LOVE/HATE: The ‘First Fight As Man and Wife’ Edition
Know about the wedding shoe game? I don’t know how big it is in general, but I’ve heard it could possibly be a Dutch thing. For those who, like me up until a few days ago, haven’t heard of this particular wedding tradition, the shoe game is basically a game played by the bride and groom (or bride and bride or groom and groom) for the entertainment of the amassed guests at the reception. Whether they’re actually entertained is besides the point for this edition of love hate because I’m actually wondering what you think of it from a bride or groom’s perspective.
It goes down like so: Two chairs are placed on the dance floor, back to back. The couple sits, and removes their shoes, exchanging one so that each ends up with one shoe of their own and one of their partner’s. And then the wedding DJ asks a series of questions ostensibly meant to show how well the new marrieds know one another. When either thinks they do X or Y more/better/whatever, they raise their own shoe, and when they think their partner is the Xer or Yer, they raise their partner’s shoe. Sounds easy enough.
Here are some sample questions:
- Who is most likely to get lost?
- Who is the better cook/driver/swimmer/etc.?
- Who talks more?
- Who probably passed gas during the ceremony?
- Who will be the first to say “Not tonight, dear”?
- Who is going to wear the proverbial pants?
- Who spends more time in front of the mirror?
- Who wakes up grumpier in the morning?
- Who is more likely to be running late?
- Who spends more money?
And other loaded questions that your families can laugh about (or hold against you) for ages to come! I mean, really, who doesn’t love a good dirty laundry session – brides and grooms, tell us how you really feel! All right, I so I know it’s all in fun, but I can still hate it. The wedding shoe game just seems like something more appropriate to a shower and, furthermore, something that could potentially cause hurt feelings that would of course be suppressed until the day was over. Not to mention that there’s a good chance that any number of guests would be either bored or shocked once the game got underway, which is neither here nor there but I thought I’d mention it anyway.
What do you think? Am I just being a fuddy-duddy, and the wedding shoe game is really tons of fun? Or do you agree that the whole thing seems rather in poor taste for a wedding reception?
(Image via Sweet Chic Events, Inc., amazing pics taken by Laurie Peacock)
Thumbs down. I put this in the same category of the cake smash, i.e. “Why Would I Want To See All This Passive Aggression On Your Wedding Day?”
I think it could be cute, but that it’s really dependent on the couple and which questions get asked (the “not tonight” one, ew). If you have the kind of relationship where you lovingly hassle each other on a regular basis, like I do, and can do something like this without getting worked up or offended, I think it could be fun.
Of course, I have to agree I think it would be better suited to a shower than the actual wedding.
Sounds like trouble to me. I vote 2 thumbs down.
I can see where it could veer into the danger zone, but it can also be really fun. The DJ did it at my friends’ wedding two years ago and it was cute and funny.
This game is big with my German relatives (who, perhaps ironically, are too fundamentalist to allow dancing). I can’t stand sitting through this at weddings, but I have to admit I was really entertained imagining what my dude and I would answer to the above questions.
I’ve only ever seen this done once, and it was at a rehearsal dinner. (Seems like a better venue for it in my book.) The bride and groom were a really fun, easy going couple, so it was a fun addition to the evening.
I’m late to the party on this one, but HATE! It reminds me of the shower games that make me cringe, and it seems like a prime opportunity to either create tension during the honeymoon or embarrass the socks off some of the guests.
Honestly, I was never a party games girl, so this is never going to be popular with me. I am, however, trying to decide in my own mind whether this is better or worse than the bride in a recent episode of Four Weddings who had her reception guests play an enforced game of musical chairs. At least with this one might be able to pretend to go for a very long smoke until it’s over.