- I am a true romantic. Hopeless, perhaps. Small things can make me cry in a second. When the bride walks down the aisle - I am usually the only person not watching her. I'm watching the groom - I love to see his expression - and often times, it's the most emotion I will ever see from that man.
- The bride gets my attention next. Of course, I drool over the dress she picked out, her flowers, her hair and makeup. But the one thing that gets me every time? The bride that doesn't break eye contact with her soon to be husband. So much emotion there!
- A short ceremony! Or, if the couple chooses to do a religious ceremony, a message about love and marriage is always appreciated. I've been to a few weddings where the priest, pastor, officiant goes a little off topic and I always leave confused. Why are we talking about divorce rates at a wedding? (That actually happened!)
- I love a good cocktail hour. I don't love a long cocktail hour with not enough appetizers. You can't go wrong with apps - load 'em up.
- An open bar is nice, and usually expected. But, I know how expensive they are, so I'm going to go out on a limb here. At least have complimentary beer and wine, and if you must, have alcohol for purchase. An all cash bar is a total buzz kill, in my opinion.
- Wedding reception dinners aren't known to be amazingly delicious - so I don't expect much here. As long as it's served quickly and we aren't sitting for hours, I'm happy.
- MUSIC. I love to dance. With that said, nothing disappoints me more than a reception that doesn't have a good mix of music. Pop, Hip Hop, Country (if you must), Oldies - mix it up to appeal to all of your guests! Sticking to one genre usually isolates most of your guests.
- Don't spend a lot of time or money on favors, in my opinion. These are usually forgotten at the end of the night, or not used if taken home. One exception (and my favorite option): Donations. Make a donation in honor of your wedding day to one or two of your favorite charities. It is meaningful and a great way to give back.
- Other honorable mentions: Photobooths, late-night snacks, transportation (if reception and hotel are at different sites), toiletries in the bathroom, cocktails for the (short) ceremony, pictures of each table with the bride and groom, hotel welcome baskets and the first dance.
What are your favorite parts of a wedding? Do you have any guest tips to share?
When one of my brother in law's got married, they had kits for the women in the bathrooms including tampons, pads, bandaids, and safety pins. I always thought that was a neat idea. I also prefer dessert buffets versus just having cake. The next wedding we're going to is Josh's younger brother next Sept. I'll let you know how it turns out ;)
ReplyDeleteI've been at weddings too where divorce rates are discussed during the ceremony...so bizarre! And I couldn't agree more about having lots of apps during the cocktail hour - that's always the best food!
ReplyDeleteI agree with all of these! I love the first and second one especially. That moment of eye contact and first sight of the bride are priceless.
ReplyDeleteCouldn't agree more on watching the emotion between the bride and groom as she walks down the aisle! Especially if I know the couple really well. My college roommate got married earlier this summer at a historic firehouse. Her dad was a fireman killed in the line of duty when she was a little girl. Instead of a ringbearer, she had a little boy carry her dad's fireman helmet down the aisle and place it in a chair on the front row. You wanna talk about bawl fest! I was a mess! By far the neatest bridal entry I've ever seen.
ReplyDeleteBecause of the natural beauty of the room which had thick floor-length curtains and a stone fireplace, we were able to get away with very minimal decorations.
ReplyDeleteGreat post!! Agree with all of these! When we got married we got married at the reception hall. Our guests went right from the 10 minute ceremony on the back deck into our appetizer loaded cocktail hour. People still talk about how great that was!
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