While your wedding day should be everything that you as a couple want it to be, everyone wants to make sure that their guests are comfortable and having a good time. But how can you do that?! Well, let’s find out!
14 Ways to Make Guests Feel More Comfortable at Your Wedding
Here are some of our ideas for making sure that your guests feel comfortable throughout your wedding day!
1. Venue temperature
Keep the temperature of both your ceremony and reception venues in mind. This includes both indoor and outdoor spaces! Depending on the temperature, you may want to provide some extra options to your guests.
For example, if your ceremony is going to be hot on the beach, you may want to consider having an air-conditioned, indoor reception space to let guests cool off. You may want to have some fans at the ceremony, too.
While you’re thinking about the temperature, it’s a good idea to think about how to indicate the dress code to your guests. For example, if it will be hot and outside, advise guests to bring sunglasses, sandals, and sunscreen. If it will be chilly at any point, advise your guests to bring a shawl or jacket.
2. Personal space
You’ll want to consider the amount of personal space that you’re giving your guests. No one wants to feel squished and cramped during a ceremony or reception!
To avoid this, we suggest adding some extra chairs so that guests don’t have to be on top of each other, as well as spreading out the seats a bit.
3. Non-dancing options
As much as you may want everyone to treat your wedding like a huge party all night long, you have to keep in mind the fact that not everyone dances. They probably want to come to your wedding to celebrate your wedding day with you, but just do not feel comfortable dancing for a variety of reasons.
Because of this, we really suggest having some sort of non-dancing option for your guests. This could be a lounge area to mingle away from the dance floor, outdoor seating to get away and mingle, a photo booth, lawn games, and more!
4. Childcare
Childcare can be a great option to offer during your wedding so that parents can enjoy a date night together. You could hire a specialty wedding childcare service, or simply hire a beloved nanny that you trust.
Even if you don’t hire childcare, try to have some options at your reception to keep the kiddos entertained (if you will have any there)! This could be coloring pages and crayons, bubbles, etc. Kids tend to love photo booths, too!
5. Short ceremony
We know that a short ceremony isn’t for everyone, especially those who are having a religious ceremony. And that’s perfectly fine! However, keep in mind that not everyone wants to (or can) sit through a long ceremony. Keeping the ceremony short and sweet can keep guests from getting bored and will get everyone ready to celebrate afterwards!
If you will be having a long ceremony, do your best to indicate that on your wedding website or invitations. That will be especially helpful information if you are inviting families with kids. They will need to be prepared, or may even decide that it’s best not to come to the ceremony at all.
6. Provide accessories
There are a variety of accessories that you can provide to your guests to keep them comfortable throughout your wedding.
Having an outdoor ceremony? Provide sunglasses! Want your guests on the dance floor all night long? Have a basket with flip-flops! Having an outdoor ceremony in the fall or winter months? Have a basket of blankets for guests! The possibilities are endless. Plus, any of these could double as wedding favors!
7. Have bathroom kits
Bathroom kits have become more popular in recent years. What are they? They’re basically a small basket that you put in each bathroom at your wedding reception full of small things that your guests might need. Some examples of things to put inside are:
- Pads/tampons
- Hairspray
- Bobby pins
- Sewing kit
- Gum/mints
- Mouthwash
- Tide pen
- Fashion tape
- Hair ties
- Floss or toothpicks
8. Transportation options
If you have a lot of guests who live far away from the wedding, then it might be a good idea to consider providing transportation to and from the hotel. A shuttle is a great option for this!
9. Music selections
When you’re choosing music for your wedding, consider the diversity of your guests! You’ll probably want to choose a lot of timeless classics that everyone can enjoy, especially if you have an older crowd attending. It’s important to choose music that is important to you though, so just try to keep a healthy balance!
10. Give direction
When it comes down to it, guests want to know where to go and when to go there. This is especially true if you have a large venue, with multiple buildings! Signage can be a huge help for this.
Also, if you have a wedding planner or day-of coordinator, one of their tasks is most likely going to be making sure that guests know where to be and when to be there!
11. Consider your timeline and event flow
Keep tabs on your timeline for the day and how well your events flow together. This is something that your wedding planner and other vendors will be a huge help with. They can make sure that your reception doesn’t drag on, that people aren’t waiting too long for food or drinks, and more!
12. Extra food and drinks
If you are having a long reception, then you might want to consider having some sort of late-night snack or drink! We’ve seen everything from pizza to an ice cream truck to s’mores. And of course, some of the older guests like to have coffee or tea after dessert.
13. Keep the speeches minimal
While it can be fun to have everyone in your wedding party give a speech, it can get very boring for the guests to sit through. Do your best to keep the speeches to the few people that are most important to you. Typically, this would be parents, the maid of honor, and the best man.
If you have a lot of people that you want to hear from, consider having them give a speech or toast during the rehearsal dinner, instead!
14. Talk to your guests
If you’re having a large wedding, it may be impossible to get the chance to speak with every single guest for more than a minute or two. However, do your best to at least say hi to everyone! They are taking the time to spend the day celebrating your marriage and probably are giving you a gift. It would mean a lot to them to be able to say hi and congratulate you!
If you are having a larger wedding, consider inviting out-of-town guests to your rehearsal dinner or having a brunch the day after the wedding. This will give you more time to spend with guests that you don’t get to see very often!
Of course, all of these tips are things that a wedding planner can help you figure out. We are experts at making your guests feel comfortable throughout the entire wedding! Click here to reach out to us with any questions.