Top Wedding Guest Complaints

Ensure that your guests enjoy your wedding and only have positive remarks by carefully planning in advance and learning from others’ mistakes. You’ve heard the saying “You can’t please everyone”, but there are ways to avoid common complaints.

The DJ/Photographer/Videographer was rude

Find the best service providers for your wedding, and make sure to meet with them beforehand to ensure you are comfortable with them and that your personalities don’t clash. Consider recommendations from other brides and phone pervious brides who made use of them to make sure that they are pleasant to deal with on the wedding day.

The music was too loud

This is a common complaint and one that can easily be avoided. Hire a great DJ or musician who is experienced and focused on creating a fantastic overall experience for you and your guests. The other alternative is to move tables and chairs away from speakers and seat older guests further from the sound equipment.

Speeches were too long

Even if your dad wants his moment to shine, try and keep the speeches short. Ideally speeches should last between two and five minutes. A good DJ will spend a few moments with each person saying a speech beforehand, to make sure he or she knows how to correctly operate and speak into the microphone. 

We didn't know anyone at our table

Take the time to carefully plan your seating arrangement, placing guests at tables with others they know. They don’t have to be fast friends, just acquaintances or people with some kind of connection. Try to seat out-of-town guests, who aren't likely to know anyone, with others who have similar interests. If you do find odd couples, try and pair them with people they most likely will be able to associate with. Even though it won’t be possible to please everyone with their seating arrangement, you can try your best by accommodating them with the rules above.

The break between the ceremony and reception was too long

The interval between the ceremony and reception should best be kept as short as possible - not exceeding an hour and a half, unless you are able to provide your guests with some form of entertainment. Many couples opt for a “cocktail hour” whereby guests are treated to cocktails and snacks and can mingle with each other to pass the time.

The centrepiece was distracting

It’s common sense that if a large centrepiece is placed in the middle of a table, the guests will have trouble seeing each other… but brides never learn! They get caught up in the glamorous look of tall, elaborate centrepieces and how they fill out the room so nicely. As a wedding planner this one is hard to overcome, as personally I also love the look of a tall centrepiece compared to that of a flatter, shorter arrangement. This is up to you, either you’ll risk the chance of guests complaining about this, or you’ll opt to keep them happy and compromise.

I was offended that I had to pay for drinks

Face it, as a guest you should be happy that you are provided with a free meal and entertainment. Although open bar used to be the accepted norm, those days are gone. Some couples will allow for a limited bar (whereby certain drinks up to a certain amount are paid for) and other couples will only provide the table wine and champagne. As a couple you should state in your invitations that it will in fact be a cash bar, so that you don’t have the scenario of some guests leaving their wallets behind.

The bride and groom didn't stop by to say hello

This is a mistake made by couples that can easily be avoided. Ask your photographer to take group photos with each table, this way you will have interaction with all your guests and have an opportunity for a quick greeting, thank you or compliment.

I was never thanked for my gift

This is a big no. With technology nowadays making it so easy to communicate with your guests, couples have no excuse as to why their guests weren’t thanked for their gift. Make sure that when opening your gifts, either yourself or your husband is writing down what gift you got together with the recipient’s name. Be sure to send out thank you notes as soon as you return from honeymoon.