Caring
For Your Wedding Guests
Pampering your wedding guests and making them
as comfortable as possible throughout your wedding
day is the way to ensure that they truly have an unforgettable
time at your wedding. When planning
all the different elements of your wedding day,
try to recognize any opportunities where you can treat your guests
and where you can make them feel at ease and entertained. Your
wedding guests will appreciate any effort you
make to be certain that they feel welcomed and cared for, just
as any guest should feel. Any planning detail
can make a difference. Everything from the favours for your wedding
guests to the menu. Even ensuring there is enough parking to accommodate
everyone can help your guests feel looked after.
One of the most important things to can do is make sure you have
an opportunity to say hello to each of your wedding guests some
time during the wedding. This is your opportunity to thank your
guests for coming to your wedding and sharing your special day.
Entertaining
Your Wedding Guests
One of the most straightforward things you can do is to keep your
wedding guests entertained throughout your wedding
day. Be sure to have some type of music or entertainment for your
guests to enjoy before your wedding ceremony
and during any quiet parts of the wedding ceremony.
This will help them wait and keep them occupied. If you are having
a wedding reception dance with a disc jockey,
it's usually best to have a mixture of music types played to entertain
the different age groups of guests at the dance. A professional
disc jockey will be able to assist you in choosing appropriate
music.
It's
also a good idea to have someone available as a host at the place
of reception to greet and welcome your wedding
guests as they arrive to the wedding reception.
The host can help with introductions among your wedding
guests. You may also wish to have someone there to serve refreshments
to the guests like punch, coffee and/or tea and maybe something
to nibble on like having a chocolate fountain setup with cookies
and/or fresh fruit for your wedding guests while
they wait for the wedding party to arrive to
the wedding reception. This is a great opportunity
to have your guests sign
something as a special memento of your wedding
day. Mood music in the background or even photos posted up for
them to look at and discuss with one another will help keep them
be amused while they wait. Another nice idea is to have a slide
show of photos of the couple or even wedding pictures of grand
parents and parents running during this time. This kind of slide
show can be done on a computer in a slide show presentation program
and then just have it projected on a screen and looping to the
beginning when it ends. You can even have the presentation be
shown at the wedding reception with someone doing
commentary on the photos as they come up. Always keep the time
between the wedding ceremony and wedding
reception as short as possible so your wedding
guests are not kept waiting.
Entertainment
for Children at the Wedding Reception
If you are inviting children to your wedding
reception you might consider investing in 
some
entertainment for them. It will help keep them occupied and their
parents will really appreciate it. Something such as little bags
with washable markers or crayons and paper or colouring books
to give them something quiet to do at the tables is a good option.
You may even wish to add a small treat for them to eat like Smarties.
We don't recommend gum or any products with nuts. Also, make sure
there is one for each child. You may wish to put together a couple
extras just to be sure. Dollar stores are a great place to find
items for the bags. You may think about having a table just for
the kids to sit at so their parents can really relax and enjoy
the party. You can decorate the table with fun items to attract
the kids, maybe even a big bouquet of balloons in the middle of
the table. You may want to use a colourful plastic tablecloth
to add a bust of colour and to protect the table. You can ask
an older boy or girl or a couple of them to look after the children
at the table to make sure things stay under control and fairly
quiet. You can pay them so that they take the job seriously. Furthermore,
you could make up special bags just for them.
Your
Out of Town Wedding Guests
Your wedding guests that will be traveling a long distance to
attend your wedding will require some extra 
considerations.
First, they will require more time for planning to attend your
wedding. They will probably need to arrange their overnight accommodations
and may even need to take some time off work for traveling. Sending
a Save the Date card
to these guests is a great idea so they have extra notice for
making their arrangements to attend your wedding. A Save the Date
Card is also beneficial for anyone that you feel it is really
important to you that they attend your wedding. Sending them a
card to give them the heads up about your wedding date may make
the difference between them being able to attend or not.
Many
of your out-of-town wedding guests will need accommodations during
the time around your wedding. They may be able to stay with friends
or family or they may need to stay in paid accommodations like
a local hotel. Some couples can afford to book and pay for their
guests' accommodations and others can assist them by including
some reputable local accommodation information in with their invitation
or save the date card, so they can book their own accommodations.
A really nice way of thanking your out-of-town guests for traveling
such a long distance, is to have a gift basket made up and left
in the room they will be staying overnight in. You can fill it
with anything you think they may enjoy or you think they may need
during their stay. You could include chocolates, snacks, fruit,
wine, flavoured coffee or tea, paper and pen, and/or some local
tourist information including a map of the town or city they are
staying in.
Wedding
Guests' Favours
Wedding guests' favours are just one of the ways you can show
gratitude to your guests for attending your wedding. They are
one of the most common practices with weddings today. See our
Gift and
Favour Ideas page for some great ideas.
For
Your Women Guests
If you want to spoil your women guests, have fresh flowers or potpourri
in the bathroom and include a basket with things like pleasant smelling
hand soap, hand cream, hair spray, and tissues. You can even buy novelty
wedding toilet paper for you guests to use and get a little chuckle
from.
Appropriate
Facilities
Be sure to have the appropriate facilities for your guests, everything
from enough parking spaces available to enough bathrooms for an
outdoor wedding. Don't inconvenience your guests because you didn't
think to ask about the small details that may cause moments of
frustration for them.
Keeping
Track
Keeping good records of your invited guests, needs, and keeping
track of gifts and thank you notes are all important and will
help your guests feel acknowledged and appreciated. Use our Guests
Tracking Form for all the information involving your
wedding guests. Simply print and/or copy the form to accommodate
the number of wedding guests you are inviting.
Your
Wedding Guests' Safety
Keeping your wedding guests safe from injury might not seem like a concern
when planning a wedding, but nothing can spoil your wedding day like
someone getting hurt. Take every precaution when it comes to your wedding
guests' safety when planning your wedding day. Make sure candles are
enclosed and away from anything that can burn someone, make sure wires
and cords are taped to floors so no one trips. Confirm that there isn't
anything tipsy and liable to fall on someone. If you are getting married
in the winter, ensure that steps and walkways are free of ice and snow.
If anything could be a hazard to your guests, take care of it before
your guests arrive.
Some couples splurge and hire a taxi to be available for a couple of
hours at the end of the evening to drive their in-town wedding guests
home that might have had too much to drink and not able to drive home.
You plan to do this you may want to announce this service sometime during
the evening so your guests are aware of it. If there is a real demand
for the taxi you may want to have a number system going so your guests
can wait in turn. You should at least have the phone numbers available
for the local taxi companies posted with a phone available for them
to use. Announce to your guests where they can find the phone numbers
and the phone if needed. Your guests will appreciate your consideration
to see them safety home.
Treating your wedding guests right is about all the little personal
touches that help your guests feel connected to you and your wedding
day. Letting them know that you appreciate them sharing your special
day by taking the time to make sure their needs are thought of throughout
the day. Yes, your wedding day is about you, but if your guests have
a good time, so will you.
