Weddings are known for being a milestone the bride will remember forever, but a lot of people don't understand the stress that happens on the special day. There are a lot of expectations for the bride, the groom, and the family, so if not everything falls into place, it can cause a lot of stress and tension for everyone who helped plan the day.
There are certain dos and don'ts people should respectfully follow for a wedding, and honestly, if you don't do these things you're part of the problem when it comes to stressing the bride out the day of her wedding! So here are 10 things you MUST do when attending a wedding if you want to be a good guest.
1. RSVP so the bride knows how many people to expect.
The bride made RSVPs for a reason, and chances are she spent a lot of time making them. Out of respect for her and her time, fill out the RSVP and get it back to her in a timely manner so she doesn't have to worry about tracking you down to find out if you're going to the wedding or not. It truly isn't that hard to accomplish, and it's just the respectful thing to do in the situation. Don't be that person who doesn't RSVP.
2. Bring a card to the wedding, at the very least.
My own personal opinion is that if you can't afford to give the bride and groom a gift, then you shouldn't go to a wedding where they both personally shelled out money to make sure you could eat, drink, and dance for the night. But if you can't do that, the very LEAST you could do is get them a card or make one! I understand it's sometimes difficult to come up with the money, but you could still put thought and meaning into something for them! If you don't, that's just lazy and selfish on your part.
3. Respect the dress code!
If the invitation says formal attire, don't wear jeans. You can literally find dress pants at a thrift store for a few bucks, but don't wait until the last minute to do so! If you can't respect what the invitation asks of you, maybe you're better off just staying home.
4. Understand the food was picked by the bride and the groom.
If you don't like it or would have done something differently, keep those comments to yourself. At that point into the night, neither the bride nor groom can do anything to change something you may not like. So instead of making them feel bad about it, just keep that opinion to yourself to avoid any hurt feelings at all!
5. Be respectful during the ceremony.
It is not that hard to shut your phone off or silence it. There should be no reason your phone is ringing during a ceremony. If you can't figure out how to silence it, leave it in the car. I see a lot of the older generations get angry at younger generations for being so revolved around their phone, but the older generation is the first group to not know how to silence their dang phone during something important.
6. Arrive on time!
When you're going to a wedding, it's super distracting to have someone waltz in right before the bride is supposed to make her entrance. If you're significantly late, you might as well stay in the car until the ceremony is over so you don't take any more attention away from the bride than you already have!
7. Don't drink to the point of you causing a scene.
I've been to a lot of weddings and at almost every one, there is always that one person who drinks excessively and makes something throughout the night all about them to take away from the bride. This is extremely disrespectful to not only the group of people that put this day together, but the bride, groom, and families! They spent a lot of money trying to make this day perfect, and the last thing they want to worry about is a drunk guy/girl breaking things or starting fights!
8. Don't talk about things you'd do differently for your wedding.
If you want to have that conversation at your house in private that's one thing, but chances are if you're saying this at the wedding, there are several people around that know the bride or groom personally and will relay your rude comments back to them. Just avoid doing that altogether because it only makes you look like a POS.
9. BE RESPECTFUL WHEN THE TOASTS ARE BEING MADE.
I can't believe this is even a thing grown adults have to be told, but if someone is speaking, try not acting like a first grader and talking when someone else is trying to! Getting up there and making a speech is hard enough, let alone having to do it over the loud voices in the crowd. And this should be a given but making disrespectful comments during someone's speech is something no one should ever do. Sit there, drink your free booze, and listen to a speech that probably means a lot to the person giving it and the bride and groom!
10. And lastly, just be respectful in general of the day.
Imagine it was your sister, brother, daughter, son, best friend, cousin, etc getting married. Try to think of how you'd want other people to behave on a day that's super important to someone YOU love. Chances are if you're an adult, you know the proper way to act at a wedding — SO DO IT. Be kind, be respectful, be courteous, and be smart. We aren't in elementary or middle school anymore, we need to remember how to behave.
If you can't do these 10 things, maybe a wedding isn't for you and you should stay home! Just don't forget to RSVP no!
