AAWP’s Weekly Words of Wedding Wisdom™

Proper Scheduling = Stressed-Less Wedding Guests!

Copyright 2009 Deborah McCoy, all rights reserved.

Today we’d like to talk to you about the importance of scheduling your reception as close to the time of your ceremony as possible. It’s not only a matter of logistics and timing but of being a gracious and considerate host and hostess. Don’t forget that a wedding reception is the first party the bride and groom host as husband and wife!

Too often brides and grooms schedule their weddings and receptions hours apart putting undue stress on their guests-and even on themselves and their bridal party.

A ceremony that takes place, for example, at three in the afternoon with the reception starting at seven, means that guests must get dressed and drive to a the ceremony-only to have to drive home again to wait a few hours, to get “re-dressed” to drive to the evening reception.

Here’s what we mean by re-dressed: The outfits worn to a ceremony in the middle of the afternoon are not the type of clothes that one wears to a formal evening reception; hence two outfits are required of your quests.

And what happens to out-of-town family and guests when the ceremony ends? Are they to return to their hotel rooms to await the evening reception? And what if they don’t have transportation? All of this puts undue stress on the guests as well as the wedding’s hosts.

But there’s more. A florist told us of one wedding where he found the bride, groom and the bridal party at the hotel bar after the ceremony awaiting the reception which was hours away. No amount of coaxing could drag them from that bar; they were having too much fun. Unfortunately, they were in no shape to attend the reception hours later. Photographers will tell you that while tipsy brides may be funny, they make for ugly pictures.

Moral of the story: Schedule your wedding and reception times as close as possible, even if you have to change the date to accommodate this scenario. Your guests, families and friends will be more than grateful.

Be a gracious hostess and host and just think, things may go better than you ever expected-not only for your families and friends but for you!