One Thing You Must Never Do at Your Wedding!

Again, never!

There's one thing that many people do at a wedding that can lead to stress, heartache, feeling helpless and fearful of identity theft.   The saddest part is that it is totally preventable.

Do not ever have your table for gifts and cards that you receive by any door that can be accessed by the public.    Even worse is just outside the door in a hallway!  The same goes for your guests' belongings.  I know it's so convenient for guests to sign the guest book and drop of their gifts or cards at one place near the entrance.  The same would apply to guests' coats and their belongings.

There is a solution.  I want you to check out a company called Coat Check Complete and see if there is a similar service in your area.  Please don't rely on your friends to take on this task of the gifts and card management or the guests' belongings.  They might have the best of intentions, but they will sooner or later get distracted because they are your friend and their heart is where the action is at your wedding.  You can't blame them for getting caught up in things and without them even being aware of it, walking off for a few minutes or more.

At the very least you should have all of your cards, gifts, and your guests' coats, purses, umbrellas, and so forth in an area as far from any door as possible.  You might not feel that you have the budget for a service to keep an eye on everything, but we live in the world that we live in and the regret of stolen gifts, cash or gift cards that your guests have purchased with their hard-earned money is something you can't put a price on.  Your guests could be faced with a nightmare of trying to stay ahead of identity theft, closing bank accounts, stopping check which will add to their burden financially and increase their stress level.

People might want to place blame if something like this happens, but the bride and the groom are the hosts and they owe it to their guests to make sure that their guests are taken care of properly.

Wishing you the greatest of days!

Weddings Equal Eight, Yes Eight Reunions in One

Sorry to take the romance away for a minute from the mental visual of a wedding but only for a minute.  If you think about it, a wedding is much like planning 8 reunions all at once.    In some families it is more complicated than this but here is a general line up!  


Bride's immediate family
Bride's mother's family
Bride's father's family
Groom's immediate family
Groom's mother's family
Groom's father's family
Bride's "Class Reunion" and Groom's "Class Reunion" (friends from school and work)


Ready for one more?  Like it or not?  All of these divisions seem to find other people to invite!


Here are the caveats!  Everything is boosted to a level of higher expectations and a lot more emotions are involved.  Rightfully so!  Beginning from invitations to the send off at the reception, everything is on a grander scale.  Why wouldn't it be?  When you realize that all of the people who have been most important in your lives or would have your back, even though you've only met them a couple times in your life, are all going to be together for that very special day? 


With families and friends spread out so far, even across the globe, you really want to be able to enjoy your time with your guests and to give them a day to remember.  They are not only celebrating your new life together, but they are more than likely having their hearts warmed by seeing friends and relatives for the first time in years.  Your wedding reception could be the first occasion where the blending of both of your families really begin.  That is why I think that having a Wedding Coordinator is really one of the smartest things and kindest gifts you can give to your guests for your wedding.  You shouldn't be working or worrying on your wedding day!  I actually think that a very nice engagement or shower gift to include as part of your "wedding registry" items is the opportunity for people to contribute to a Wedding Planning Fund and really feeling invested in your wedding.  Imagine the feeling they would have knowing that they helped you to put on the wedding of your dreams or you were able to have elements you wouldn't have been able to afford otherwise. 


Wishing you the greatest of days!


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Wedding Gift Theft and Other Problems with Wedding Gifts

The wedding gift area at a reception is often located in the area where your guests first enter at your reception. So what's the problem with that? If you are at any place where the public can walk in and blend in as an impostor guest, you are taking your chances of the wrong person taking your gifts home. Even if the gift area isn't by the entrance you are taking a risk. Ideally, you would be able to hire someone who offers coat check services who will not only watch your guests' belongings but also the gifts and you can then keep the gifts secured near the entrance. Imagine the disappointment you would feel to find out that someone made off with your gifts or cards containing cash or their best wishes for you when someone had the audacity to pose as the person responsible for loading your gifts. The gift area needs to be assigned to a very responsible person who knows to look for this type of behavior.

Remember that your wedding is a day of blending both of your families who perhaps have not even met each other until that day. As unthinkable as it is, there are people who prey on weddings to steal even from a bride and groom by merely pretending to know the bride and groom. This is wedding crashing at its worst!

There is a major mishap that is much more common regarding the gifts you receive. I'll start with the end result first. Change roles for a moment. You have just received a thank you note thanking you for the crystal goblets. That is all great and wonderful, but you happen to know that you gave them camping gear! How could this happen? It's as simple as cards not being taped securely to a gift!  If this has happened to you, now you know why.

Also, if you have someone bringing in two gifts, have a system in place for the person in charge of your gifts to color code both gifts so that you know that they came from the same person.  You could also use corresponding colored stickers or write a number on both of the boxes. There are systems with numbered stickers, but I've found some of them to be way too small to recognize easily. Don't rely on wrapping paper to always be a clue. People often will bring a gift wrapped in identical paper that someone else has chosen to wrap a gift. Perhaps people bring one gift from one of your registries and another gift they had wrapped somewhere else or at their home. Either way you just can't be too careful!  Do whatever you have to do to assure that the corresponding gift is matched with the correct guest.

Most important of all is to write those thank you notes and actually mail them.  You don't want to appear ungrateful.

Thank you notes..that is another blog in itself!   As much as you want an RSVP, your guests want to know that you actually got their gift!  It's all about common courtesy!


Wishing you the greatest of days!