Are your wedding celebration in a bit and you’re thinking of how to put your best foot forward? Take note of these wedding guest complaints and how to avoid them.
Your wedding day is a big deal because you affirm to spend forever with your spouse. It is all about you, but your guests matter too. The wedding can only be super fun and memorable if your guests get as much fun, comfort, respect, and inclusion. This is why it is important to know and eliminate all potential wedding guest complaints early enough.
If you’ve ever attended a wedding, there must have been some things or acts that put you off. Note them and never let them occur at yours. However, if you cannot think of any wedding complaints from guests following previous weddings, we’ve got you. Here, we have compiled a list of the biggest wedding guest complaints about you.
Brides Often Ask
Why you shouldn’t listen to wedding guest complaints?
While we advise that you look out for your guests, remember that you’re a priority on your big day. You shouldn’t listen to every wedding guest’s complaints brought to you because humans are naturally selfish. Sometimes, they want comfort and prioritization of their needs at your expense. So before you act on a complaint, decide if it’s reasonable. Also ask yourself if it affects your well-being, distorts your plans, or is for the greater good. If many people stand to benefit from it, go ahead. However, if you’re expected to put anyone’s need above yours, don’t listen.
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Top Wedding Guest Complaints & Ways To Solve Them
An Inconvenient Date
When thinking of how to start planning a wedding, the first thing to do is picking a convenient date. Guests will complain if you inconvenience dates like Halloween, Christmas, Hanukah, birthdays, etc.
How to deal
The best bet to avoid this hassle is to pick event-free days. If you have no choice but to have your wedding on a holiday, consult your guests. This is where prioritization comes in. Check with family and friends who you cannot do without and confirm that they’re okay to attend. Also, send out your date’s way in advance so that minds will be made up for compromise.
Invitation without enough information
Situations like not specifying who is invited in clear terms, accurate address, or ceremony time could cause confusion. See how to deal with it below.
How to deal
Some couples indicate one family title on an invite and expect the guests to understand. Then these guests want to bring their partners, children, colleagues, or friends along and get turned down. Sometimes, the address and the time for a wedding is vague, causing avoidable confusion. To eliminate this complaint, always name every single person to be covered by a card. If you are inviting four guests from one family, list their names on the card. Also, give them a place to tick off to confirm availability or not. Lastly, include a very precise address and time on the card. You can even throw in a map on the back cover.
A Long Wait Between Ceremony and Reception
There could be a long wait between ceremony and reception if the couple needs time to freshen up. It could also be logistics or the distance from ceremony to reception.
How to deal
To avoid complaints from guests concerning this issue, try to keep your venues very close to each other. If this isn’t possible, arrange transportation that is available at the shortest notice. In a situation where your venue is in one place but has to be rearranged, cordon off a section where preparation will be ongoing as the ceremony takes place. Also, for the need to freshen up, book a makeup artist for the day or have your maid-of-honor ready. While all this is going on, keep your guests entertained with edible treats and music while they wait.
Unassigned Seats at Dinner
Having guests roam around or unable to sit with familiar faces may cause complaints. Here’s how to deal with this situation.
How to deal
After compiling your guest list, this is the next tough job. Leaving the guests unassigned places to sit can leave the ice unbroken and cause complaints. More so, they will roam around, making the venue rowdy, which you don’t want. Place families and friends together or within reach of each other if the space is not big enough. This will allow them to communicate and keep themselves company. Avoid placing sworn enemies together unless you want your wedding to end on a bad note.
Too Many Speeches
Some people love to talk and it bores others to death. Here’s how to deal with endless speeches at your wedding.
How to deal
We know the headache that comes with sitting through lengthy speeches. Many guests wouldn’t have it either. Narrow the speech givers to only the very important people in your lives. This includes parents on both sides, someone from the wedding party, and maybe someone from the audience. Let them know to give only short wedding speeches within a specific time frame.
Cash Bar
Guests will complain if you asked them to pay for food or drinks at your wedding. Here’s how to navigate this tricky part.
How to deal
How awkward will it be to ask guests to pay for their entertainment? That’s an unexpected expense and some of them would have rather stayed home. The point is that you don’t have to do anything that you can’t afford. If your budget cannot cover an open bar, then skip it. A perfect alternative is serving beers, wines, and signature recipes. You don’t have to go bankrupt or act out of character over your wedding.
Not Good Food
One of the joys of attending a wedding is eating great food according to some. When it’s bad, expect a lot of complaints.
How to deal
A stunning bride, breathtaking décor, or monumental cakes cannot take the place of food at a wedding. Many guests’ look forward to it, so don’t blow it. As you prepare for your wedding, attend food testing with your vendor. Vet every single dish that will be served at your wedding. Also, enquire from guests if they have any dietary preference or food allergy. This will save you from having any kind of food-related accident at the wedding. Inform guests of what you’ll be serving, whether full course meals or dessert if you’ll wed at mealtime.
Climate crisis
You can’t predict the elements, but you can control how it affects your guests. Whether through winter, autumn or summer, here are some measures to help you.
How to deal
Your guests will hate your wedding if they have to contend with sticky skin or parched lips due to the weather. Get creative in a way that will both secure your guests and complement your wedding. For instance, you could create double duty programs in form of hand fans. If it’s a vintage theme wedding, you could offer parasols to the ladies and hats to the men for the sun. Shawls are also beautiful and creative items to protect your guests from the cold.
Never-ending toasts or photomontages
Couples and guests want to give a lengthy unending toast and take pictures forever. Deal with it this way.
How to deal
Let your toasters know upfront to keep it brief and punchy. Tell them how much time they have beforehand, so that can compress their toasts. Also, insist that they aren’t tipsy or drunk before the toast, especially if they’re an important part of your day. Lastly, inform the DJ to cut lengthy toasts with a song once their time is up. As for the photos, keep a programmed list of photo orders. It has to happen when every other person takes photos so that you can continue with the wedding.
Loud and not good music for dancing
It will be disheartening if guests are so uncomfortable at your wedding that they refuse to dance. Here’s a smooth way to avoid it.
How to deal
You have a mixed crowd, so curate a playlist that is all-inclusive. Study the environment and play songs that fit the mood, like cocktail hour, couple entrance, boogie time, etc. Don’t sit elderly anywhere around the speakers or close to the DJ. Hire a DJ that can read the room and knows when a genre isn’t working.
Wedding guest complaints are a dime a dozen because everyone wants comfort. However, you mustn’t give credence to every complaint. Prioritize yourself and have all the fun, but include your guests. To ensure their happiness at your wedding, see our list of the top complaints that guests make.
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