With the beginning of wedding season upon us, we know you’re probably starting to receive the thoughtful invitations from a friend or loved one who has requested the honor of your presence at the celebration of their wedding! We love weddings. We love everything about them! And we know you probably do too, and are excited at the thought of getting to see your dear friend say “I Do” to their soulmate surrounded by their loved ones.
As you’re planning and preparing to be in attendance of this momentous occasion, here are five ways you can be a great wedding guest:
1.} Kindly reply to your RSVP
Photo Credit | Lucid Captures Photography
In this day and age, rarely do you come across a wedding invitation without an RSVP card. This is where you indicate to the couple and their family that you indeed, gladly accept, or regretfully decline their invitation to attend their wedding. Seems simple enough. But what RSVPs have developed into over time, is a convenient way for the couple to track, not only their guest count, but also the meal preferences of guests for the evening, as well as other additional information, such as having a “plus one”, or any food restrictions, or in some cases, the number of kids attending. The list of what could be on an RSVP card could go on and on. The point is, your RSVP, whether accepting or declining, is important for logistical purposes you may not even know of. So before the wedding even starts, be a great wedding guest by letting your couple know you plan to celebrate with them in person or from afar. After all, according to Wikipedia, the initialism “RSVP” is derived from the French phrase “Répondez s’il nous plant”, meaning “Please respond”. So do it!
2.} If the ceremony is at 5:00, be there on time {early!}
Photo Credit | Andria Lindquist Photography
Besides having to be the person who everyone stares at for showing up late, or the guy who has to awkwardly maneuver himself through a crowded row to the only available seat in the room, being late isn’t only awkward, it can also be super inconvenient to those who have put a lot of time and effort into ensuring the day goes smoothly for the happy couple. Everyone has an important role on a wedding day. A wedding guest’s role is to be intentionally present, to witness and celebrate the joyous occasion with the newlyweds; this is difficult to do when you’re rushed for time! There’s also a super fun and exciting sequence of events planned for the night and if you’re late, the rest of the night could be delayed! So be intentional with your time on a wedding day! If you’re debating what time you should arrive to the wedding, we recommend somewhere between 10-30 minutes early.
3.} resist the urge to “snap”, “tweet”, or “post” the ceremony
Photo Credit | Lucid Captures Photography
More and more couples are choosing to delicately request that their guests refrain from cell phone usage, particularly photo-taking during their ceremony. They’re calling it an “unplugged ceremony”. The reason? Their wedding photos come back, and they see Aunt Susie in the third row from the front with her iPad, complete with a hanging cover flap, floating above their wedding guests heads, in every. Single. One of their ceremony photos their photographer sent over. This isn’t only aggravating for the photographer who finds herself having to maneuver around the littered sea of floating devices to do her best to capture the ceremony for her couple. It’s also a huge bummer to the couple whose paid lots and lots of money to have professional photographers [and videographers!} capture their special day. This point goes back to the second point. Be present! Enjoy the moment you’re getting to be apart of; this intimate, personal space this couple has invited you to sit in and experience. So put the phone down and let the photographer take better pictures than your iPhone. 🙂
4.} Take it easy on that open bar!
Photo Credit | Amy Galbraith Photography
Everyone can always count on a wedding to almost always have three things: music, dancing, and alcohol. In no particular order, are all three of these things wonderful! And everyone knows the best weddings are the ones with an open bar! Depending on the kind of open bar, it may have beer and wine, signature cocktails, or a full bar. But like Uncle Ben told Spiderman, “With great power, comes great responsibility.” Resist the urge to take full advantage of the bar, not only to ensure you are a coherent, fully-participating wedding guest, but also to not rack up the couple’s bar tab. Remember, someone is paying for it, if it isn’t you! The couple wants you to enjoy yourself in celebrating with them on their special day! So enjoy the night, and everything that comes with it! But like anything else, drink in moderation– and have fun!
5.} Let them eat cake!
Photo Credit | Blue Rose Photography
Wether you’re a cake lover or a general, sweets connoisseur, you can almost always count on a wedding to have a cake, pie, or an assortment of other yummy desserts that will satisfy your sweet tooth as the night goes on! However, since this isn’t always observed, we feel the obligation to societal wedding customs to kindly, and ever so gently refresh the minds of wedding guests young and old, the time and moment it is acceptable to indeed, eat cake. It is said to be bad form to enjoy the dessert before the couple has had a chance to taste it first! I know that dessert bar is calling your name, but resist the urge, with all your will power, to wait until after the couple has “cut the cake”. Whatever that tradition looks like for them; it could be a wedding cake, it could be a pie, it could be warm cookies, ice cream sundae. Are you hungry yet? Whatever it is, please feel fully-supported from us to approach the dessert table once the couple has first enjoyed their bite together.
We know some of this may be common knowledge for some, but for those who, it’s been a while since they’ve attended a wedding, or have never attended a wedding before, we wanted to offer up some take-aways as you prepare for the celebration of matrimony of your friend or loved one. For those who found this as common knowledge, we hope you found this to be a great refresher and reminder that this couple has put an enormous amount of time and effort into planning this day to be a memorable one not only for themselves, but for their guests. So take your role as a wedding guest seriously, and enjoy the night and the memories you will make.
Photo Credit | Seattle Slow Motion Company
Until next time!
Danae
