How to Be a Good Wedding Guest

It’s officially wedding season. You can pick it out by its tell-tale signals: all of your weekends from now until labor day are booked up with showers, bachelorette parties, and the main event. Your friends may call you in tears over which napkin color goes best with their plates, or because the fabric of the bridesmaid dresses clashes with their gowns. Arguments spring up between people who never fought before in their lives. Why? Because while attending weddings is Awesome (with a capital A), well, planning that shiz is STRESSFUL.

It’s only the biggest day of the bride’s life, and she obviously wants it to be perfect.

So, friends, let’s cut girlfriend a little slack if she has a couple emotional breakdowns, and as an invitee, try to be a good guest and not add to the D-R-A-M-A. It’s one of the few occasions left in life where there are indeed rules of etiquette, and it’s expected that you follow them. It makes a big event where all eyes are on you less harrowing when you know people will behave a certain way.

Here’s what you should do to make sure you’re contributing to the celebration, not taking away from it, straight from the mouth of Milli Martini Bratten, editor in chief of Brides magazine via the pages of Allure.

•  RSVP Immediately: Don’t wait until the day before the wedding to phone and say you’re coming.
• Don’t bend the rules: If it doesn’t say “and guest” on your invite that gives you two options: fly solo, or do not attend. End of story.
  
•  Be early: If the bride is walking down the aisle when you arrive (we’ve all been there!), wait until she finishes her procession and slip in the side. Shoot for 45 minutes before the ceremony next time.
• Be Colorful: Wearing white is a no-no, and wearing black is a little blah. This is not a funeral, put on a flowery dress!
• Upload Later: Try not to play paparazzi and leak photos of the bride with her finger up her nose before she can post the perfectly lit professional numbers that only capture flattering angles.
•  Exit politely: Read: don’t leave during a toast or any other special event (bouquet tossing)-try to make your exit after the cake is cut.

Now go enjoy the season!