It doesn’t matter whether you’re the bride, mother of the bride or even the grandmother of the bride or groom, one of your primary intentions when getting married is to make the wedding an enjoyable, memorable affair that your guests will cherish for years to come. But as they say, Rome was not built on good intentions. The sad reality is that many couples end up inadvertently annoying their guests by making one of the following simple, innocent mistakes.
One sure fire way to annoy the heck out of your guests is to provide inadequate seating arrangements. This category includes such gaffes as cramming too many people at each table, blocking views and table space with gigantic centerpieces, and failing to give enough thought to who will sit where. Luckily, it’s easy to avoid these types of annoyances – simply DO NOT do the things mentioned in this paragraph!
Another major annoyance is when your wedding happens to be on a day that is inconvenient for your guests. For example, having your wedding on a major holiday is generally inconvenient. If you are considering getting married on a major holiday, make sure you discuss it with your close friends and family, as well as the bridesmaids and groomsmen, beforehand to make sure they are all onboard. Additionally, please forget about Sunday weddings – if your wedding budget does not allow for the traditional Saturday wedding, consider getting married on a Friday night or even via a destination wedding instead. The best parties simply don’t happen on Sundays because, let’s face it, it’s the equivalent of a school night!
The third major way to annoy your guests – and my personal pet peeve – is to have a cash bar. Trust me, open bars are not only the norm, they are the expectation as well. Having a cash bar is like inviting a friend over to your home for dinner and then charging them for every drink they consume! If you want to have an open bar yet save some money in the process, go with a limited selection or beer, wine and perhaps a few staple liquors like vodka, rum and whisky.
Speaking of things you consume, serving bad food is yet another sure fire way to annoy. Under- or overcooked food, previously frozen food, or overly-small portions are just a few examples of ways in which you can have a bad food day. To avoid this scenario, make sure you handpick the menu, and personally taste the food from the wedding venue before entering into the contract. Also, calling references from previous wedding parties to inquire about the quality of the food is another excellent way to avoid getting burned.
Finally, as I’ve written about before, having a God-awful DJ or wedding band is definitely going to annoy the masses. There’s no doubt about it, the best way to kill a party is to have poorly-chosen music playing. For example, blaring loud rock or hip hop music during dinner is not a good idea – soft dinner music is more appropriate and is much more conducive to conversation. Another example of poor music is a perpetually empty dance floor. Good DJs can read the crowd, and if a type of music is not working he or she will be able to switch it up. But an incompetent DJ may not be able to do this. So the moral here is to get the best DJ you can afford, and of course get referrals and check references to fully cover yourself.
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