Welcome Your Guests to Your Celebration | Pro Wedding Tips
The big day has finally arrived and it's time to treat your guests to a wedding they'll never forget. We love to think of weddings as carefully curated experiences that will surprise and delight your guests at every turn. With each detail you include, especially details that make your guests feel warmly welcomed, you're creating moments that will live on in hearts and photos forever. Here are our tips for starting your celebrations off with a bang as you welcome your wedding guests to your celebration.
Champagne on Arrival
Nothing says "Welcome to our tres chic wedding" like a tray of champagne. For a more formal affair, this can really set the mood and make a big splash for guests from the moment they arrive at the venue. If champagne is not quite your style, consider having a water, tea, or coffee station awaiting guests on arrival. Even this simple gesture, can go a long way. Plus, hydration is crucial for weddings where guests will spend the ceremony exposed to the elements. For outdoor weddings, in warmer months especially, having a water station (in addition to any champagne too!) will be welcomed by all. For cooler months, a hot cocoa station is a festive alternative that will get people warmed up and feeling festive in a flash.
A Warm Welcome (Sign)
Welcome Signs will serve a few purposes. For starters, it's a little stand-in for you and your soon-to-be-spouse to greet your guests upon arrival. A warm welcome or quippy note can instantly cue guests in that they've come to the right spot. This is extra important at venues that may have more than one wedding taking place at a time. Include some details that are a bit more personalized (name, hashtag, etc.) to avoid any mixups!
Placing a welcome sign at the entrance to the venue is a perfect way to welcome and guide your guests. Depending on the size of the venue, a bit of directional information on the welcome sign will set your guests off in the right direction. You can also use this first sign they see as a visual cue to keep their eyes peeled for additional, corresponding signs, such as directional signs, information on preferences (i.e. a phone-free ceremony), and key info on important events throughout the wedding like the sendoff.
Call in the Band
Can you imagine a more romantic way to welcome your guests to your wedding than live music? The addition of a musician or two can instantly take a wedding from good to great, elevating the soiree to new heights. We recommend something simple like a string quartet, a small jazz band, or someone strumming on Spanish guitar. If you're looking to simplify things, consider having the same musician or musicians stay on to provide the ceremony music. In addition to getting some additional bang for your buck, using the same music will add to that curated, cohesive feel. Plus, who doesn't want to walk down the aisle to live music? That's some big main-character energy!
Snag The Microphone
During cocktail hour, ceremony, or reception take a few moments to welcome your guests and thank them for joining you. While it seems like a fairly small gesture, it will go a long way in making those who have traveled, no matter the distance, to be with you for your special day. We still highly recommend taking the time to try and chat with each individual guest throughout the event, but this ensures that at the very least everyone gets one greeting and thank you. This little moment can be short and sweet, but it'll be worth its weight in gold for the whole room to have a moment to hear from you in your newlywedded bliss!
Wooing your guests from the moment they arrive, all the way through to their last sip of champagne will make for a memorable event. From a musical welcome from a live band to a drink station, welcoming your guests to your wedding is the first chance you have to set the mood for the day! With that, stick to our sage advice, which is to do what feels true to you as a couple. Rather than opting for something that you're not all in on, go for something that feels distinctly you, and in doing so, you and your guests will be guaranteed a memory and photo-worthy event from welcome to send-off!
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