Wedding planning has a lot of moving parts. You may be getting so many opinions.. (most coming from a place of love).. but it can all be so overwhelming. Additionally, In the age of social media, Pinterest and endless sources of information, it’s easy to get false information on what you should do and not do as a newly engaged couple planning a wedding.

Planning styles may vary from couple to couple. While we are all about making your planning journey your own and embracing your uniqueness as a couple, the reality is no matter your direction, there are some rules you should definitely follow.  We are here to clear up any confusion with this piece so here are our 16 wedding rules you should follow when planning a wedding celebration.

We are sharing rules as a couple and as a guest.

8 Rules To Follow As A Couple:

1. Never invite a guest to the bridal shower and not invite them to the wedding.

2. If you send a save the date, you must follow with a formal wedding invitation.

3. Don’t invite someone to the rehearsal dinner if you don’t plan on inviting them to the wedding celebration.

4. Always Include stamps on your rsvp envelopes: Save your guests a trip to the post office or store for stamps. In your invitation suite, your rsvp envelopes should be pre-stamped. Planning should focused on the guest experience so these small details go a long way.

5. Thank you notes must go out to any guest that sent a gift. Get your cards out as soon as possible. You don’t want to wait too long. I recommend 1-2 months after the Wedidng. As a planner, I actually tell my clients to start writing thank you notes as soon as they get the gifts. You can order thank you notes along with your wedding stationery. Plan ahead or you will forget and months will go by without sending them and that’s not proper wedding etiquette.

6. You don’t have to invite everyone.

7. You DO have to feed your vendors. 

8. Don’t include your registry on the wedding invitation. You can opt to include a details card in your wedding invitation suite that includes your registry and hotel information. You can also include these details on your wedding website.

8 Rules To Follow As A Guest:

1. Do send your RSVP and send it on time…. way before the due date.

2. Arrive on time. You don’t want to be the guest trying to sneak in during the ceremony…. or worse during the grand entrance of the bride.

3. Don’t bring a guest if a plus one was not included in your invitation.

4. Don’t bring kids to a wedding that clearly specified “adult only” on the invitation and on the wedding website.

5. If a couple includes a dress code in their invitation, follow it.

6. Don’t get in the way of the professionals hired to take photos and videos. Put your smartphone away.. and turn the ringer off!

7. Don’t propose to your significant other at a wedding without getting permission from the couple… But my take on this is permission or not, don’t do it at a wedding. You can create your own moment .. another day! Let the couple enjoy their day. Quite frankly, asking the couple puts them in a very awkward position.

8. Hold off from posting on social media until the couple actually say “I do”.

These tips should get you on your way to being a great host and guest. These are some simple rules to follow when planning.

Happy Planning!

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