How to be a good wedding guest

This blog post is literally for anyone and everyone! If you’ve ever attended a wedding, or are planning on it, read on! I wanted to write this blog post because I feel that as a guest, it’s important to embrace the day for your couple. Whether they’re friends of yours, family members, or you’re just someone’s plus one, you want to have a fun and good day. And so do the bride and groom. So following these few suggestions will ensure that you and the bride and groom, will have an amazing day!

1. Keep your phone away! ESPECIALLY during the ceremony! I know this is a super exciting time, and you want to be the first person to snag a picture of the bride and groom as a couple, but they’ve hired a professional photographer to do that for them! The last thing you want is to get in the way of a treasured moment, like the first kiss, because you’re trying to get it on your cell phone before Aunt Bertha. This includes cameras, too! Having your camera or phone out is a huge distraction to people around you. And it’s awful for your photographer to navigate around people leaning in the aisle. Having your phone or camera out creates the risk that the hired photographer will miss the shot that the couple is anxiously waiting for. And you don’t want to be that person! So please, coming from a photographer, keep your phone tucked away. Not only does this make it easier on the hired photographer, but it allows you to be fully present for the couple as well!
2. RSVP. This is one of the most important things you can do for the couple. Even if you aren’t coming, this allows the couple to have an accurate headcount. RSVPing allows them to count you in for food. If you don’t respond, they won’t count you, which could cause stress on their end as well as on the end of the caterer! If the couple reached out to you with an invite, respond in kind!
3. Participate! This is one of the best things as a party guest you can do! The couple and their family spend MONTHS planning this event – they want you to enjoy it just as much as they are! Sign the guestbook, dance to the music, and play the games. Everything there was set up just for you to enjoy, so enjoy it!
4. Be on time. If the couple invited you to their wedding, and it starts at a certain time, be there! You don’t want to be the guest that shows up late. I photographed a wedding one time where the groom’s FAMILY was late! They missed the entire ceremony because of traffic! And they only lived twenty minutes away! So plan to be there between 15-20 minutes early. You don’t want to be the guest sitting down as the bride walks down the aisle.

So, have any more tips to add? Drop them below in the comments and I’ll be sure to add them!

Holly Michaels