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Weddings

50 Things Wedding Guests Should NEVER Do

Need to brush up on wedding guest etiquette? From arriving late to announcing a pregnancy, here are all the things guests should avoid doing.

Steve Gerrard Photography

Ready to hop in your car and speed away to watch your BFF tie the knot? Awesome! But, before you gas up your Hyundai, there are a few things you should keep in mind when it comes to wedding guest etiquette. After all, being the perfect guest takes a little bit of work and you definitely want to avoid becoming a wedding guestzilla. While most of these may seem like second nature to you, you’d be surprised what can fly out the window after a few glasses of Moët. From arriving late to asking for a ride in the newlyweds’ getaway car, here are some of the biggest faux pas you can make as a wedding guest.

Here are a few things wedding guests should never do.

  1. Arrive late.
  2. Show up if you didn’t RSVP.
  3. Bring your pet along in place of a plus one.
  4. Bring one of the bride or groom’s exes along as a plus one.
  5. Bring along a plus one if the RSVP card indicated not to.
  6. Wear wedding guest attire that goes against the dress code (like a white gown, perhaps?).
  7. Leave your phone ringer on loud during the ceremony.
  8. Text while the wedding vows are being said.
  9. Steal a seat from one of the VIPs.
  10. Stand up when the officiant asks, “speak now or forever hold your peace.”
  11. Join the recessional instead of waiting your turn to leave the venue.
  12. Show up to the reception with a keg, funnel or beer pong balls.
  13. Make a dramatic outfit change to outdo the guests of honour.
  14. Make a toast when you weren’t asked to.
  15. Take a nap (even if you can sneak away to a quiet room).
  16. Get frisky with the bride or groom’s mother or father.
  17. Photobomb every picture of the newlyweds.
  18. Take embarrassing snapchats of the bride or groom.
  19. Have a shot for shot competition with a family member of the bride or groom.
  20. Hit the bar a little too hard.
  21. Spill your drink on the bride.
  22. Hire a flower girl/ring bearer to be your personal drink waiter for the night.
  23. Mistake one of the bridesmaids for the bride or groom’s mother.
  24. Get too flirty with the venue staff.
  25. Act like the paparazzi.
  26. Disregard the wedding seating chart.
  27. Wage a food fight with cake or canapés.
  28. Sneak appetizers into your purse for later.
  29. Bring your own meal in Tupperware.
  30. Insult the menu.
  31. Sneak a taste of the cake before the couple has cut it.
  32. Complain about your food allergies or intolerances.
  33. Pull your chair up to the sweetheart table to eat with the happy couple.
  34. Gossip about the bride, groom or any member of their wedding party.
  35. Voice your negative views on marriage.
  36. Talk about divorce statistics.
  37. Cry about how single you feel.
  38. Let your kids wreak havoc on the venue.
  39. Throw some elbows when trying to catch the bouquet.
  40. Snag products from the bathrooms/hotel carts
  41. Take a centrepiece home with you.
  42. Try to join the band (now’s not the time to show off your guitar skills).
  43. Start amping people up to do a conga line during the father-daughter or mother-son dance.
  44. Steal the mic during the reception to treat all the other guests to a solo performance.
  45. Make too many cheesy song requests (nobody wants to hear multiple ABBA songs).
  46. Propose to your own S.O.
  47. Announce your pregnancy.
  48. Perform your own striptease when the garter toss song comes on.
  49. Hit on the bride or groom.
  50. Ask to ride shotgun in the newlyweds’ getaway car.

Looking for more wedding guest etiquette insights? Join the “guestzilla” discussion in our community forums »