At Christmas we celebrated four years of marriage and it’s been four years that have simply flown by. A new home and baby boy have certainly kepy us busy, but there’s no doubting that your wedding day is up there with the very best days of your life – that’s certainly the case for us.
It’s important that you enjoy your wedding day, but it’s also important that your guests enjoy it. Treating your guests and showing appreciation will help to make it an enjoyable day for everyone. Here are just a few ways in which you can look out for guests at your wedding.
Supply flip flops and umbrellas
Giving female guests the option to exchange their heel for flip flops can ensure that your guests feel comfortable. Umbrellas meanwhile are worth stocking up on in case it rains – even if your wedding is indoors, certain guest may still want to head outside. You can buy such items cheaply in bulk online.
Provide some free drinks
This is a tradition that we have noticed at most weddings and it usually comes in the form of some wine or a drink during your meal. It’s also not uncommon to have a drinks reception like a champagne reception to welcome guests to your reception.
Providing some non-alcoholic options is also worth considering, and a few drinks for your guests is a good way to kickstart the evenings celebrations. We’ll drink to that!
Cater to all dietary requirements
When it comes to the wedding dinner, make sure that any guests with dietary requirements are catered for. Most catering companies will be able to provide alternative options for those with dietary requirements, so you’ll usually need to warn the catering companies in advance.
This could include offering vegan options and options for those with allergies. Gathering this info as part of your invitation will make things so much easier when it comes to planning your meal for the big day.
Offer a range of entertainment
Your guests are likely to get bored without any decent entertainment. Most couples will hire a DJ at their wedding, but you may want to offer some extra entertainment options throughout the day.
A live band could be a fun alternative option – this website offers a directory of local wedding bands that could be useful to look at. A magician meanwhile could be a fun option to keep people entertained during the meal, especially young kids.
Other options could include hiring a string quartet, putting on a firework display, hosting karaoke or even setting up a casino table. We opted for 3 sets of music at our wedding, catering for guests across the day.
Keep the kids occupied
It’s important that any kids that attend are kept occupied too. There are many ways in which you could do this including hiring a kids’ entertainer, constructing sweet cones, placing goodie bags on each table and organising face-painting.
You could even encourage kids to test out their photography skills by placing disposable cameras on every table.
Buy gifts for your guests
It’s customary for guest to buy the bride and groom gifts, but you can also give out gifts in return as a token of thanks for coming to your wedding. This needn’t be anything big – a few small goodies such as chocolates, scented candles and sample-sized toiletries could be enough.
These could be placed in a tote bag and placed at each table for your guests to open whilst they eat. You can buy such gifts online here.
Got something to add?
Do you have any recommendations to add from your own wedding day experiences? Let us know by commenting below.
Until next time, thanks for reading.
Helen, Nial and Lewis.
Welcome to Pikalily, an award-winning food, travel and lifestyle blog. We are Nial and Helen, a happily married couple from Northern Ireland, who share a passion for food and travel among many things. We became parents to our beautiful boy Lewis in 2017. Follow our adventures through the blog.
