Keeping Your Guests Happy
By TwistieHello, everyone! Twistie here. Before we get started, I’d like to thank NtB for asking me to fill in for her while she’s changing that Never to Now! I’ll do my best to reward her trust and keep her flame going in the coming week.
And on to the topic at hand:
One thing to keep in mind while planning your wedding is that once the ceremony is over, for all the traditions and expectations what you’re throwing is a party. You have guests who expect to be fed and entertained. Somehow, though, guests at many weddings feel more like accessories than, well, guests.
How can you avoid this? Here are a few common complaints about weddings and some ideas on how to make your wedding one your guests will remember fondly.
1: Lack of entertainment.
Yes, everyone expects the Electric Slide and toasts at a wedding, but why stop there? Teach a dance from your ethnic background, hire a juggler; just do something a little unexpected.
2: Hunger and thirst.
It doesn’t matter how much you entertain your guests if they go home hungry or thirsty. I’ll never forget the wedding I attended once where the caterer set out a bowl with about a dozen artichoke hearts for some sixty guests. If you can’t afford enough of something that everyone can have some, leave it off your menu and choose something else.
3: Inadequate facilities.
People need chairs, toilets, shade from the sun and protection from the rain. Be sure to prepare for this. Uncomfortable guests will leave as quickly as they can.
4: Long stretches with no sign of the guests of honor.
Marathon photo sessions leave your guests hanging around with little to do. Try to schedule all or at least some of your photos before the wedding. If you want to keep to the tradition of not seeing one another before the ceremony, do the ones that don’t require you to both be in the picture. Or consider hiring a photographer who specializes in a photojounalistic style. You’ll get less posed pics, but there won’t be as much of a gap in the festivities.
Also, if you’re having a photo session between the ceremony and the reception, try to make sure your guests have something to do while they wait for you. Have appetizers ready for them, or set up an activity to keep them entertained.
5: No contact with the bride and groom.
Is a receiving line really the most fun? No, it isn’t. Still, it’s a great chance to see every single guest and make sure they get a moment with you. If you can’t stand that idea and are having assigned seating, make sure you circulate to every single table at some point in the reception. Whatever you do, don’t spend all your time at the head table or a sweetheart table and forget to talk to the people you invited.
With a little thought for the comfort and pleasure of your guests, you can have a wedding people will talk about for years to come…and in a way you’ll like!
May 16th, 2007 at 8:47 pm
That’s a great post twistie!
May 16th, 2007 at 9:18 pm
My sister is in the beginning stages of wedding planning and we live in the DC area. She is hoping to, between the ceremony and reception, go out from the wedding sites to the monuments 6-8 blocks away and take photographs there in the sunset. I think it’s a beautiful idea, but I’m very concerned about the gap in time – there will be appetizers but I dunno what else to do.
May 16th, 2007 at 10:17 pm
Unfashionista, no! Oh, in the name of all that is holy tell your sister to do the pix weeks before or weeks after the wedding! In DC traffic, on a Saturday at dusk, it’ll take her forever to get from the monuments to wherever!
Betcha it’ll be during tourist season, too. I’m sorry, it’s a lovely idea, but I see it being nothing but a disaster.
May 16th, 2007 at 10:52 pm
Thanks, la petite chou chou!
Unfashionista, I have to go with Victor. If you have any influence over the situation, do try to talk them into doing those photos another day!
OTOH, if you can’t convince them, we won’t hold it against you. We know not everyone will listen to reason, especially about something as emotionally charged as a wedding.
May 16th, 2007 at 11:55 pm
We had to take pics after the ceremony, before the reception. To “heighten” the anticipation of the day, we followed a jewish tradition which stated that the bride and groom do not see each other for a week before the wedding, so the ceremony is the first we saw each other. We are not religious, we were even living together, we just thought it would be cool, so I crashed at my parents the week prior. It was awesome- we both always recommend that to our friends. Anyway, we took individual pics and family pics before the ceremony, and after the ceremony we took pics together. I was most looking forward to those pics, but did not want to leave the guests with nothing to do but eat their apps. So, I put little candy dishes on the tables with little take home boxes to fill with the candies of their choice. i got 200 quotes about love and put different ones on each box, like little fortune cookies so ppl. would have something to read.
May 17th, 2007 at 11:20 am
This list should be handed out with every bridal gown!! I have been an abused guest at many a wedding, so when my daughter got married I made sure she understood that her guests came first. The couple toasted the assembled guests and thanked them for being there and then walked around to every table. This “I am the Bride and I am Special” is a bunch of crap. And I fault the parents of said brides also
May 17th, 2007 at 7:05 pm
Yay, Twistie
Great post!
May 17th, 2007 at 7:18 pm
Hey! Neveh’!! No cheating!
May 18th, 2007 at 9:48 am
Another idea that was a HUGE hit at my recent wedding… we did a twist on the traditional “dollar dance” that some couples do. We felt a bit weird about the “pay money to dance with us” aspect, so we did away with the “dollar part” and just gave our guests an opportunity to dance with my hubby or I (some enterprising guests broke convention and waited in both lines to dance with both of us). Regardless, everyone kept talking about how much they liked the idea, though a lot of people thought we should have made it a true “dollar dance”!
May 18th, 2007 at 6:18 pm
(Waves to NtB)
Now go have fun!
May 18th, 2007 at 6:19 pm
I like your version of the Dollar Dance, BlondBride! It sounds fun and thoughtful.
September 8th, 2007 at 12:16 am
[...] off getting married so Twistie is guest blogging while she’s out. Twistie had a great post about How to Keep Your Guests Happy. Five simple things to keep in mind during your [...]