I am sure that most people have been to a wedding ceremony or reception and thought to themselves, “I would do THIS differently!” While it’s probably impossible to please all of your guests all of the time I think an ideal wedding from a guest’s perspective (ie. moi!) would go a little something like this:
–The hotel room that the bride and groom suggest would not exceed $150 per night…especially if I have to travel a distance to get to the wedding. Between the plane ticket(s), the hotel stay, a rental car, the new dress or shoes or purse I inevitably bought, and the wedding gift I am feeling tapped out. It could be costing me upwards of $1,500 to witness your nuptials.
–Upon arrival to my hotel I would be presented with a welcome package (preferably in some sort of reusable, eco-friendly bag) including a note welcoming guests, 2 bottles of water, some mints, a small package of aleeve or asprin, a few pieces of chocolate or something sweet, a granola bar and/or a bag of pretzels or chips, a local map and some suggestions of places of interest in the area worth checking out, some info about what time guests might want to leave from the hotel for the wedding (in order to arrive on time!), info about the rehearsal dinner or next morning’s brunch or any other activities I happen to be invited to over the weekend.
–The ceremony should begin not more than 15-20 minutes after the time I was told to arrive. If for some reason 150 people will be waiting around for the ceremony to start it would be nice to be greeted with a smile and a glass of champagne for a pre-ceremony cocktail.
–A cocktail hour with warm hors d’oeuvres begins immediately after the ceremony and there are several highboy cocktail tables so I may both eat the delicious finger foods being served and sip my beverage without performing a circus act.
–There would be no cash-bar and no tip jar for the bartender.
–There aren’t constant interruptions throughout the reception from the deejay demanding my attention and telling me to “look over here” and watch five different couples dance to special songs. If you dance well and are doing something worth watching that’s a different story, but if you are uncomfortable dancing in front of 150 people, then you can skip having half the room turn around in their chairs to witness your awkward sidesteps.
–I would not be subjected to watching the groom remove the bride’s garter…AND I would not be made to watch the guy who caught the garter put it on the embarassed girl who happened to catch the bride’s toss bouquet. This is one tradition that someone has to put a stop to.
–Transportation would be provided to and from the ceremony and reception OR everything takes place at the hotel where we are staying (in which case if I had to pay $200 per night for my room I’d probably be OK with it!).
Perhaps this sounds like a long list of complaints from a cranky ‘ol florist, but I’d bet most of your wedding guests would agree.
What would make a wedding “ideal” from your experience?
photo by Shem Roose
