Wedding Guest Etiquette

It never ceases to amaze me the poor behavior that some guests choose to display at a wedding.
I have been to several weddings recently and this is just some of the behavior that I or my assistants have witnessed. It is very sad, not to mention very disrespectful to the wedding couple who invited them!

• Guests show up in wrinkled dirty khakis, short shorts, or tattered golf shirts. I actually witnessed a guest wearing khaki cargo shorts that had a large stain down the front of them. I have a hard time believing that this is the only clothing item this guest owned.
• On the flip side, I have seen guests attend a beautiful wedding wearing revealing and way too short skirts and dresses or something so slinky that it would be much more fitting at a nightclub.
• Guests that RSVP and then are no-shows. This is the height of rudeness to your hosts. They have taken the time to invite you, pay for your meal, and then you don't show up even after you told them you would. With the average price of a wedding meal ($27.00), this is a large chuck out of the brides and groom's budget. Not to mention the table decorations, programs, larger venue costs, etc. Aside from sickness or unforeseen accidents, if you RSVP yes, then please attend the wedding. Simply not showing up because "you didn't feel like it," is not a good enough excuse.
• Poor guest behavior at the wedding itself: Please turn off your cell phones at the ceremony. I am sure that you can wait to take that call for 30 minutes. Don't snap your fingers in the air then yell across the room to gain the waiter's attention. Please don't go through the cards holding them up to the light to see how much money the wedding couple got. Likewise, please don't go through the gifts and rattle them trying to guess what is in the boxes. Please don't refuse to wear a flower or accept a gift that the couple gives to you. If you are allergic to flowers, that is different, but refusing simply out of spite is mean spirited and has no place at a wedding celebration.

Mind your manners and have a great time. A wedding celebration is no place for vendettas, bad habits or uncalled for behavior. Go to have a good time, be respectful and help the new couple celebrate their new lives together.