Wedding Etiquette

When throwing your wedding, there are a lot of details to remember. When it comes to wedding etiquette, making a mistake can be embarrassing. Here are a few tips to help avoid some of the more common faux pas couples make as they navigate their wedding journey.

1. Share the news in person with close family

While it may be tempting to post an engagement ring selfie to all your social media accounts right away, wedding etiquette dictates this isn’t the way to go. This is the type of news that needs to be shared in person with your family before posting it to the world. Make sure you tell close family such as your parents or siblings in person rather than through the grapevine of social media to avoid any hurt feelings.

2. Don’t include registry information in the invite

Another big mistakes couples make in terms of wedding etiquette is to include the registry information on the invite. While you may think you are saving your guests hassle by providing the information regarding gifts in the invite, it can come across as distasteful and demanding. A better route to this aspect of wedding etiquette is to include the wedding website you set up with all pertinent information and direct your guest to the site.

3. Never keep guests waiting

This should be a no-brainer, but keeping guests waiting on the day of the wedding is one of the biggest etiquette faux pas possible. If the time is specified for the ceremony, the couple should do their very best to not be late on this special day. Your guests have taken time out of their busy schedule and probably have spent money to be there in one way or another so honor that by being respectful and on time. The same goes for at the reception. If there will be a gap between the ceremony and the reception, it is important to give guests something to do such as a cocktail hour or even lawn games for the more playful wedding theme.

4. Ditch the singles table

While it was once acceptable to put all your guests without a plus one at a designated singles table in hopes they might meet someone, this has become an outdated concept. Since the goal is to make your guests feel welcome and comfortable at the wedding and reception, don’t single them out by sticking them with singles they might not even know rather than seating them with a mutual married friend at another table.

5. Remember to send out thank you notes

A wedding is a hectic and somewhat stressful event. While no one will fault you for not sending out thank you notes the week after your honeymoon, it is important to still get them in the mail. The old rule was to wait until a year to send out the thank you notes to guests, but in the faster-paced world we live in now, ideally you should send out your thank you notes within the first three months of wedded bliss.