What are some of the common wedding etiquette mistakes?
- Putting Registry Information on Your Invitations
- Neglecting Your Wedding Party
- Inviting Someone to The Party – but Not The Wedding
- Having a Cash (or Limited) Bar
- Ignoring a Guest’s Significant Other
- Waiting Too Long to Send Thank-You Cards
As a bride (or groom) to be, you may be experiencing many “firsts” in your life while planning your wedding, so it’s pretty easy to commit a faux pas on or even before your special day. In fact, it’s so easy that many of these wedding etiquette mistakes are pretty common, you may have even seen it happen yourself.
That being said, we’d like to lessen the possibility of you and your loved one having that same fate. Before you take on one of the most special days in your life, here are the 6 most common wedding etiquette mistakes that most couples aren’t aware they may be committing.
Putting Registry Information on Your Invitations
One of the major mistakes you could make happens even before the special date itself. Sending out wedding invitations is an important step as it includes information on the event. However, many couples mistakenly add their wedding registry information on their invitations as well.
It is in bad taste to ask for gifts using your invitations, as they are intended to show your guests that they are part of this exclusive event. Invitations are also sent out with love – not with the intent of receiving gifts or money. It will be common knowledge to all your guests that you have a wedding registry anyways, and most will even take the initiative to ask about your registry on their own, so this information can be shared in more acceptable ways.
Neglecting Your Wedding Party
Your wedding party is an integral part of your wedding day – many organizers will dedicate a lot of time, effort, and money to help you set up and manage the event. They will also be part of the celebration – so it’s important to give back to them. Try to keep their experience as drama-free as possible and don’t forget to thank them for their help – you can even treat them to a nice breakfast or brunch while getting ready for the big day.
While giving gifts isn’t strictly needed, it would be a nice way to show your appreciation. Depending on your budget, you can give gifts that commemorate their place in your wedding party, or even use them as an accessory to the actual event, which would be a nice touch!
Inviting Someone to The Party – but Not The Wedding
When planning, it’s easy to get swept up in the excitement of the celebrations. Many people often want to have all of their friends and even acquaintances come to their pre-wedding events in order to share in the joy.
However these parties are intended to be an intimate celebration, so it’s a given that everyone invited to these parties is also included in the guest list. It’s important that you don’t invite just anyone to these pre-wedding celebrations if you’re not sure you want them at the wedding. It would be pretty rude to not include them if you already invited them to the other events.
Having a Cash (or Limited) Bar
One of the biggest parts of your wedding bill will be coming from the bar, so it’s tempting for many couples to have a limited selection or even a cash bar. It’s completely understandable if you can’t afford hours of an open bar for your reception, but there are many ways that you can save on costs!
Ask your venue if they have a corkage option or package deals — or you could even buy the booze yourself. There are many creative ways to keep your guests happy with the bar selection without breaking the bank.
Ignoring a Guest’s Significant Other
While you might want to have a strict “no plus ones” rule for your wedding, it may be considered impolite to invite a guest and not allow them to bring their significant other. This is particularly true if they have a serious relationship, so you should be prepared to reconsider your stance on this rule depending on the nature of their relationship and your relationship with the guest and their partner.
Waiting Too Long to Send Thank-You Cards
A common misconception that many young couples have is that they have to wait a year to send their thank-you cards to their guests. This isn’t the case, and many guests will in fact consider it impolite if you wait that long.
What couples should do instead is try sending out their thank-you cards after a week or two, to avoid any social faux pas. You should also try keeping a running list of what they sent so that you can be sure you’re thanking them for the right gift. At most, you should be sending your thank-you cards two or three months after your wedding.
Key Takeaways
Planning a wedding is a big undertaking, and it’s very easy to make mistakes! So it’s important to make sure that you’re taking these potential etiquette mistakes into account even when you’re just at the planning stage. So before you accidentally commit any of these mistakes, make sure to read up on the proper etiquette when it comes to weddings.
