With all the decisions to be made when planning a wedding, it is often easy to overlook the ones that affect your guests. If the bride takes a few minutes to look at the overall picture of the wedding and reception from the guests' point of view, she might discover problems that can be addressed and solved before the big day. Here are some real life examples of situations when details were overlooked:
1. Place a sign or note telling guests what an item is for. At one wedding the bride had thoughtfully bought light shawls for the guests to use at her outdoor evening reception by the ocean. She had placed these in an open box on a table, but because there was no sign, the guests did not use them or know that they had been bought with their comfort in mind.
2. Favors may go unnoticed! Again, if there is no sign on a table telling guests these are for them to take home, they do not know that these items are for them. At another wedding, all the time the bride had spent assembling the favors was lost because they were placed on a table out of the way and were not seen.
3. Be sure guests are informed of transportation details. One bride was very disappointed when her grand exit consisted of only a few guests to wave the sparklers at her departure. The rest had left an hour earlier, believing the last ferry was leaving. She was left wondering where everyone had gone!
4. The biggest mistake a bride can make when not thinking of the whole picture concerning her guests is the weather. Asking guests to attend an outdoor wedding in the South on a one hundred plus degree summer day
should be unthinkable. Yet, there are outdoor weddings every summer when guests are thinking about how quickly they can leave! There are often those (usually the elderly) who must decline an invitation to an outdoor summer wedding, knowing they cannot tolerate the heat. At one outdoor wedding in the summer in Texas, a Mexican buffet lunch was served. Not only did guests eat and leave as quickly as possible, they missed enjoying the wedding cake and the bride and groom missed spending time with them. Guests come to a wedding to enjoy and celebrate the day with the bride and groom and should not be expected to suffer through unbearable heat. And no, providing a paper fan and bottle of water do not solve the problem! Of course, if you live in another part of the country, enjoy your outdoor wedding!
These are just a few ways to "think like a guest". After all, you want your guests to look back at your wedding and think about how beautiful your wedding was and how much they enjoyed being there with you!
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