After being a professional bridesmaid last year, I feel like I’ve finally cracked the code on what makes an awesome bachelorette party. You don’t need an elaborate weekend away. You definitely don’t need an abundance of penis paraphernalia. You just need your best people, in the same room, ready to have a good time. But if your bachelorette party is shaping up to be a melting pot of friends from all walks and stages of life, sometimes you need a little helping hand to break through the social awkwardness that comes with meeting new people and get right down to the fun and debauchery.

And that’s where Cads About Matrimony comes in.

If you aren’t already familiar with Cads About Matrimony (they’ve been making pre-wedding festivities more fun since 2014), but you have heard of Card Against Humanity (don’t worry, it’s got their blessing!) or Apples to Apples, then you already know what’s up. One player reads a question card out loud. The other players each submit an answer card. The best answer wins.

The Cads About Matrimony spin is that all the question and answer cards are wedding, relationship, and sex themed, with varying degrees of wild inappropriateness that are easily customized to your specific guest group. (And to really, really customize it—ah, the inside joke possibilities—there’s a deck of branded blank cards that’s just $8 for a limited time; it’s usually $12.)

The brilliance of a game is that the right one can help break the ice and turn strangers into friends. (No really—it’s science.) Cads About Matrimony definitely includes some adult language and cultural taboos as part of the humor, but it’s that same off-color humor that helps people to instantly break down barriers and have a laugh together. It’s like instant social glue with a side of inappropriateness. Which is more than you can say for most traditional bachelorette party games. Founder Ailea Sneller created it for just that reason:

Most wedding games tend to be either wedding-themed spinoffs of traditional party games (truth or dare, pin the penis on the stripper) or novelty versions of DIY activities like bachelorette scavenger hunts. There’s really not much out there for the real game connoisseur, which is the reason Cads About Matrimony came to be!

I created it after I volunteered to be in charge of games for a dear friend’s bachelorette party. When I went online to look for ideas, all I found was a bunch of gimmicks that anyone who has ever been within a hundred miles of a wedding has already been subjected to dozens of times. I couldn’t stand the idea of showing up to my friend’s bachelorette with a bunch of tired, embarrassing clichés. She deserved better. We all did!

So Cads About Matrimony was born. The thing that’s different about it is that it’s a wedding game for game lovers—designed intentionally to involve everyone in a large-ish crowd in a big party game. Unlike other wedding party activities, like making a toilet paper dress or “he said–she said” quizzes, it’s something that can engage everyone. There are elements of the game everyone can relate to. It makes everyone part of the humor—lets everyone in on the joke. And of course, if you are really into toilet paper dresses and bridal truth or dare, AWESOME! This game can complement any and all other stuff you want to incorporate into your activities.

WHERE TO FIND IT:

Available on Amazon (with Prime shipping!) is the brand-new-for-2018 Cads About Matrimony Poly Pack, which combines the complete original Cads About Matrimony deck, the complete expansion deck, and 30 totally new question and answer cards into one massive box o’ fun. It’s a bigger, better, funnier edition of the game, refreshed for relationships in 2018, but it still has the same dark wit, satirical humor, and inappropriate edge as the original Kickstarter hit.

And the best part is, it’s still just $25. For 420 cards! Same price as always, but with way more stuff and brand-new funny/awful, awfully funny jokes.

WHY YOU’LL LOVE IT:

Cads About Matrimony is designed to be a breath of fresh air for those of us who feel exhausted and oppressed by mainstream wedding culture. It aims to both celebrate everything awesome and amazing about love and marriage, while at the same time satirizing all the weird cultural baggage around relationships and the wedding industrial complex. It’s wedding catharsis through laughter.

As Ailea says:

To me, the best thing about the game isn’t the built-in jokes on the cards—it’s the conversations they inspire and what you learn about people and their sense of humor by playing. There is something about the unique mix of interactivity, problem-solving, and play that makes games so fun and literally brings people together when they play them. My favorite moments in the game are not just when a hilarious card combo gets played, but when a hilarious card combo also inspires a sprawling conversation about sex toys, glitter, and in-laws that takes you to places you might not have otherwise gone. Like all great games, Cads About Matrimony is about turning strangers into friends, and friends into better friends. It’s designed to celebrate the things you learn and love about each other—weird, wild, and offensive as they may be!

There’s something special about those weddings where guests get to know each other and get a warm, fuzzy, community vibe as they send you off into your new marriage, and in my experience those vibes usually start with getting to know each other before anyone walks down an aisle. So thank you, Cads About Matrimony, for making that happen in all kinds of hilarious ways. Go grab a set today for your next bachelorette, saucy bridal shower, or girls’ night!

CADS ABOUT MATRIMONY’S NEW POLY PACK IS AVAILABLE ON AMAZON FOR JUST $25. BLANK DECKS OF CADS ABOUT MATRIMONY CARDS ARE JUST $8 FOR A LIMITED TIME, and they are PERFECT FOR CUSTOMIZING FOR YOUR FAVORITE ENGAGED PERSONS OR for USING AS WEDDING DeCOR OR FAVORS—AVAILABLE ON AMAZON HERE.

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