Covid restrictions - no dancing

Just like Hank said, guests are SOOO happy to be at such a joyous lovely event! Our wedding technically could only have slow dancing but we were able to dance. We did plan for just slow dances though so we had the shoe game (last minute I saw a version everyone participates in and I wish I had time to make cards for that one!) and we had a photobooth we set up ourselves and had one of our photographers take the photos. Again though, guests raved to us about how happy they were just chatting and enjoying the atmosphere!

I had a wedding this past weekend without dancing. Honestly, all the guests were just so happy to see each other after so long that they relished the time to sit and talk with one another. We also spent more time to take group photos than what's typical of a wedding. We wrapped up around 10:30pm and got home at a decent enough hour where we weren't exhausted.

View quoted message I never even thought that some people would leav early lol! That’s great. I also love the idea of cards and games at each table! Thank you

I recently went to a wedding where they had 50% capacity and when the dinner and speeches were all over, half of the guests left (mostly older or young children) and it went down to 25% capacity so the venue allowed dancing. Not sure if that'll be a possibility for you, but it's an option!

If not, does your budget allow for hiring live entertainment like performers, dancers, acrobats? Some couples don't do this, but you could also kill some time and engage people by going table to table and ensuring you chat with everyone there, and maybe get the photographer to snap a group photo? Often not all the guests get professional photos of them. Could you place board games at different tables, or have a board game "station" and people pick one but have to stick with it for the night to avoid passing objects between people? You can also do bride and groom trivia and the winning table gets a prize, or you can make each table to do a photo "scavenger hunt" where they have to take photos of them completing specific tasks throughout the night (doing group shots, funny poses, whatever).

I know dancing is a huge deal for a lot of people, and sometimes these things can sound cheesy but I think that people are so starved for bigger events/socializing that they will have fun no matter what. Also, as long as you are happy then that's all that matters!