Wedding Humor

Once in a while, an officiant might throw a little joke out and everyone gets a giggle. When it happens, you can often tell that the entire wedding party visibly relaxes. So why don’t we laugh more at weddings? Sure, there’s smiling for photos, and there is a lot of laugh-crying, but what about big ol’ belly laughs and unadulterated joy and play? Here are some ways to add wedding humor to your day — and not just during the ceremony.

A big way to add playfulness to your wedding if, of course, going for a fun and unusual theme. You either love this or … don’t, but we’ve all seen it — the couple who love Star Wars or Lord of the Rings so much. We’ve actually written about this already so check out creating the fantasy/geek wedding of your dreams.

Let’s look at ways you can add wedding humor:

The Venue

You could decide to have your wedding somewhere that has humor and fun and playful already embedded. Venues can be pretty serious or somewhat invisible (as in, they are a backdrop to your decorations and event and don’t have a ton of personality themselves). But what about a comedy club? You could even have the MC do your wedding!

Or you could think outside the box and have your wedding at a zoo (oh, this would be so fun to photograph!) or a local amusement park (again, so fun to photograph!). And can you imagine getting married on a ferris wheel? It’s been done! Check it out here.

You could also think about events and not just spaces. Get married at your favorite musical festival! You get the idea.

None of this works, of course, if it doesn’t match your personality as a couple. And if it does, you probably are already thinking of five other places you’d like to get married outside the usual.

Wedding humor: the ceremony

When it comes to writing the ceremony, you want to make sure to keep the jokes, well, PG-13 at the most if you are having kids there. You also want to make sure that the jokes are not so insider that no one gets them.

Another sort of “rule” is to never make the humor too sarcastic or too dependent on teasing/making fun.

This might be making things sound difficult, but again, if you have a theme to work with, things get a lot simpler.

Maybe you share a passion for funny movies and could somehow use lines and bits from those, for example. If you read the article we already wrote about dream fantasy/geekery weddings, there are a lot of ideas about using visuals (a quick example, the bride could exit from a Dr. Who phone booth. Ha).

Also if you’re writing your own vows and you’re both aiming for funny, it can be best to share them with each other ahead of time. To be sure you’re both on the same wavelength.

You could also include your wedding party and playfully introduce them as they walk down the aisle or have them carrying/wearing something that funnily fits the theme.

Wedding Humor: Pranks

Okay… this definitely won’t work for everyone, but we’re assuming if you’re read this far, you’re pretty into the funny and playful idea.

The main thing to remember about pranks on your wedding day is that people are already stressed and anxious and you want to use these to alleviate that and not add to it. So you really really need to know your audience (and we hope you do since you’re getting married!).

Keep in mind, too, that the pranks are most effective when they’re either between the bride and groom or being made from the bride and groom to the wedding party or family. In other words, things should really emanate from the two people at the center of the wedding and never be aimed at them.

First Look Pranks

This can be so fun! Have you seen the bride dressed in a dinosaur costume first look?! Here’s the video. That couple also had a water gun fight at the end of the night!

You could substitute someone in for the bride for the first look — maybe your dog! ((giggling))

Flash Mobs

Any flash mob at any point is always fun, right? Add in a humorous theme or a ridiculous song and take it up a notch.

Bouquet Toss

Is there something that would get a good laugh from your particular group of friends if you threw it instead of flowers? A rubber chicken or a stuffed character or… anything that you share in common. You can always then throw the actual bouquet as a followup. If you want.

The Reception

This is the time that is most ripe for humor because everyone is feeling much more relaxed now that the ceremony is done. People are ready to have fun.

Here are some ideas:

• Have a fake cake carried out and … dropped. (If you’re into physical humor.)
• Supply guests with funny masks and props so they can photobomb each other’s pictures.
• Instead of a water gun fight, you could have confetti blasters.
• To be playful, release an avalanche of balloons on the dance floor.
• Some people have hired impersonators or comedians to entertain while people are eating.
• If your family loves bawdy humor, um, well, whoopee cushions anyone?

Wedding humor is very subjective.

That’s the main thing to remember, right? Your sense of humor is unique to you. Some of this might seem just awful to one person and like the best thing ever to the next.

Overall, our message is always and forever the same: have the wedding you want and not the one you think people expect. If that includes humor, you do you, boo.