Guests, The Heart of Receptions
I have the secret that almost guarantees to have an amazingly joyful and happy wedding that most (hopefully all) of your guests will love!!!!!! It’s something so common in our lives, but is often missed when planning weddings. I want to give you an extremely important bit on knowledge to set you up for great success for not only your wedding, but your marriage as well. Are you ready for the big secret? Care about guests. There are so many articles and people who say how it’s the bride’s day and she’s the only one that matters, which sounds great if you’re the bride, but not so much if you’re one of the other 100-200 people that will be there that day. Happiness is contagious. So how can you plan a wedding where both you and your guests are happy?
Imagine Yourself as a Guest
When planning your wedding, think of yourself as a guest at your own wedding when you’re looking at the driving distance, timeline, food options, entertainment, venue, favors, handicap accessibility, etc. If you enjoy some of them, and the others don’t tick you off, congrats!!! You’re going to have a fun wedding!!!! Thinking about your guests doesn’t mean doing everything they want, but being more aware of things they don’t want. Guests want to feel comfortable at the wedding. If your venue has restrooms on another floor, your older guests will struggle to get to the restroom. If one of your bridesmaids has the courage to say they’ll feel uncomfortable in the bridesmaid dress, accept her, and figure out a solution where you will both be happy. If you’ll be at capacity at your favorite venue, consider an alternative venue that’s a little bigger so guests aren’t on top of each other. Your vendors should have some alternative ideas of similar looking venues you may not have considered…who knows, the new venue may allow you to come in under budget.
Little Tokens Go a Long Way
There are some common ways to show extra care to your guests on your wedding day. If the ceremony is at 2:00 while the reception is not until 6:00, you can add into the program some optional activities to do in between such as putt putt, a local bar where other wedding guests will be, Saturday Mass options, local movie theaters, etc. Make sure to arrive to places on time (quality vendors help with that). Stop by each table to thank them for coming. You don’t need to spend a long time at each table (please don’t), but guests appreciate when you get to all of the tables rather than running out of time half way through. These small gestures show your guests that even when the day is focused on you, you still show them value. This results in smiles and excitement from your guests which leads to dancing and screaming to songs through the end of the night. The reception should be a very joyful celebration of the start of a new chapter in your lives as you and your partner become one. So best of luck in your planning and I hope you have an amazingly joyful and happy wedding and marriage :)