How to maintain your manners: Proper wedding etiquette (Part 3)

Read Part 1 and Part 2 first

 * Wedding Day Wardrobe: Dress as the style of the invitation suggests.  Casual or formal?  Well, if it’s an invite with flip-flops and seashells, it’s most likely a casual affair and it’s most likely not expected of you to wear a long silk dress.  On the flipside, if the invite is scripted and gives off a formal vibe, it’s probably not a smart idea to sport your casual cotton sundress.  Ask around to be sure of the dress code, perhaps a member of the bride’s family.  The bride herself is the last resort for this kind of questioning.  She has her own dress to worry about.

Never wear white Only a bride wears white on this special day.  So don’t compete with her or anybody else.  If you’re the type who is dying to show off your better-than-ever bod, save it.  A wedding is just not the time.  If you tend to have a more revealing or risqué personal style, tone it down a bit…especially for ceremonies held inside a conservative church.

 

 * Freeze your Frame.  Put a hold on the uploading of photos, especially to social media sites.  Brides can be very sensitive about their image and may wish to first look through photos first before anything is publicly shared online.

Taking pictures at the wedding reception is fine and encouraged…the more the merrier…but do less of the snapping during the ceremony.  The photographer is hard at work during this crucial hour, and you don’t want to get in their way and risk them taking faulty pictures when trying to capture these sentimental moments.

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

So what makes the best manners?  MINDFULNESS.  The best manners come from the mindful person who is very aware of themselves and their surroundings, other people and the environment.

 

Etiquette stems from common courtesy, sense, and social graces, such as: When entering or leaving the room, going into or out of bathrooms, etc., hold the door open for the next person.  Be conscious of staying silent during speeches and announcements and be aware of the alcohol you are consuming and always practice sophisticated self-control.

The most important rule of etiquette in attending a wedding event is to enjoy the day in a classy manner and bringing your most lofty, positive energy.  The bride and groom planned this special day in celebration of a jovial affair and took their guests’ comfort and entertainment into heavy consideration.  Be respectful, be polite and be on your way to being a stellar guest…one who contributes to the memories being made, and to the pages in the storybook that makes the bride’s dreams complete.

And don’t forget to bring the most important thing along with you, wrapped up in your own aura and expanded into those of others around you

L O V E.

 

 

How to maintain your manners: Proper wedding etiquette (Part 2)

This article brought to you by Aleana’s Bridal Shop, Bergen County NJ

Read Part 1 first

* If you choose to bring a guest along, make sure it is an appropriate choice.  Leave the wallflower and sulky date at home who will hinder your spirit as you shine on the dance floor…or the guy with an unpredictable behavioral pattern who tends to have a flared temper after too many shots of whiskey.  Leave him at home.  Better yet, what are you doing even being involved with these types of people to begin with?!?  Go alone and be free of the burden of entertaining a date all night.  You will have a much better time and be able to engage the people you truly care about as well as having a better opportunity for catching up with the ones you have been looking forward to seeing.

And if you weren’t invited with a guest, do NOT show up with one nor ask the bride or groom to make an exception just for you to bring somebody along. This puts them in an awkward position.  Once again, their day, not yours!

No bringing uninvited guests” rule can imply children.  Respect an adult-only wedding if that’s what the married couple wishes.  And if children are invited, please take responsibility that they remain on their best behavior.  Example: crying during vows.  Solution: Remove yourself and bring them away from the scene…FAR AWAY…!!!

* Send a gift when you are unable to attend the wedding, (and be sure to RSVP by the correct date so the bride and groom are aware!).  Proper etiquette dictates that if you were invited, you owe the couple a gift, despite your actual presence at the wedding or not.

Let the registry be your first shopping source to purchase a gift from.  If not, make sure your gift is thoughtful and personable specifically for the couple.

* Don’t just show up for the reception and skip out on the ceremony.  The ceremony is the most significant part of all.   It’s in poor taste to be seen downing drinks at the open bar without first making all efforts to attend the main event.

 

* Don’t be late!  Allow yourself plenty of time to arrive at the ceremony on time.

 

Traffic jam…when you’re already late?  Then watch from afar.  Stand in the back or slip quietly in a back row if the ceremony has already begun by the time you arrive.

Continue with Part 3

 

How to maintain your manners: Proper wedding etiquette (Part 1)

This article brought to you by Aleana’s Bridal Shop, Bergen County NJ

By Jaclyn Ianetti

 

Mi scusi…your manners Excuse yourself from making excuses to any bad manners at a wedding party.  There are no excuses on a day like this.  Everybody should be on their best behavior and adapt the proper social smarts at any formal gathering pertaining to a wedding: Engagement parties, Rehearsal dinners, and cocktail and dinner hours at the actual wedding day and reception.

 

You don’t need to have a royal bloodline or take etiquette classes to embody common courtesy.

But for those of you who can be quite facetious at times, and/or whose manners slip, this ones for you!

 

* Let’s start off with addressing our most beloved device we have become so attached to…our cell phones.   Ditch your addiction to technology…at least just for this very evening.  Nothing can be more rude than constantly checking your inbox or replying to your text messages during wedding vow’s.  Just turn them off!!!  Somebody trying to reach you will get sent right to your voicemail, instead of the embarrassment you will face when your obnoxious techno ringtone goes off blaring through the airwaves in the room during the maid of honor or best man’s speech.

 

Nowadays, people love updating their status to give some kind of validation as to what they are doing in the moment (an insecure habit of delineating a fun outer life, rather than living a rich inner one, if you ask me).  You are a guest, and you should BE at the wedding…not reporting on it.  Be present, and really focus on true communication with the other guests to get the most out of the evening.

*Sit at your assigned table.  This is a well-thought out plan made by the bride and groom, who best understand the dynamics of the various relationships their guests have to one another.  They designed their very own “compatibility chart” as the seating chart. Respect them, and don’t mess with the seating arrangements.  If you’ve never made the acquaintance of some of the people at your table, start off the evening by making introductions.  Personally speaking, I went to a wedding where I knew nobody at my table (besides an old flame, go figure), and I wound up meeting wonderful people and having a ball with them.

Have good manners at your dinner table: saying please and thank you, no interrupting, no taking over the conversations, never talking with your mouth full, etc.

Read Part 2 and Part 3