Brave and creative, they are.

Mike and Vicky thought of using the Pub Quiz format for their wedding reception last Feburary. While I was a bit scared that some guests might find it annoying that we'd stop from time to time to answer questions, I was also excited about executing it. After all, it's not everyday that a couple comes to me with such a fresh, enticing concept. (I have to admit that it appealed to my inner "geek", and it gave me a chance to re-live the games we played during leadership training seminars conducted with my co-alumni in the Ten Outstanding Students of the Philippines. :)

We had a "meet and greet" here, but we basically finished the programme online since they are based abroad. A fun discussion of what would be done to begin the programme, and when to put questions ensued via Skype, but when they finished writing the questions (around 30 or more), they gave me a freehand as to what questions would be asked per segment. Thus, if I remember correctly, we had the Star Wars-related question right after their grand entrance since they came in wearing masks. Talk about being brave and creative!

Needless to say, their concept was a big hit! Guests were literally diving into their answer sheets after every question. Table-mates huddled so that guests from other tables wouldn't hear their discussions. Yup, the question and answer moments were really competitive. You want proof of how engaged they were? Check out this FB conversation after the wedding (as provided by Vicky).

I loved how even those at the VIP table were getting into the game -- answering out loud, mouthing answers, and even standing up to support particular tables by helping them respond to the questions. (Vicky and Mike made sure they had a variety of questions ranging from religion to math, technology, movies, and the like. So yes, everyone had something they could relate to at certain points and they made it obvious due to their reactions. So we all had good laughs, too.)

The Once a Bride team provided a scoreboard via an excel sheet, and when we revealed the current standing upon resumption of the programme, everyone got even more engaged, so much so that we had a tie at the end of the programme and even went into "sudden death rounds" of not one but two tie breakers!!! The picture on the left shows the winners -- they who survived two major questions at the end of the programme. Wow!

The best part of the night for me was not just the fireworks at the end, but also the "fireworks" I felt while walking to the car and overhearing guests talking about how they had fun because the programme was "not too long" and had a "unexpected twist". There was really nothing traditional save for the pictorial to buffet process. Well, everyone has to eat, right? :)

Thank you, Vicky and Mike, for taking time to write the note below despite your busy schedules. I truly appreciate it! :)