Wedding Guest Etiquette Tips

Most people enjoy attending a wedding, but not everyone knows the protocol of attending, how to select wedding gifts  or when it’s appropriate to give as a gift.

One of the most common questions is whether or not a single invited person can bring a guest.

Unless the wedding invitation envelope is addressed to you “plus guest”, then you’re the only person who has been invited. It is impolite to request to bring a guest, but if you are uncomfortable attending alone, find out if there is anyone else who has also received an invitation to attend alone and plan to attend together.

On the other hand, an invitation addressed to a family, for example “To The McCray Family” means that everyone, including the children are invited to attend. Although most invitations include an “RSVP by” date, there are some cases where this information is excluded. If you receive an invitation that doesn’t have an RSVP date, you should respond as soon as possible.

While many couples are choosing to send wedding invitations to family members and their closest friends, and then sending an invitation to a wedding reception to others, it is not appropriate to invite a person only to the ceremony if a reception is being held.

Choosing a wedding gift is a lot easier when the couple uses a bridal registry. But an invitation will not have information about the bridal registry, because technically, a wedding gift is not mandatory. If the couple has a wedding website usually this information will be listed there. If the couple doesn’t have a website, then asking members of the bridal party is a good way to find out where the couple has registered their preferences. Only ask the couple for their bridal registry information directly as a last resort.

If at all possible, deliver your wedding gift directly to the couple before the date they will exchange wedding rings or at the very latest when they return from their honeymoon, although many agree that two months after the wedding is acceptable, and some say that up to the first anniversary is okay, the more time that passes from the date of the wedding, the easier it is to forget to purchase the gift.

While you don’t want to forget to give the couple a gift for their wedding, bringing your gift to the wedding is not the best way to handle this either. There is always the chance that it may get lost or damaged in the excitement of the day.

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