Weddings!

5 things to do at YOUR wedding

1. Host a welcome party the night before. This can help make sure you greet everyone and it sets the weekend off on the right foot! Consider it practise for the main event.

2. Stay connected and present. It’s easy to get pulled in a million different directions. Keep your phone tucked away and keep track of one another. Soak up every moment and be grateful so many people have gone out of there way to be with you. You being on your phone says, “Hey! What’s going on here is so much more important than everyone who’s here to be with me!”

3. Find peace. Know that a few things will go wrong but that it’s meant to be. It won’t be perfect—it’s Murphy’s Law. If you don’t make a big deal of it, no one will notice. At our wedding, there was panic over the fact that we didn’t have a utensil to serve appetizers! Can you imagine the outrage?!

4. Be prepared. If you’ve written your vows, make sure the officiant has a back up copy. You’ll likely lose them.

5. Be with your bridal party. One of the best things we did the morning of was spend time with our closest friends. Even though we didn’t have a traditional wedding, we made sure we were surrounded by those who have been and will be supportive of our relationship for years to come.

5 things NOT to do at a wedding

1. No drama. Weddings bring a lot of emotions with them but make sure you keep those emotions in check. The last thing the bride and groom need is drama—leave it at home! Enjoy yourselves!

2. Don’t be a time suck. The bride and groom are going to have to make their way to all of their guests. They don’t need a personal shadow. Believe me, they’re thrilled you are there but also need you to be respectful that they want to make the rounds and give everyone their time.

3. Shout obscenities. We know you’re funny but please keep the comedy to yourself during the ceremony/toasts.

4. Side bars. During the ceremony and toasts, try to keep side bar conversations to a minimum. Bride and Groom have a heightened sense of awareness and they did invite you there in support of their wedding—even if you aren’t talking smack, it can appear that way.

5. High expectations. Get rid of them, go in expecting nothing and leave pleasantly surprised at how much fun you had!

5 things TO DO at someone else’s wedding.

1. Be complimentary. Say nice things. Even if it pains you to death to praise someone or acknowledge how great they look, this is the time to do it. It won’t go unnoticed and the more genuine, the better.

2. Dance. Bring the fire to the dance floor but don’t overdo it because finding an extinguisher at a wedding can be tricky. Draw attention to yourself, but be careful. You can go from being a dance floor hero to “that” guy/girl pretty quickly. Self-audit and shimmy accordingly.

3. Take Photos. Use the hashtag and tag away. A lot of time and energy has gone into planning the big day and if you’re lucky enough to be there, the least you can do is snap a few photos and show the world how much fun you’re having!

4. Smile. No one wants you to be a Debbie Downer. Unleash your inner sparkle—it’ll look great in photos!

5. Follow up! If you genuinely had a great time, let them know! We had a few guests reach out and it meant the world. If you had a terrible time, keep to yourselves!

Massive thank you goes out to Whitney Tracy from Mountainaire Gatherings!

Check out her work: https://www.mountainairegatherings.com/