Everyone hopes to take home some type of wedding gift, but the wedding reception centerpiece is an especially coveted gift. Making a game of who gets the centerpiece should get more guests involved in the games and is an easy way to clear some of the tables. Giving out centerpieces as prizes ensures that everyone has an equal chance to take one home. Here are some gift ideas for your wedding reception centerpiece.

1. Make a list of questions and award the winner of each with a centerpiece. Your MC or DJ could ask the questions and the first one to answer correctly gets to choose the centerpiece of it. The questions can be about the bride and groom or any topic you like. You can also give each guest a pen and paper to write down their answers and then go from first to fifth place or higher.

2. Probably the most popular way brides give the centerpiece is simple. Each guest is given a number and throughout the night the numbers are called out and the person with a matching number is the winner.

3. Let’s do a deal-style gift that requires a guest to produce a particular item. It can be a 1976 nickel, a business card or a $10 bill, whichever item you choose, if the guest can get it out of their pocket or purse, they win.

4. The centerpiece could simply go to the oldest person at the table. Or some other specific one like the person who traveled the furthest to get there or has the closest birthday to the wedding date or that of the couple.

5. The GM can announce a game of passing the dollar bill. Like musical chairs, the bill is passed around the table and when the song stops, the person holding the dollar bill is the winner.

6. Sell raffle tickets to each interested guest by selecting numbers during the reception and delivering the centerpiece to the winner. The money from the sale could help the couple pay for their honeymoon or some other need.

7. Hold an auction, you don’t have to do this for every centerpiece, but you could sell a few. All proceeds go to the newlyweds’ honeymoon or some other good cause.

8. Mark the bottom of a chair at each of the tables, at some point during the reception you could announce that the person in the chair, to the right of the chair or whatever, will take home the centerpiece .

Naturally, not everyone will want to take home a centerpiece, but many women at the reception will wonder whether or not they can.

You can simply give your reception centerpieces to supportive family and friends, or to members of your wedding party. Donating them to a local nursing home or hospital is another option.

The type of centerpiece you use on your wedding reception tables will help you decide how you want to arrange them. The ideas here are to provide fun ways to engage your guests and have fun. Make your wedding reception unique and memorable by involving all the guests and having a great time.