Top Wedding Guest Complaints
(and their solutions)
Turn it Down for the Older Crowd
Music is normally a key component to the success and enjoyment of any event. Our bands and DJ’s certainly enjoy blowing the doors off of any venue. Older guests may like to keep their “doors” on though. If you’ve ever been a teenager with a stereo system in your bedroom, you’ve heard “Turn it down!” a time or ten and a wedding or event is no exception to the rule. Sometimes event coordinators let this little detail slip when they are creating the seating chart at events. For example, as a way to honor them, brides and grooms usually seat their grandparents and elders at the front tables during a wedding reception. The DJ or band usually plays at the front of the room which means the speaker system is there as well – and that’s when the complaints start:
OUR SUGGESTION: Arrange for older guests to sit further back or at tables that are not directly in front of the speakers. As a courtesy, you can also ask older guests if they prefer to sit further back away room when you request RSVPs.
Accounting for overtime / running behind
You’ve heard the saying: “Expect the unexpected” and an event running a few minutes behind (unfortunately) is to be expected. Most planners know to build in time for mishaps and lateness, but for guests, a late schedule can be frustrating. People come to events ready to eat, drink and be merry. Here’s how we can help you to keep it that way:
OUR SUGGESTION: Arrange to have a cocktail hour musician play in between the ceremony and reception, or in the case of a gala you can hire a musician to play as guests arrive (with cocktails available of course). If dinner is running behind, ask the DJ or band leader to pull some of the uptempo songs (usually preserved for later) to kill time and get the crowd involved while you sort things out. Ultimately, communicating with your entertainment acts and musicians is key. They are always well-versed in dealing with crisis and can pull things out of their bag of tricks to keep the party going and help to put out the fires.
Long Toasts
Are you concerned that the best man may share too many personal stories AND take 30 minutes to share them? This is nothing new. We’ve seen some of the best and worst reception speeches and it’s definitely an honorable mention on our “Biggest Guest Complaints” list.
OUR SUGGESTION: EE Talent bands and DJ’s have little hacks to get our long-winded guests to wrap it up (cue “Wrap Up” music from the Oscars anyone?). Outside of that, BridalGuide.com says, ” Let the toastees know in advance that you don’t want them to stress about writing a novel of a speech, so the cheat sheet version will do just fine.”
Photo courtesy of HelloGiggles.com
References https://bit.ly/2QcGT5n