As you comb through articles on wedding themes, wedding colors, wedding flowers, wedding dresses, and wedding tips, in order to achieve your dream wedding, we often forget one small detail: wedding guests. When I say guests I also include your wedding party in this category. They are not only representing you and your partner, they are also putting in time and money before hand to make sure your day is perfect as guests.
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- Location: We all want our wedding days to be magical. We often dream of tropical islands with beach backdrops. This is all fine and dandy if your are planning a small intimate wedding with a few close friends and family. And when I say a few I mean under 10. Most people cannot afford to fly to an exotic location for a weekend to watch you get married. I don't say this to be mean or shatter your dreams, but lets be realistic. Choose a location that is easily traveled to and will not cost your guests an arm and a leg.
- Favors: This day in age we know a lot of people who are not living local to us or where our wedding is going to be. Traditionally weddings happen in the brides hometown, and today most of us do not still live in our hometown. Many guests may be flying to get to you. Think smart when planning favors for everyone. Liquids, jams, and anything over 4 ounces that may be suspicious to a TSA agent at the airport should be crossed off your favor list stat. I take this tip to heart when I packed away some jam that was given me as a gift, not even thinking and was pulled aside and searched at the airport. No fun!
- Intentions: When getting married, we are left with the duty of choosing our wedding party. This can sometimes be very daunting because we can't pick everyone. Do not invite the people who did not make your bridal party list to participate in the bridal games so to say. A friend and I had this happen. We got invited to do all of the pre-wedding events (ie: mani/pedi's, bridal brunch, ect) yet were left to clean up all of the messes and handle last minute issues. In theory it sounded like a good idea. In reality we were really upset we got stuck with all the problems when we had planned to come and celebrate her wedding. Not be her runner.
- Children: This is a biggie. If you are NOT planning to have children at your wedding, you MUST make it clear. Never assume your guests understand they should not bring little Johnny to the reception. If you feel like this will be an issue you may either want to call the guests with the children to let them know personally or plan to offer a childcare option for anyone who cannot leave their kids at home. This is a sensitive subject but it is your party and at the end of the day this is your decision.
Now I am sure there are loads more things that I am missing, but these are some biggies. You don't ever want to make it difficult for your guests to make it to your wedding. You never want them to get searched at the airport. Never make your guests into your slave for the day. And certainly never make someone feel bad about having kids. These are all things you can easily fix by thinking ahead. Think ahead and your wedding will be great for everyone involved.
I am wishing you a a successful journey on all things wedding planning. I hope some of these tips have helped you workout something you haven't even thought about yet.
Do you have any tips you would like to add? Anything happen to you as a guest?
That is such a great point about the favors! I never would have thought about that, but most of our guests will be flying in!
ReplyDeleteThanks for linking-up with us! :)
So glad it was helpful! I know its not something at the top of the list of things to do :)
DeleteGreat tip indeed about favors. Never thought of this. And the children thing is huge. I actually had a conversation about this topic this week. Interesting how everybody has an opinion about this. :)
ReplyDeleteThe children thing really is huge and quite often an issue. I think talking to people ahead of time will really help!
DeleteSuch a great tip for future brides <3
ReplyDeleteShowered With Design :: Wedding Wednesday
Thanks Lisa! I hope they are helpful!
DeleteThese are seriously awesome! We started off with no kids (except for the couple in the wedding party), but we didn't make it clear and ended up giving in and had about 9 kids there. It worked out awesome and we were so glad we decided to change our minds, but still, definitely need clear intentions! And yes, favors are key! I never thought about guests traveling when figuring them out, but that's SUCH a good point. Luckily, ours were small. Thanks so much for linking up with us!
ReplyDeleteI'm so glad they were helpful! The kid thing really is a hard one. I have been talking to my other half about this stuff lately and it really can cause lots of tension!
DeleteWe didn't have any favors for our wedding. We felt like it was an unneeded expense looking at the big picture!
ReplyDeleteBeardy Heart Beauty
Sometimes I think that is a really good way to go. A few of the weddings I went to made donations to a charity in lieu of the favors.
DeleteGreat tips especially the one regarding children. You would think it would be clear when invite is addressed to Mr. & Mrs. "so and so" and NOT The "so and so" family but no people need it spelled out sometimes.
ReplyDeleteI think the children part is going to be really rough when I get married. I have already had a few talking to's about it. Not fun!
DeleteI actually posted about wedding tips yesterday, too, and did not even think about all the holiday engagements that probably just happened. Yay for timing! Haha. And I agree it is so important to think of your guests' comfort; we had a LOT of people flying in from out of town, so there were a lot of little things we did (e.g. providing free transportation back to the hotel after the reception) to try and thank them for making the long trip. Great tips!
ReplyDeleteSuch great timing! I like the idea about the transportation and such. At the end of the day the wedding is about you and your spouse but your guests certainly need to feel comfortable too!
DeleteAwww weddings are always nice and scary! Lovely list and so handy to follow if you are going to get married =) #sharewithme
ReplyDeleteThanks! I sure hope these help someone!
DeleteYes! I love this. Although I do think that sometimes when people have remote/destination weddings, part of the purpose is to keep the guest list short. But in general, I think it's good to think about other people even thought your ultimate decision needs to be what works best for you.
ReplyDeleteMy tip would be to make a place for your wedding party's significant others. I was a bridesmaid at my friends wedding and she had the wedding party only at the head table, which meant my poor boyfriend spent the whole wedding sitting by himself since he didn't know anyone there. And I was distracted, because I felt bad that I had invited him only to have him sit alone. I've seen weddings that did it 2 other ways: either the +1s sit at the head table with the wedding party, or the bride and groom don't have ahead table and instead have a private table for just the 2 of them.
Great tips for planning weddings! Definitely lots of good points to consider for your guests.
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