Bachelor and bachelorette party games the whole group will love
A great bachelor or bachelorette party is one people still talk about at the wedding. The catch: the group is usually a mix of people who have never met. Childhood friends, coworkers, a sister, a cousin. Good games fix that. They get everyone talking to each other, and they put the bride or groom in the spotlight without embarrassing them.
What makes a good game for the big send-off
- It starts in thirty seconds, in a bar, a rental house or on a train.
- It works with people who don’t know each other yet.
- It celebrates the bride or groom without making them squirm.
- It doesn’t depend on alcohol, so the people who aren’t drinking play just as hard.
1. Soulmate: who really knows the bride?
Two players, three situations, and the whole table betting on the pair. Put the bride against her best friend, then against her sister. Each answers for herself, then bets on the other’s answer. The argument before each reveal is half the fun.
2. The Gatecrasher: the impostor game that breaks the ice
Everyone has to slip the same thing into every answer, except one person who doesn’t know what it is. They listen, work it out and copy it without getting caught. To unmask them, you have to listen to everyone, which is exactly what a mixed group needs.
3. Would You Rather, couple edition
An impossible dilemma, everyone answers at once, and the rare answer wins. Write your own dilemmas about the couple: “Would you rather your fiancé sang at the wedding, or gave a twenty-minute speech?”
4. The Ghost Word: make the bride crack
One player has to get someone else to say a specific word without ever saying it themselves. Make the bride the target, and see who gets her to say “wedding” before dessert.
5. The Tic: a game that runs all day
Everyone gets a small gesture to slip in: touching an ear, saying “literally”, checking a watch. It runs in the background through the activity, dinner and the ride home. Spot someone’s tic and you score.
6. The Accomplice: let the game pick the next bar
The group has to agree on one decision, and one of you secretly has to steer it. With six or more, it’s the perfect way to choose where to go next, with a proper debate on the way.
7. Two truths and a lie, first-meeting edition
Each guest tells three stories about how they met the bride or groom: two true, one made up. The group votes. No phone, no prep, and everyone learns something.
8. The fiancé quiz
The one idea that needs a little prep. A few days before, send ten questions to the fiancé: favourite meal, worst present ever received. On the day, the bride or groom answers, and every miss earns a forfeit picked by the group.
9. Mime It: the couple’s greatest hits
One player mimes, everyone shouts guesses. Add a round where you act out the couple’s big moments: the first date, the proposal, the first trip together.
10. The Trap: for drinks and downtime
A description, everyone answers in turn, and one of the obvious words is a trap. A round takes two minutes, perfect while you wait for a cab.
The best bachelorette game is the one where the bride laughs loudest.
One phone is all you need
Soulmate, The Gatecrasher, Would You Rather, The Ghost Word, The Tic, The Accomplice, Mime It and The Trap are all in YEK IT!, an iPhone party game app. The phone hands out the secret roles, then goes down on the table. It works fully offline, handy in a rental in the middle of nowhere.