The Confessions of a Professional Wedding Guest - Part I

Some of my Wedding adventures...

I thought I would put a new spin on all the Wednesday Wedding Posts...

Another new blog series will be "The Confessions of a Professional Wedding Guest" 

~ Brought to you by a wedding guest/bridesmaid/bride ready to tell the truth.

All in all I've attended 11 weddings, 2 of which I was a bridesmaid, and experienced my own wedding for a grand total of 12. That's a lot of weddings!!  

Along the way I've learned a few things I've been eagerly anticipating the chance to share my knowledge. I've pretty much seen it all and experienced it all. Some were absolutely fantastic, and others unfortunately were boring. I've seen dress bustles break, accidentally sat next to my husband's exes, seen $2,000 typewriters for show, grooms stuck to the bride's dresses, family members getting belligerently drunk and just plain old fashion love stories play out right before me. It's been a trip and I got at least 2 weddings on deck for 2016. 

Some of the Wedding Photobooth strips

To kick this off here are:  

The Five Best Tips for Being a Wedding Guest...

1.) Don't get sloppy drunk...especially if you're family! 

~ Choose your liquor/beer wisely & quantity! ~ 

When my best friend got married, she was the first of all of her cousins. The other cousins for whatever reasons got so drunk her whole wedding video was these ladies screaming into the camera. 

It was tacky and sad.

Regardless of personal experiences it's tacky and no one wants to see someone fall down drunk or worse puke.  

2.) Find out the terrain of the Wedding Day!

~ Think Ahead for Footwear ~ 

One wedding Craig & I traveled to was in Virginia and thank goodness I packed flats. The ceremony/cocktail hour was a grassy field of a plantation. The bride let us all know it was grass so we all planned ahead and left our heels at home.

Another time, a very over-the-top no expenses spared wedding this past July, plastic heel holders were provided to all the female guests. I had worn flats at the time so I took one for safe keeping! It was a life saver for a lot of ladies...but the heels stoppers are awkward on hard ground. You have to trust them!

3.) Ask Questions! 

After Party? Brunch next morning? Hotel? Plus One? 

Do not assume anything when it comes to a wedding.

 Don't assume you can bring a guest. 

Think ahead if their is a brunch the next day. 

One of my favorite parts of my wedding and several other weddings I've attended was the brunch the next morning. Those are the times for the close friends & family to remark on the awesomeness of the night/day before. I got lucky in that the hotel I choose had an amazing 5 star breakfast which was included for the guests. I didn't have to pay extra. I requested the conference room for my guests and we stayed for at least 3 hours enjoying ourselves. 

4. Bring extra food with you! 

The general consensus for weddings is don't eat before because you are going to stuff your face as soon as the cocktail hour starts. Lately at the some of the more recent weddings I've attended there has been an absence of something...FOOD! 

One wedding of approximately 200 people had 3 stations at their cocktail hour. Antipasto, a carving station, and a pasta bar. That's it. Wedding budgets can get completely out of control, but if your spending money for an outlandish venue make sure their is food.

5. Hotel/Venue Shuttles

Every Hotel does not have a shuttle service. Some couples forget to leave money for shuttles in their budgets or simply there is no money left for a shuttle. If there is a shuttle, there is only a limited number of spaces and a limited number of pick-up times. Plan Ahead and be weary of the time! 

At my wedding the hotel provided a shuttle. It was awesome until the end of the wedding night when Craig and I had to do the finishing clean-ups with a few close friends and we found out the hotel shuttle was done. We had missed it. 45 minutes later after several phone calls we called the hotel and they came and got us. We had completely lost track of the time. Same thing happened at my cousin's wedding. Her's was a third party shuttle. Luckily they came back for her too. 

What are Your Tips for being a Wedding Guest? 

I'd love to hear...