Ah, summer weddings.
The beauty. The anticipation. The gorgeousness of moments. The memories made.
And. The road closures. The mis-steps. The unexpected. The missed opportunity.
Weddings are a beautiful tapestry of all of this and more.
When I meet with a couple – most often months before their wedding for a formal affair – I ask hard questions. I remind a couple I am not being negative. Rather, I am bringing up ‘stuff’ that I know from the ‘road,’ having done this work for 2 decades. ‘Stuff’ – about venues, about traffic patterns, about the delicate parts of pre-ceremony timing, and more.
So, here are a few ‘tips’ from the road as you plan your lovely wedding – whether this is a formal affair, something more or a true elopement:
- Some venues are ‘late venues.’ What does this mean? There are venues or areas that guests most likely have not visited before. They don’t know the traffic patterns…and some venues, especially on high traffic afternoon/evenings, often have late guest arrivals. Not intentional…people just don’t know what the don’t know. If your venue is a ‘late venue,’ properly time things out so you make your guests successful.
- Lemonade, water, a tiny sweet treat can be ‘everything.’ If you have a wedding in the heat of the day, consider offering your guests refreshments and a tiny sweet treat. People often don’t eat before a wedding, knowing they are going to enjoy lots of great food and drink. Because of this, if your wedding is on a warm/hot day, consider offering your guests a refreshment and small goodie when they arrive.
- Dogs. Dogs. Dogs. If you have a pooch (or two!) and are waffling about including them in your wedding ceremony, don’t waffle. Dogs bring joy, they connect people, they create happy memories on a wedding day. Appoint an escort for your dog(s) before/after your wedding ceremony. Have someone come in to take your dog(s) home after ceremony, or to where they will be staying while you are on your honeymoon. Sometimes, couples want their dog(s) at a wedding so badly, but they nix the idea – the dog is too young, too jumpy, too enthusiastic. NOT! A beloved pooch only adds to wedding day joy, if properly set up.
xoxo
Annemarie
www.marriedbyannemarie.com