Fun Wedding Music Activities

Music is as much a component of a good wedding as food and drink. You can have a wedding without music, but it's likely it will seem a little quiet and dull. So whether you have a full live band, a string quartet, a DJ spinning tunes or recorded music from a boom box, it should be included.

But music's not just for dancing. There are a myriad of activities you can plan around the music that will add an element of fun to your wedding.

One popular idea is to play musical chairs. Sure, this is a fun kid's game and you don't want to insult your guests in any way, but you can have some fun with this version of musical chairs. The chairs can be just about anything, from chairs lined up from the food tables, to the floor, if you think your guests might be open to sitting on the floor (and then having to get up and down again). One fun option is to use the men as the chairs - they kneel on the floor, with one knee on the floor and the other bent. The women sit lightly on the men's' knees as they are playing musical chairs. When either the man or woman falls down, that couple is out, until one couple is left.

Some brides and grooms like to play musical chairs in order to give away the table centerpiece, which many guests like to take home. Instead of assigning a number and awarding the centerpiece to the person in possession of that number, you have each table play musical chairs until the person left standing is the one that gets to take home the centerpiece.

How about a rousing game of "name that tune"? This is a game that's best for a smaller, intimate wedding where everyone knows the bride and groom well. Prior to the wedding, whoever is planning the wedding should get a list of favorite songs of both the bride and groom. Create a CD of those songs, and then create a game of "name that tune". Guests can be divided into teams and then be played just a small snippet of each song.

After guests hear that first snippet, they can then "bid" on how quickly they can name the tune. So one group might say they can name the tune in 10 seconds, while the other group might say 5 seconds. Once one group has bowed out, the other group will then have to "name that tune". This is a fun game that gets everyone involved and which the bride and groom are particularly delighted by.

Depending on the style of the wedding, there are many fun games you can play to get the bride and groom out on the dance floor. Now, if this is a very large and very elegant wedding, this option might not work since there is certain decorum to maintain, but for a casual, fun, family-centered wedding some of these games can be fun.

If guests want to "call out" the wedding couple onto the dance floor, they can be asked to get out on the dance floor themselves first and hula hoop or perform their own version of a break dance. Much in the way guests sometimes have to "perform" to get the couple the kiss this is another way to get the guests involved and having fun in order to create fun wedding memories for the bride and groom.

IPad 2's Bill of Materials Close to First IPad * Article * Stock Quotes * Comments more in Tech »

Apple Inc.'s latest iteration of its popular iPad is new and improved—but its parts cost about the same as the first version of the tablet device, according to a researcher who dissected the product.

The iPad 2's 32-gigabyte model with a GSM/HSPA air standard carries a bill of materials totaling $326.60, while the 32-gigabyte version equipped with a CDMA air standard has a materials bill of $323.25, according to IHS iSuppli. That compares with a $320 bill of materials for the first-generation 32-gigabyte iPad, based on April 2010 pricing.

Much has been made of late of Apple's ability to price the iPad lower than many competing tablets, helping to keep the California computing giant's device floating at the top of a growing list of competitors.

"Despite the obvious changes to iPad like the enclosure and the battery and the less obvious changes in the touch screen, the iPad 2's components and design are remarkably similar if not the same as those of the iPad 1," said Andrew Rassweiler, teardown-services manager for IHS.

He noted that many components "have the same suppliers and are essentially new revisions of the chips found in the previous iPad and other iPhones."

The iPad 2 flew off the shelves in its first weekend on the market: It was introduced Friday evening and by Sunday, Apple's online store was showing a shipping delay of three to four weeks for all versions of the device.

Analysts put sales of the new iPad in a range of 400,000 to 600,000 units during its first three days on the market, about the same range as the original model sold in its first week.

Write to Nathan Becker at nathan.becker@dowjones.com