5 slipups that can spoil your reception, Part 3: "We missed out on the fun at your wedding!" {Communication and coordination on your wedding day}

Today's slipup: “We missed out on the fun.”

Several things can conspire to cause this problem.  The most common culprits from the guest end of things are sightline interferences and poorly-managed multiple rooms or areas.  Guests at weddings love to do everything at pretty much the same time as everyone else and to feel like everyone is “in the same room”.

Check your facility to see if everyone will be comfortably able to see your grand entrance, the first dance, and the cake cutting from where they will be sitting or standing.  If you have to seat guests in several different areas because of the quirks of your facility, or because of the size of the wedding, you can manage this by working with your DJ, wedding planner and/or venue manager, and sound tech to make sure announcements can be heard in all of the rooms.  That way, guests will know what’s going on even if they aren’t right there.

When “We missed out on the fun!” comes from the family/wedding party side, it’s because they were forced to be the go-to person for things such as setup questions, minor emergencies, and general running of the day.  The result is a bridesmaid, sister, or mother who spends most of the day running around tending to things instead of enjoying all of the family and friends that have come from so far away.

This is a huge misfortune, in our opinion.  It’s not worth it to put all that effort into an elaborate wedding if your family and wedding party won’t get to enjoy it.  Consider their feelings, and make sure that you have someone who’s not in the family or wedding party managing all the little questions and running the setup.

Photo courtesy Melissa Jill. 

 

Tomorrow: Join us at Portland Wedding Coordinator for Slip Up Number 4: We didn't know where to sit" {Planning the seating for your wedding reception}.

Did these tips help you? You may like our past advice and more wedding planning tips.

 

Comments

[Jamie London]

These are all great tips on how to best plan a wedding! I'd like to add that preparing, practicing, and delivering a great wedding speech (a speech given by the bride and groom, or the father of the bride, or the best man, etc.)is also a critical part of the wedding! May I suggest that composing the speech ahead of time can really reduce some of the stress associated with weddings? And, if people run out of ideas, they can look for good wedding quotes and sayings, available online.

Thanks for sharing!