Your Dream Day Wedding Planning Podcast with Kathy Piech-Lukas
Your Dream Day Wedding Planning Podcast with Kathy Piech-Lukas
A Wedding Full of Games: Pinball, Video and Arcade Games from Walton Games
Gaming your way to wedding bliss might sound unconventional, but as Adam Walton of Walton's Games reveals, arcade machines are becoming the surprise hit of modern wedding celebrations across Cincinnati. This refreshingly different entertainment option solves multiple reception challenges while creating unforgettable experiences for guests of all ages.
The gaming revolution starts early in the wedding day with "grooms' get-ready rooms" featuring classics like Big Buck Hunter and Golden Tee Golf. These setups acknowledge the reality that grooms typically need less preparation time than brides, providing entertainment during those pre-ceremony hours when nerves might otherwise take over. One practical bride even attached a note: "The wedding starts at six. This game shuts off at 5:50. You will not be late to marry me because you're playing Golden Tee Golf."
Cocktail hours transform from awkward mingling into dynamic social experiences when arcade tables featuring 80s and 90s classics like Pac-Man and Donkey Kong are strategically placed throughout the venue. These games serve as natural conversation starters for guests who might not know each other well. One wedding spontaneously organized a Pac-Man tournament that continued throughout the reception, with guests competing for a dance with the bride. For favors that guests actually want, custom-filled claw machines offer branded teddy bears commemorating the special day.
With packages starting around $595 per game (comparable to photo booth rentals), this entertainment approach provides excellent value while setting your celebration apart from cookie-cutter receptions. The universal appeal crosses generational lines – Adam notes that even children who've never seen pinball machines become instantly enchanted by their sensory richness compared to mobile games. The company handles all delivery and setup, works with every venue in town, and can accommodate special requests for specific games.
Ready to level up your wedding entertainment? Contact Walton's Games through social media, email at sales@waltonsgames.com, or visit their showroom in Blue Ash to see these games in action and discover how they might create those magical, memorable moments your guests will talk about for years to come.
To listen to more episodes visit www.yourdreamday.com
We are making our own story as we go. Hi, welcome to your Dream Day podcast. I'm your host, Kathy Peach Lucas, and today we are going to have some gaming fun.
Speaker 2:I'm at.
Speaker 1:Walton's Games, and we are with Adam Walton, who is the owner of Walton's Games. Welcome.
Speaker 2:Thank you, I'm glad to be here. We're very excited to be a part of your podcast.
Speaker 1:Yeah, we met at Bridal Rama.
Speaker 2:We did yep.
Speaker 1:And when I saw your booth at first.
Speaker 2:I'm like video games.
Speaker 1:Then I saw all of the men started going to your booth and it was almost like a groom sitting room where they basically were just like I need this.
Speaker 2:Right, we're aware of our demographic is usually skews a little bit more male, but I think it's a great way. My counter argument to brides at the event that said, oh man, I don't know if I want video games at my wedding is look, this is a bargaining chip. You get to say, honey, I'll let you have this, but in exchange I'm going to want this, this, this and this. And most men are going to be like yeah, that's fine, let's do that. You know finding compromise.
Speaker 1:Exactly so. What types of games have couples been renting for weddings?
Speaker 2:We find that there are three stages or three games I should say not stages three games that are really big for weddings. The first is for grooms. Get ready rooms is a way to say hey, we realize, man, it takes you a lot less time to get ready than it does women. I think on my wedding day I played golf and then I got dressed about an hour for the ceremony. Meanwhile my bride spent the entire day doing hair and makeup and everything that comes along with it. So we rent grooms get ready rooms.
Speaker 2:Big Buck Hunter is a big fan favorite, which is a shooting game Golden Tee, golf, the pinballs we have behind us people love those Ski balls, super Chex hockey, depending on what. It is Just something where men can kind of be men together and you play a little game. It takes your mind off the fact that you're getting married. It's a little way to calm, you relax, you settle down, maybe have an adult beverage or two, I don't know, and play some video games. Now I will say I did have a bride who made me put a note on there that says the wedding starts at six. This game shuts off at 5.50. You will not be late to marry me because you're playing Golden Tee Golf. So you know, put that little caveat out there.
Speaker 1:No, it actually is not too far off because, especially Bengals games, ohio State games, if there is a TV in the party bus, the guys stay there. They're like no, no, no, no. They're pushing it. They're on the five yard line. We got 30 minutes. We'll be there. We'll be there, yeah, and it's a. It is a real problem, and so you have to like from a schedule perspective.
Speaker 2:If there is going to be a big game, you got to make sure you've got the timing around it.
Speaker 1:Well, you may not know until the schedule comes out, and your wedding may have already been booked on that day months in advance.
Speaker 2:True.
Speaker 1:So it's more like you have to be aware If you are having your wedding downtown, for example, and there's a Reds game or there's a Bengals game, you're going to pay more for parking and it's going to be tight, Yep, and you know. Those are things that you just need to be aware of. Right, right, but as far as the arcade goes… you were saying the ones that hit the best.
Speaker 2:So the get ready room is a great first, but after the ceremony, a lot of times now cocktail hour, where we always say we're the cure for a boring cocktail hour, because a lot of times you're just kind of sitting around and you don't really know people, especially if you're at a co-worker's wedding where it's primarily family and you're kind of the odd man or woman out. Same thing if you're, you know, at a college roommate's that maybe you knew really well back then but now you don't really know them, or you're just an introvert. I'm an introverted person. I don't love to go to big group events. We have found that the cocktail tables where we can place three or four of them in a receptional, gives people something to do, and not only are they fun. The Arcade Legends game comes with 80 of the greatest classics from the 1980s and 90s. Games like Frogger and Donkey Kong and Pac-Man and Missile Command and Space Invaders and all those games that a lot of people Is it scary.
Speaker 2:I know all those games I was going to say the people that really love them are getting up there a little out of the age now, but we don't like to admit that. Anyway, they're great icebreakers and we had one that was so popular. They ended up finding a whiteboard somewhere and creating a Pac-Man tournament, and so throughout the wedding, even as the ceremonies or the receptions moved on, they're coming back to play Pac-Man because they're trying to beat the high score, and I think the prize was a dance with the bride at the end or something like that. But it ended up being a story that you don't forget that's a wedding 20 years from now.
Speaker 2:You remember, because I beat Bill at Pac-Man and he's never going to hear the end of that. So it's a great way to, you know, set your wedding apart from everybody else's that you've been to. Um, finally, what we found has been really great for weddings is claw machines the, the good old arcade classic. Drop in, grab them. Um, a lot of brides will go on Etsy and sites like that, uh, and create little t-shirts, um, for the bears and say Jeff and Savannah's big day, or April and Alex's big day, may 25th, whatever, and then each guest can kind of play a game and take home a bear with a little memento with their, you know, save the date on it. Like that. They're fun to have. And I've never seen a claw machine Not usually those are like surprises to the brides. Like my wife would love that if that had been a surprise I brought to. Our wedding was a claw machine.
Speaker 1:She will, she will play a claw machine all day long. Even though I tell her, like they're rigged, what are you doing? She's like, no, no, no, I'm going to win this time. Okay, see, I would have had a pinball machine, because when I was growing up, my aunt had a pinball machine in her basement and I remember when they got it because, I was maybe like eight or nine years old.
Speaker 2:Back then it was crazy good.
Speaker 1:Wow, that was a big deal for a nine-year-old and I literally played this. Every single time I would come to visit I would play that arcade game and I guess she cleaned out her house a few years ago and I'm like I asked my cousin what'd she do with the pinball machine?
Speaker 2:Cause I probably would have bought it off. Oh, heck, yeah, I. It's interesting. People ask me all the time does the younger generation, you know, are they? Do they play to this? It's not on their phone, they don't like it. I said I you put any 11 year old, 12 year old kid in front of a pinball? Yep, doesn't matter. When they were born. My, I have kids that come here. They've never seen one. And then, and five minutes later, but mom, we got to get one of these.
Speaker 2:This is the coolest thing I've ever played see, we were cool, we were, we were awesome definitely, and it's so different than the little thing on their, on their screen, because it's big and it vibrates and it flashes and it's loud and you combos and it's, it's so overwhelming crisp, prepared.
Speaker 1:You know this little thing, you're just hunting well, it's more stimulation, oh way more yeah yeah, well, and back in the day you had to like get rolls of quarters to play these now, do you require gold?
Speaker 2:we don't everything's on free play although funny story, I did have a bride tell me. She said I want to put this on a dollar a play. And I said, well, we can do that, but it's your wedding. And she goes yeah, this is going to pay for my bar tab. Oh my gosh. And I said that is genius, honey. I never would have thought of that. So, yeah, we put a golden tee golf on dollars.
Speaker 1:I think she made like $100 or something like that.
Speaker 2:So she was happy. See, I'll admit that I usually play about a round a day when I'm here at work. We started over there on the 8 am and, as the day goes on, somebody comes and plays a hole and you go on about your day and, yeah, we play about a round of golf a day here.
Speaker 1:I'm actually thinking that would be the most beautiful Christmas present. Oh yeah, Like put a big bow on it and be like now, don't get excited.
Speaker 2:You only get it for a great way for a lot of our guests to find out if they want to take one home, Like it's an expensive purchase. But you know, you rent it for a day and you go. Okay, I could see myself playing this, or yeah, this wasn't for me. So, yeah, it's a great way to dip your toe in a little bit.
Speaker 1:So what is the price range to retain and rent some of these games?
Speaker 2:So we do everything kind of on a package level. You know if the more you rent, the more we, the more you save, kind of thing. Um, to start with, like a golden tea, big buck hunter, we charge. Uh, I think the golden teas are around 595 a night. Yeah, no, it's, it's really not different than a photo booth right.
Speaker 2:It's about 10% of what your normal cost would be for something like that. If you're buying a brand new golden tea, it's'll do like three games for $1,200 or something like that. We do free to pick up, free delivery. We can work with pretty much any venue in town. I don't think we've been blacklisted per se by any site in town. We'll do outdoor events too, and a lot of people say, well, we're doing an outdoor wedding. That's okay, as long as there's somewhere flat and a little bit yeah, a little bit of overhang and electricity. And electricity that's the key part. But even if there's not, we got giant extension cords in the back Like we can make it work. If you've got a spot that you're really like hey, I really want a racing game here we'll get you a racing game. I've got a photo that we use on our social media of a bride who's sitting in her Cruisin' USA and she's just beat her husband and she's.
Speaker 1:But she ordered it online.
Speaker 2:Okay.
Speaker 1:And she gave us three boxes and said you need to put this together. It took us three hours, three people, three hours to put that together. Yeah, and if you do the math on the labor, it would have been more cost effective to rent it?
Speaker 2:Yeah, absolutely. We have giant Papa Shots. We also have smaller Papa Shots. But yeah, we'll bring anything you've got and anything you're looking for, if you kind of mean.
Speaker 1:You're like, hey, this is what I want, I don't have it, I'll see if I can find a way to get it for you, you know that's awesome.
Speaker 2:That's so cool. It gives you something different. Your wedding is no longer cookie cutter, it's not.
Speaker 1:You know everybody's doing this it. If you're considering a photo booth, this is something that you should absolutely consider, because the goal of a photo booth is to let your guests have a good time and be silly and, you know, have something to remember. If you have a video game, they're going to have that memory and they'll probably stay longer at the video game. You probably need a video game attendant to like, say, okay, it's time to move on now.
Speaker 2:It's not fair. Well, it's great for for children too. If you have a wedding reception that's maybe a little more on the upscale end and your kids are kind of bored or running around like crazy, it's great to set up a corner of your space where you got four or five video games. The kids stay neutral over there. The adults can have a good time over there Every now and then. You said there's a few dads that have wandered in to check on the kids that end up playing the video games themselves. So it's really it's just a fun way to have an evening go by and, like I said, set you apart from the crowd a little bit. Yeah absolutely.
Speaker 2:We found too that rehearsal dinners too, it's a good icebreaker for rehearsal dinners, especially rehearsal dinners too, it's a good icebreaker for rehearsal dinners, especially when you don't really know. I never would have thought of that, but it makes complete sense. Well, if you don't really know the other side of the family that well, like I said, who doesn't love a good Pac-Man tournament? You know who doesn't love a good golden tea tournament or something like that. It's a great way to break the ice. Probably the restaurant, because we'll never leave. That's true, that's true?
Speaker 1:Well, today, as you can see, we had the opportunity For those of you who are just listening you don't get to see this unless you go on our YouTube channel, but we had the opportunity to go around to a bunch of games, and I just had a blast.
Speaker 2:It was so much fun. It's been one of the better jobs I've had because it's just so much fun. Playing games for a living is a great job.
Speaker 1:I love it. Oh, my nephew would love that job, if it keeps rolling.
Speaker 2:Come on down sometime, it's fun.
Speaker 1:So what are your top three favorite games on the floor?
Speaker 2:My top three favorite games. That's a great one, probably what you're standing behind here. This is a vintage creature from the Black Lagoon pinball. It is from the mid-80s I believe. I'm not 100% on that one. It's just a super fun game. On that one, it's just a super fun game. I honestly had never seen the movie before we bought it and I've played that game so many times because it's like I said, it's just, it's very, it's difficult. So you know, there's that map, that challenge to it. I can't beat it and I've yet to beat it, which is annoying. But but it's just a fun game to play.
Speaker 2:I love the Czechs hockey that've modernized it. So there's a screen up top like a Jumbotron that plays highlights and clips. It plays the national anthem. It has air horns when you score. It's a really fun game that if more people played it I think it would be way more popular. Like this is super fun. Lastly, I'm always a fan of a good riding game Like the Arctic Thunder is like a snowmobile racing game. We it's like a snowmobile racing game. We've got racing motorcycles and then we also have a Hydra Thunder which is racing jet boats. We don't have that right now it's actually on a rental. But super fun game too. We rent all those out for weddings. Any events you got in mind, we can rent it out for you usually.
Speaker 1:Very cool, very cool. I think my three favorite games would be Ms Pac-Man.
Speaker 2:Always fun.
Speaker 1:And would be, ms Pac-Man, always fun.
Speaker 2:And air hockey Yep, yep.
Speaker 1:And then just a pinball machine. Yeah, I think the vintage ones like I saw this one.
Speaker 2:it was a, a Playboy one, and it had the flip numbers like this one.
Speaker 1:Yeah, you may not be able to see this in the shot. The valleys, yeah, but those were from the sixties and they flipped versus the digital display.
Speaker 2:Yep those are just so fun. Before we leave, I'll take you to the back. We've got about 10 of those in the back that we're in the process of restoring and they're really cool to see. Wow, it's a fun job to have, honestly, yeah.
Speaker 1:That's so fun. It's really cool. So if people want to book these entertainment games, how do they find you so?
Speaker 2:multiple channels. We on Facebook, walton Games on Instagram and TikTok. We also old-fashioned. You can email sales at waltonsgamescom. Our phone number is 513-281-4444. Or stop by and see us. We're on Ritter Avenue in Blue Ash 4772 Ritter Avenue in Blue Ash. We're next door to the fire department and behind Sammy's Burgers. If you're looking for a good lunch, I highly recommend them too. Fantastic, they're very good, wonderful. Thank you so much for joining us. Thanks for letting me come play. This was so much fun. Yeah, we had a great time, absolutely.
Speaker 1:Thank you for tuning in. Be sure to hit that subscribe button so that you get notified every time we post a new podcast. This is Kathy Peach Lucas with your dream day. Happy planning, thank you.
