Weddings are a celebration that includes more than just you and your spouse to be. It’s a time for you to share your love and commitment to one another surrounded by your nearest and dearest, which is why making your wedding guests feel appreciated and involved on the day is paramount. With all the excitement of the big day, the last thing you want is to neglect your guests so to help you avoid this we list the top 13 ways to annoy your wedding guests.
1. Plus One Confusion
Confusing your guests before the wedding has even started is an annoyance that can tarnish the rest of the day. You want to make sure your wedding invitations are clear, the last thing you want is your guests assuming they have a plus one when they don’t. To avoid this, make sure you address the invitation clearly to your guests, don’t mention the plus one. If the conversation regarding their partner pops up, answer them straight away. Don’t tell them you will think about it if the answer is a firm “no”.
2. An Inconvenient Date
Booking the date of your wedding on a popular holiday, for example bank holiday weekends, school summer holidays or even a religious holiday; may seem like the best option because everyone’s off work or the weather’s great. However, if you’re making plans for that day chances are so are your guests. You may even find there’s a major sporting event or festival the same day of your wedding. To avoid losing your guests or even inconveniencing them, do your research. Find out in advance what’s happening the weekend or week of your wedding. You also may want to ask your family and close friends what their plans are for the holiday season. You’re never going to please everyone, but planning accordingly will put your mind at ease.
3. Traditions Left Unexplained
If you know some of your guests won’t be familiar with your religion or culture, it’s only polite to inform them of what’s going on. We’re not asking you to have a running commentary during the ceremony. The considerate thing to do will be to describe the service and rituals in the order of service. Guide them through the traditions with a short explanation of what will happen and why. Knowing a little about your ceremony will make your guests feel welcomed and a part of each special moment.
4. Alfresco Activities in Unpleasant Weather
When you have a beautiful venue with scenic gardens and grounds, it’s only natural to want to make use of them. Alfresco cocktails and canapés sounds like a wonderful idea, but this can only be reality if the weather permits. If it’s too cold or too hot you will need a plan B. Forcing your guests to stand and participate in extreme weather conditions will make for one grumpy reception.
5. Being Kept Out of the Loop
Not knowing what’s going on or where you have to be is confusing and annoying on the best of days. Wedding guests are there to share your special moments with you and won’t be best pleased if they miss anything because they got lost or weren’t informed. Resolve this issue by delegating the task to either your groomsman or maid of honour, or hiring a toast master for the day. Alternatively, our wedding signs can point your guests in the right direction.
6. Long Gaps away from Your Guests
When you’re planning how your wedding day will flow it’s easy to run away with ideas of how you and your new spouse will spend the day, what time you’ll have your pictures, what time you’ll make your entrance, what time you’ll take a time out. It’s easy to forget what your guests will be doing during the gaps. When working out timings it’s important to consider how long you will be away from your guests, anything longer than two hours will push anyone’s patience. Book some wedding entertainment for a couple of hours to avoid them becoming restless and help get the reception party atmosphere off the ground.
7. Inconvenient Table Arrangements and Centrepieces
Finding their seats after a long morning shouldn’t be hard work for your guests. Make it a smooth process with place cards or a table planner that’s easy to locate and read. Once seated, your guests should be able to see what’s going on around them, this means your centrepieces shouldn’t get in the way. If you’re considering tall centrepieces make sure they are slim enough for your guests to see each other. Also when you’re picking flowers for your arrangements consider guests with allergies. No one’s going to want to sit through a meal and the speeches if they’re sneezing every two seconds. To avoid this, ask your guests to make a note in the RSVP if they have any allergies.
8. Sitting with Strangers
We know it’s hard putting together a seating plan; trying to accommodate everyone’s needs is difficult. But the last thing anyone will want it is to be sat with strangers. To avoid this try and make sure you seat people with at least one person they know and don’t try and play Cupid! Don’t force single guests to sit with other single guests in the hopes of them getting together!
9. Not Being Organised
There’s nothing worse than standing around not knowing what’s going on, especially when you have no control over anything. If you’re disorganised, the chances of your guests knowing what to do or expect is very slim. Make sure you have a schedule and you stick with it. Your guests won’t appreciate you wasting their time.
10. Not Serving the Right or Enough Food
Food has a way of playing with your emotions and not always in a positive way. No one wants a group of hungry guests because there wasn’t enough food or the food was inedible. Make sure you give your caterers a clear number of guests you are having and make sure you’ve asked your guests for their dietary requirements.
Photo Credit: Amberley Castle
11. Uncontrolled Kids
When inviting children to your wedding consider ways to keep them entertained during the reception. It may be difficult during the ceremony, but the reception is the perfect opportunity to give them a few activities to keep them happy. Having a crèche or a babysitter will help ease the strain on you and the children’s parents. If the children are upset or frustrated, this may have a knock-on effect for the rest of your guests, tantrums will definitely have your older guests making an early exist.
12. Couples Who aren’t Welcoming
With a lot of couples now opting out of a receiving line, saying “hi” is proving to be difficult. We’re not asking you to greet every guest as they arrive, but a simple “hi,” a smile and wave to show your appreciation will warm anyone’s heart. Especially if they’ve travelled a long distance to see you get married.
13. Not Being Thanked
We’ve all been taught that a thank you goes a long way and your wedding day is no exception. Thanking your guests for their gifts is a must, whether you do it in writing, through an email or via social media, showing them you appreciate their gift and the effort they made to come to your day is gracious and respectful.
