank everyone who participated during your thank-yous at the end of the night, and to make the donation in the days following the wedding.

Sweet Treats

Another simple one. Buy Hershey's Kisses in gold and silver wrapping ahead of time and put a mix of both into a container you can't see through. A card with the verse goes on each table. Guests come up and reach into the box. If they pull out a gold one, the newlyweds have to kiss. If they pull out a silver one, the guest has to go kiss someone.

Challenge Time

This one takes more pre-planning but can be an enormous amount of fun, especially for a couple who likes a little competition. The couple will kiss — but first, the guest has to accept and complete a challenge. Honestly, it only seems fair that guests work a bit for that kiss.

This is not one to organize at the last minute. Prepare your DJ well in advance and give them the full list of challenges so they can have everything cued and ready before the reception begins.

Write each task on an individual slip of paper and place them in a small box for guests to draw from. The best part of this game is that you can cap it at ten or twelve challenges, which keeps you from being inundated all evening. (Alternative: I've seen the slips folded into helium balloons in the wedding colours — guests have to pop the balloon to get to their challenge.)

Sample challenges:

• Alone or with a friend or two, choose a Backstreet Boys or Britney Spears song from the DJ to lip-sync and dance to. (Madonna and Elvis also work beautifully.)
• With a partner, demonstrate a kiss for the newlyweds to imitate.
• Work the runway — all four corners of the dance floor — and show us your best catwalk. (The DJ cues "Vogue" or "I'm Too Sexy.")
• Long live the King of Pop: break out the moonwalk and lip-sync to your favourite Michael Jackson track. ("Billie Jean" or "Beat It.")
• Show us your creative side — recite a poem or sing a song about love. (You may request a song from the DJ.)
• Get your entire table up to do the Macarena. (Have the DJ start at normal tempo, then gradually take it to warp speed.)
• Share your favourite story about the couple — or successfully hula hoop for ten seconds or more. (Make sure there's a hula hoop on hand.)
• Marriage is tricky business: share your best piece of advice for a long and happy marriage.
• Bring your whole table up to perform the Hokey Pokey, with actions — right arm, left hip, and whole self — for three full rounds.

This list will get you started. If you have time, sit down together and brainstorm more ideas that will resonate with your guests — but don't get carried away. Part of the point is to keep the number small so that you can actually enjoy your dinner.