Esquire Photography

Good morning from my wee little office in Orange County, California everyone!  I have a fantastic wedding day tip from my good friends at Elegala.com that I really wanted to share with you this week.

So let’s say you’re an Orange County bride looking to make sure your wedding guests are not only well taken care of, but happy as well throughout your wedding day.  Having been to my share of weddings in Orange County, Los Angeles, and around the country, I think that this list is awesome and will help you get the most out of your day for your wedding guests.

Chances are you’ll be the only one to notice if the five-tiered wedding cake tilts slightly to the left or the best man sports his favorite black “Chucks,” but wedding guests everywhere agree that the following blunders make for a painful wedding experience.

So if you’re an Orange County or Los Angeles County bride or groom that has some questions about how to make your guests have the time of their lives during your wedding day or other aspects that you’d like to be incredible, feel free to Contact Me through the website or email me directly at david@esquirephotography.com – cheers!

Guest Gripes – 8 Complaints that Irk Wedding Guests

1. Bad Timing – Long pauses between the ceremony and reception are generally a bummer.  If you cannot book the ballroom immediately following the ceremony, arrange for cocktails and hors d’oeuvres at an adjacent space.

2. Cash Bars – Sorry, a cash bar is never an acceptable money-saving solution.  Swallow that expensive pill by thinking about this: you would never ask guests to pay for a cocktail in your own home; your wedding should be the same.

3. Stranded Dates – Don’t create a painful experience for your attendants’ dates. Speed up the marathon photo sessions and seat dates together with the wedding party at the reception. It’s been my experience photographing weddings all over Orange County, Los Angeles and other states, that we’ll want to work closely with you to help ensure not only that your guests aren’t stranded, but that we have the most efficient use of time for your wedding photography.

4. Stranded Guests – If your wedding reception and ceremony locations are far apart or far from accommodations, you should provide guest transportation.  Besides the obvious safety concerns of drinking and driving, your guests should remember what a lovely time they had at your wedding – not what a pain it was to get there.

5. Unaccommodating Accommodations – Failing to provide information for convenient and affordable accommodations for long distance guests never goes over well.  Don’t force guests to be their own travel agents, and don’t secure the only room block at a 5 star hotel unless all of your guests have 5 star budgets.

6. Silent or Tardy Dinner Bell – If your four hour reception falls during meal time, understand that your guests will be expecting just that – a meal.  And they’ll expect that meal during normal lunch or dinner hours, so don’t wait until 10 pm to serve dinner.

7. Ungracious Hosts – Failing to acknowledge any gift or thoughtful gesture with hand-written, personalized thank you notes is always an etiquette faux pas and never a breech that will go unnoticed.  Suffering from writer’s block?  These useful thank you note examples will help you get started.WRITE YOUR THANK YOUS!!

8. Just Plain Tacky – Ok – let’s get it out – when it comes to money dances, novelty songs (hokey pokey comes to mind), singles dances or cake smashing – most guests are in agreement that they’d just as soon not see it.  Of course, there will always be those who find these acts acceptable and those who don’t – but as host/hostess, your job is to make guests feel at ease and comfortable – so best to err on the safe side and refrain from these potential blunders.
 At one time or another, we’ve all been a guest at a wedding, and many of us have a few things we’d like to get off our chest.