How-To Be the Picture-Perfect Wedding Guest

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Wedding season is in full swing! If you’re like me, you have gotten your fair share of wedding invites in the mail, or you’ve been invited to be someone’s plus-one. When you’re at an event that is as fun as a wedding, it can be easy to treat it like a party, but it’s important to remember that you’re attending an extraordinarily special day in a couple’s life.  That being said, you definitely want to be the picture-perfect wedding guest and make sure your presence is adding only positivity to the day.

Here are my 5 tips on how-to be the picture-perfect wedding guest:

#1 Respect Any Requests

It’s important to remember that any requests the couple have for the day of their wedding are carefully thought out and mean a lot to them. No one wants to make a bunch of “rules” for their wedding, so if they decide to have any, they’re important to respect.

Many ceremonies are “unplugged” now, meaning the couple doesn’t want you on your phone because they want you to be present. Phones can also be a huge distraction. I was at a wedding recently (the one from these photos, actually) and the ceremony was unplugged, and yet there were dozens of people snapping photos throughout the entire thing, some even with flash! I’ve also been to an adults-only wedding, where the couple requested that guests not bring their children, and people still brought their kids. It’s just not good etiquette to disrespect the wishes of the couple who have spent a lot of time and money to host a lovely wedding for you to attend, so read your invitation carefully and check for any signs upon arrival that might mention a request the couple has for the day.

#2 Be Social

If you’re someone’s plus-one for a wedding where you don’t know the couple, do your best to be social and talk with people you don’t know. The person who invited you will likely know a lot of people, and instead of clinging to their side, make some new friends and let your plus-one make their rounds saying hello.

#3 Watch Your Drinking

Open bars can be dangerous. While the couple definitely wants you to have a great time, that doesn’t mean you need to go ham. Don’t be the sloppy guest who embarrasses themselves by getting sick or acting inappropriate.

#4 Be Fun

If there aren’t a lot of people on the dance floor and your date asks you to dance, you should go! The couple wants everyone there to be having a good time, and if no one is dancing, it can be stressful or upsetting for them. Think about how you would feel if you threw a party and no one danced all night. You would feel like it was a bust, right? It’s such a seemingly small thing that can really mean a lot to the couple hosting the wedding.

#5 Respect the Dress Code

Make sure you find out what the formality of the wedding is and dress appropriately for it. Dressing appropriately is a sign of good manners (as my mom always said), so it’s not good manners to be the wedding guest who shows up under or over dressed. This shows that you either weren’t paying attention to the dress code or you didn’t care, and that’s not a good impression to leave. It also can make your date look bad if they invited you and you look way out of place. For a more detailed wedding attire guide, check out this post.