50 Things Wedding Guests Should NEVER Do
Need to brush up on wedding guest etiquette? From arriving late to announcing a pregnancy, here are all the things guests should avoid doing.
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Ready to hop in your car and speed away to watch your BFF tie the knot? Awesome! But, before you gas up your Hyundai, there are a few things you should keep in mind when it comes to wedding guest etiquette. After all, being the perfect guest takes a little bit of work and you definitely want to avoid becoming a wedding guestzilla. While most of these may seem like second nature to you, you’d be surprised what can fly out the window after a few glasses of Moët. From arriving late to asking for a ride in the newlyweds’ getaway car, here are some of the biggest faux pas you can make as a wedding guest.
Here are a few things wedding guests should never do.
- Arrive late.
- Show up if you didn’t RSVP.
- Bring your pet along in place of a plus one.
- Bring one of the bride or groom’s exes along as a plus one.
- Bring along a plus one if the RSVP card indicated not to.
- Wear wedding guest attire that goes against the dress code (like a white gown, perhaps?).
- Leave your phone ringer on loud during the ceremony.
- Text while the wedding vows are being said.
- Steal a seat from one of the VIPs.
- Stand up when the officiant asks, “speak now or forever hold your peace.”
- Join the recessional instead of waiting your turn to leave the venue.
- Show up to the reception with a keg, funnel or beer pong balls.
- Make a dramatic outfit change to outdo the guests of honour.
- Make a toast when you weren’t asked to.
- Take a nap (even if you can sneak away to a quiet room).
- Get frisky with the bride or groom’s mother or father.
- Photobomb every picture of the newlyweds.
- Take embarrassing snapchats of the bride or groom.
- Have a shot for shot competition with a family member of the bride or groom.
- Hit the bar a little too hard.
- Spill your drink on the bride.
- Hire a flower girl/ring bearer to be your personal drink waiter for the night.
- Mistake one of the bridesmaids for the bride or groom’s mother.
- Get too flirty with the venue staff.
- Act like the paparazzi.
- Disregard the wedding seating chart.
- Wage a food fight with cake or canapés.
- Sneak appetizers into your purse for later.
- Bring your own meal in Tupperware.
- Insult the menu.
- Sneak a taste of the cake before the couple has cut it.
- Complain about your food allergies or intolerances.
- Pull your chair up to the sweetheart table to eat with the happy couple.
- Gossip about the bride, groom or any member of their wedding party.
- Voice your negative views on marriage.
- Talk about divorce statistics.
- Cry about how single you feel.
- Let your kids wreak havoc on the venue.
- Throw some elbows when trying to catch the bouquet.
- Snag products from the bathrooms/hotel carts
- Take a centrepiece home with you.
- Try to join the band (now’s not the time to show off your guitar skills).
- Start amping people up to do a conga line during the father-daughter or mother-son dance.
- Steal the mic during the reception to treat all the other guests to a solo performance.
- Make too many cheesy song requests (nobody wants to hear multiple ABBA songs).
- Propose to your own S.O.
- Announce your pregnancy.
- Perform your own striptease when the garter toss song comes on.
- Hit on the bride or groom.
- Ask to ride shotgun in the newlyweds’ getaway car.
Looking for more wedding guest etiquette insights? Join the “guestzilla” discussion in our community forums »