Your wedding day is a celebration of love, not only between you and your partner but also among the most important people in your lives. As you embark on planning such an important day, we feel it's essential to prioritize the comfort and happiness of your guests, ensuring that they feel valued and appreciated throughout the celebrations.
1. Thoughtful Invitations + a Clear Website
Your invitations are the first impression your guests have of your wedding. They set the tone of the day by giving a hint to the design, the colors, and the overall vibe. We work closely all of our couples to ensure that the invite design reflects the design and style of the day!
In addition to being a sneak peek of the wedding day, invitations hold some truly imperative information! Sending your invites out in a timely manner lets your guests know that their presence is important to you! Start by sending out invitations well in advance, allowing guests ample time to make arrangements to attend. We recommend sending Save The Dates 6-8 months in advance and invites around the 4 month mark.
Building a website for your guests to check in on wedding weekend details is a great way to keep everyone super informed and will alleviate the amount of calls and texts you get asking the same questions! We recommend adding to your website as you go-- a landing page when you send out Save The Dates is perfect. You can add things like hotel block information, shuttle timing, weekend activities, and guest attire inspiration as planning progresses!
Making things easy an enjoyable from the beginning is such a gift to your guests that are putting in the effort to be there for you.
2. Accommodating Needs and Preferences
Take into account dietary restrictions, accessibility needs, and other special requirements when planning your wedding menu and venue arrangements. This can happen even before you book your venue!
Offer a variety of menu options to accommodate different tastes and preferences, ensuring that every guest can enjoy a satisfying meal. We always love to infuse couples' culture, backgrounds, and traditions surrounding food into cocktail hour appetizers and desserts. Whether it's serving smoked brisket sliders because your family is from Texas, or passing dim sum as a nod to Chinese heritage-- it is a subtle, but much appreciated gesture-- kind of like a cheeky wink to your guests that know ;)
3. Provide A Clear Itinerary for Wedding Events
Keep guests informed by providing clear and detailed information about the wedding day schedule, venue directions, and any special instructions or requirements.
As guests begin to plan their travel arrangements, be sure to offer suggestions of some activities and/or places for them to check out. Take this opportunity to personalize your wedding weekend-- suggest restaurants you love to eat at, activities you like to do, or places to visit that have a special significance to you and your relationship.
If guests are all staying in one hotel, consider making Welcome Bags that include some fun items they might need over the weekend-- bottled water, Advil, sunscreen-- and a detailed schedule for the weekend with times and locations.
4. A Warm Welcome
So often guests arrive at a wedding and are ushered to sit at their seats, waiting for the ceremony to start. Make sure your guests are greeted with water (and ice if it's a warm day), shade/umbrellas or heaters, and extra bonus if you offer them a glass of bubbles or an inviting spritz pre-ceremony. As planners, we don't usually recommend opening the bar before the ceremony (that is a looooong day of drinking!), but a little something before the ceremony is always a nice touch. Having a spot for guests to stand and mingle before the ceremony allows them to say their hellos and take in the beauty of your venue, before they sit down for your vows.
5. No Bar Lines
This is universal. No one, NO ONE, likes waiting in a long line to get a drink at a wedding (or anywhere, for that matter). Cocktail hour is so short, the last thing you want is for your guests to be waiting in line for half of it, only to have one drink. First, make sure to check with your venue or caterer to ensure there are enough bartenders to accommodate your group size. We recommend 1 bartender per every 50 guests, but having a fuller bar staff for a good time crowd is always appreciated! Alleviate the post-ceremony rush to the bar by passing bubbles, wine, and pre-poured Signature Cocktails. That way, your guests can have a drink while they make their way to the bar for their Gin and Tonic or Old Fashioned.
6. Thoughtful Layout and Assigned Seating
Arrange tables and lounges in layouts that encourage guests to mingle, interact, and forge new connections. Consider having common social activities like lawn games, an interactive crossword, or seating charts that guests interact with.
It make seem counterintuitive, but guests truly appreciate having an assigned seat. How uncomfortable is it to walk to a table and awkwardly stand around until everyone can decide on where they will sit at the table. Consider seating guests with shared interests or backgrounds together to facilitate meaningful conversations and create a sense of community.
7. Comfort and Beauty
Take time to plan out the table design and what will be at each seat. Consider writing a thoughtful note for each guest or having a personalized menu. Addressing your guest as they sit at their seat makes them feel like that seat is meant for them and that you truly anticipated their presence. Think about all the things they will be touching on the table-- the napkins, flatware, and glassware. Put thought into the dishes that will be served and make sure their tables are set accordingly.
Taking your guests' physical comfort into consideration will make them feel taken care of. If it's cold, provide heaters or blankets at dinner. If it's a warm and sunny, make sure there are umbrellas or opportunities for guests to cool off in a shaded area or room with AC. Invest in dining chairs that are sturdy and supportive. Your guests will spend at 1.5-2 hours in these seats, make them comfortable!
Provide alternative seating options for folks that don't want to spend the whole night on the dance floor. Having a lounge set or low tables with chairs around the dance floor is a great way to keep all guests engaged and involved, even if they don't feel like droppin' it low on the dance floor. If you're serving coffee/tea and dessert after dinner, away from guests' dining tables, make sure there are places for guests to set their coffee mugs or dessert plates down. There is nothing worse than wishing you had 6 arms just to enjoy the sweet treats and coffee pick me up at the end of the night!
Your wedding day is an amazing opportunity to celebrate the love and relationships that have shaped your life, and prioritizing your guests is a meaningful way to honor those connections. We want your guests to walk away from your wedding feeling like it was the best day ever-- not because of anything extravagant or over the top, but because they felt loved, welcomed, and taken care of.
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