Matt and I had the privilege of being guests at a wedding this past weekend! It was the wedding of one of Matt’s close high school friends, Eric. The high school friends were on their annual football trip when Eric announced the date of the wedding. I booked our flights the instant that Matt told me. A spring wedding in Maine?? We are sooooo there!

We had such a great time at Eric & Anne’s wedding, and we decided that weekend that when it comes to weddings of our friends and family, we would much rather be there as guests instead of working! So if you’re planning a wedding, you may want to consider keeping your friends as guests and not wedding vendors!

We learned a lot by being on the *other* side of a wedding. It was interesting to see things from the point of view of a guest, and we had a few observations that we think brides & grooms and wedding vendors should know:

If guests are traveling, a reception the night before is a great idea
We traveled a long way to attend this wedding, so it was very nice that Eric & Anne planned a reception for everyone on the eve of the wedding! Weary from a long day of driving and flying (and driving some more), we were thrilled to see them and some of our other friends!

Flash during the ceremony is very distracting
We tried not to worry about what the photographer was/wasn’t doing right (we were just there to have a good time) but when they are walking past the front row and using flash during the ceremony (even when there is plenty of ambient light) it is a big distraction. These are things we don’t do, but if you are a photographer and you’re doing this, the guests want you to know that you’re taking away from the ceremony!

Cocktail hour is a must
After the ceremony, we were in full party mode! Fortunately, Eric & Annie made sure there was a cocktail hour in between the ceremony and reception, so we headed over and met up with our friends while they took photos. It made things flow nicely, and with wine in hand and conversation flowing we didn’t feel like we were waiting around. Note to the reception venue… guests would love you to welcome them and point them in the direction of the cocktail hour when they arrive!

Guests want to sit with people they know (or people they would like to get to know)
This may come as a surprise, but I’m actually pretty shy! So I was relieved to know that we were sitting with people we knew at the reception. Even in the past when we haven’t known the other people at our table we’ve been placed with people who are cool like us. What can I say? No matter what table we end up at, it always ends up being the *cool* table! : )

Everyone loves the Cupid Shuffle
Eric and Anne banned line all line dances from their reception. Even though we still danced, we really wanted to do the Cupid Shuffle. Technically they didn’t put that song on the “Do not play” list, but the DJ wouldn’t budge. Bummer! We’ll just have to do it in our living room… to the right, to the right, to the right, to the right…

That's my hubby dancing with Eric's grandma!

Guests want to talk to you, and they want a picture with you
Your guests came to your wedding to see YOU, so make sure you get a chance to talk to them! They also got all gussied up (Anne’s words) for your event, so chances are you are going to be asked to be in A LOT of photos that night! This is one of my favorite pics of the whole evening!

We had such a great time, and we’re looking forward to going to more weddings as guests in the future!