Man Shares The One Rule You Should Never Break As A Wedding Guest — ‘Please Don’t Be This Person’
Remember, it’s not your day. It’s the bride and groom’s.
Sergio Photone | Shutterstock Can you hear the wedding bells? Oh wait, that’s just disgruntled wedding guests.
From dress codes to rules about who you should bring and what food is served, wedding guests often aren't shy about complaining, especially online.
However, as one content creator pointed out, these celebrations should be catered to what the bride and groom want — it's really not that difficult to follow their directions for one day.
The man shared the one rule you should never break as a wedding guest.
It’s an easy rule to follow, at least according to a young man named Nick — and it’s necessary to keep the peace when you go to a wedding.
“Please make sure that you read the wedding invitation card the next time that you’re invited to a wedding,” he asserted. “It’s gonna tell you where to go, what to wear, and whether or not you’re allowed to bring a plus-one.”
While many wedding guests automatically assume they’re allowed to bring a date, the truth is that every additional person who shows up is a bill the bride and groom are forced to pay. After months of planning, sending invites, asking for RSVPs, and booking catering, engaged couples shouldn’t have to worry about uninvited guests showing up on their special day.
Don’t bring your kids or a plus-one if it’s not explicitly stated on the invitation.
The one rule guests should follow: Read your invitation and follow it like the gospel. While weddings might seem fun and carefree, they often take months of planning, thousands of dollars, and hours of dedicated time from couples. Don’t let your ignorance of the rules keep the day from running smoothly.
shulers | Shutterstock.com
“If the bride and groom have not greenlit you bringing somebody, you shouldn’t bring someone to the wedding,” Nick added.
According to the knot, Nick is absolutely right. Plus-one invitations are completely at the discretion of the bride and groom, but there are some basic rules. Married couples always come as a package deal; usually, close friends and family who are single get the green light for a guest, and everyone else ... well, you might be relegated to the singles table.
At the end of the day, it’s the couple’s decision who they want to share their day with. Chances are, for most people, chaotic toddlers and unwelcome partners are not the people they’d choose.
He admitted that he’s been to weddings ‘ruined’ unwelcome guests, particularly children.
As a wedding guest at a recent black tie wedding, Nick was horrified by how many people disregarded the wedding invite and not only brought uninvited plus-ones but brought their children to a clearly child-free wedding.
“Just read the invite and follow it,” he reiterated. “It’s not hard. If you don’t have a babysitter, do not come.”
While everyone at the wedding hoped the children would simply fall into the corners of the dancefloor and sit quietly during the ceremony, the unfortunate truth is that they did quite the opposite. In addition to running onto the dancefloor during the bride and groom’s first dance, the wedding guest’s toddlers also ruined the bride’s gown.
"At the very end of the night, people like to do a sparkler send-off," he explained. "People line [up in] a row, you get sparklers, and you light them, and [the bride and groom] will run down, and they'll kiss in the middle."
Things didn't go as planned at the wedding he attended, however, and the uninvited children were to blame — or, more accurately, the parents who brought them.
"One lady’s kid panicked from all the flames. Maybe he didn’t like it because he’s a young child,” Nick said. As the bride and groom walked past the child holding the sparkler, he stuck it out, lighting the bottom of the bride's dress on fire. He then proceeded to light pieces of the grass on fire as his parents stood nearby, distracted.
At the end of the day, weddings are for the bride and groom, no matter how hard wedding guests try to make it about themselves. Follow their rules, celebrate them, and respect their wishes — or just don’t come.
Zayda Slabbekoorn is a News & Entertainment Writer at YourTango who focuses on health & wellness, social policy, and human interest stories.