Sometimes the bride and groom can't think of every little or not so little thing that won't work well on their wedding day when it comes to guest experience. What are things you didn't like about wedding you attended? This might provide useful feedback for anyone else organising a wedding 😊

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- inconvenient remote venue without any transport organised to and from the venue - choosing a cute instagrammable venue with zero consideration to guests (this is mainly regarding weddings abroad)

- poor table/restaurant layout - around 5 guests including us were seated in such a way that it didn't allow us to see absolutely any part of the show (anything happening that is meant to entertain the guests)..

- poor communication - particularly important for single guests who also aren't part of a particular friend group - during weddings abroad I've been a single guest where I had no idea what is going on before (and sometimes during) the wedding, later to find out there have been some fun bits organised that no-one told me about while I stayed bored in my hotel room. Not going to weddings like this again.

My fiancé (M33) and I (F28) are getting married August 2027 in a marquee on the grounds of a country house with around 120 guests. We were invited to 10 weddings this year (almost all adult only) and inevitably there have been multiple pregnancies announced in the last few months including the best man for our wedding, two of the groomsmen and a bridesmaid.

We are so excited for our friends and when the best man announced his news and asked about our wedding we immediately said babies in arms would be okay. Since then, with subsequent announcements, we’ve realised there will now be 8 definite babies under 1 year (given all pregnancies go well) and 14 potential with friends we know are trying.

I have nothing against babies and am so excited for the couples - most of whom are my partner’s friendship group from university, however am struggling to imagine 14 infants at our wedding.

Our options are:
A: Blanket “adults only” rule
- I’m okay with people not coming however would find it stressful if there were some initial RSVPs who cancelled after the babies arrived and would rather know up front
- Is this taboo? I know often breastfeeding babies/babies in arms are the exception to the rule so would this be controversial and upset our friends?

B: Babies in arms (potentially 14 babies present at the wedding)
- my main concern with this option is how to accommodate for the mothers in a marquee - the majority of the accommodation is off site and the ceremony is outside so am not sure how we could make this a comfortable experience for our guests
- because many of these are from the same friendship group we may end up with 6 on one table
- I don’t mind babies crying generally but 14?? Would this ruin other guests experience

C: Babies in arms for bridal party only (I.e. best man, groomsman and bridesmaid)
- allows the people we want to be there to come (if able) but potentially upsets the other guests

We discussed everything last night after another announcement and decided are leaning towards options A or C (we haven’t sent invites just save the dates). We will ensure the best man and bridesmaid at least have accommodation within walking distance from the venue to be able to have their babies present.

I understand this may mean several people say no to coming - given our wedding is quite rural, there is unlikely to be enough local accommodation for multiple sets of grandparents to help with looking after couples babies - I know this is sometimes what happens.

if we go for options A or C we would provide a private area/ closed gazebo for breast feeding mothers to pump.

My questions would be:
- Are there any other considerations/ suggestions you have to help accommodate for breast feeding women who may need to pump but decide to come to the wedding?

- Is it rude to have some babies in arms allowed but not all?

- As parents what would have made your lives easier attending a marquee wedding with an infant?

- Does anyone have experience with that number of babies under 6 months at a wedding? How disruptive is it?

Thank you - I know it’s our wedding and we should do what we want but I do want to make sure our guests have a good time.

I had my hen party yesterday - something I'd been anxious about for months. I've only got a small group of friends and none are big party people, so I invited my mum, MIL, and some aunties too. We did sip & paint, then a nice dinner and a drink after at a local bar. It was really lovely, everyone got on super well. I felt a bit anxious at a couple of points in the evening - mostly around the dinner (I could barely eat a thing) and the bill (I could sense some were bristling a bit at splitting it evenly when some had more than others, etc.). Overall I had so much fun and really enjoyed being with my people. But this morning I've woken up feeling really flat... like the evening wasn't enough, I should have had a wild night out, worrying people didn't have fun. Did anyone else feel like this? I'm hoping this feeling will pass.

Looking for advice on people who have handled this situation. I'm about 7 months out from my wedding, and a lot of artists I contacted months ago were already booked for my date.

I found someone who was free, but didn't have a huge bridal portfolio, took a gamble and did a trial.

Was pretty unhappy with the makeup, and how it lasted (it was pretty much all gone after 5 hours). I thought I could probably have done a better job myself. Plus I wasn't blown away with the products used (my personal makeup bag had more premium products in).

Has anyone been in this situation, and did you continue to look for another artist, or just decide to do it yourself. I was already on the fence about doing it myself, as I've had my makeup done a few times and only loved it once.

We are getting married next year and it's about time to start looking for the groom and wedding party suits. My FH won't order online and wants to go and try one some suit options. We have a local independent store which we will go to but we know that we are looking at min £350 per suit and even hiring will be around £200. There is a best man plus 3 ushers that we also then need to buy suits for and we are currently trying to bring some of our costs down a bit. None of them wear suits for work so it's not even as if we could ask them to wear something they already own.

Given that Next, Slaters M&S etc all do off the peg suits for a lot less, has anyone in the South East found a store location that has a decent amount of stock to try on. Our local Next has very few suits on the shop floor so trying to find somewhere that he can at least look and try on a few options even if we have to order in some of the sizes. Would love any suggestions based on experience please.

I am agonising over my guest list so much.

Is it just me, or do people put so much pressure on you when you’re planning a wedding and come at you with lots of assumptions? I don’t think people realise sometimes just how expensive it is and how much planning goes into it all, even for a small wedding.

On top of that, I have many close female friends who I love dearly. But the amount of presumption about who will be my bridesmaids is getting a little silly, when I’ve never expressed it to anyone. I’ve had several friends assume or hint it. Initially, my fiancé and I were going to elope. Then we decided small family wedding, then made exceptions for a small group of friends who pleaded with us. I know my fiancé and I will have an amazing day, but I just feel like the pressure is really off putting and sometimes wonder if I eloped would I feel so much better 😭 idk. None of my friends have gone through this so maybe they just don’t understand. I have anxiety and rejection sensitivity, so I guess that doesn’t help. I’m just so torn on what to do.. wonder if I should skip the bridal party entirely, that way no one can have any expectations or hurt feelings

Where to buy wedding invitations?!
It’s Papier, Zazzle and Vistaprint popping up every time I search. Can’t see anything beyond the that’s alright category! Ideally we’ll be able to include a QR code for RSVPs on the actual invite too.

Hi all, I was wondering if anyone had bought their dress online from stillwhite or any other store like that? I’ve tried some dresses on now but I was quite keen to go second hand for eco reasons and cost reasons too!

I was just wondering if anyone had any tips on buying them online as I’m nervous not trying something on! Thanks so much 🙏

So I'm going to try keep this as vague as possible because I don't want to make this a massive 'THING' but I am getting very anxious about one of my wedding vendors and their lack of communication.
For context, I get married in less than two weeks and have had this vendor booked since the start of 2025, when I paid my deposit. They have really good reviews, and I have met them in person and liked their vibe and their work, so I was comfortable booking them. They have always been slow to reply to emails, I would often need to email twice ('just checking you got this?') but their replies were always nice and I do understand how difficult it is to reply to a large volume of emails.
My issue is however, from the last few weeks. I am due to pay my remaining balance, and I need to confirm some details with them regarding the order of the day, which requires me to liaise with a few other vendors (who have been amazing!!) to make sure we're all on the same page. I decided to move over to WhatsApp to communicate with this vendor (who gave me their number for this reason), given how soon the wedding is, thinking that maybe my emails were getting lost and preventing a timely response. I messaged them on the 5th October, to ask if they were okay with certain details. They replied that they were currently working a wedding, and would reply that evening. I replied saying that was absolutely fine, and since then, my messages haven't been opened or acknowledged (they are marked as delivered on WhatsApp but not read.)
I am starting to panic a bit, I have messaged quite a few times and there has been nothing. It's far too late now to replace this vendor, and they require any cancellation within 30 days to pay in full, which I couldn't afford to do if I was going to hire someone else also.
Has this happened to anyone else? How did you handle this? I am the type of person to stress about these things anyway, but I'm genuinely losing sleep over not knowing if this vendor is actually going to turn up or not, and I need a structure of the day to feel comfortable.
Please help! TIA!!

I’ve had so much help and good advice from this sub that I wanted to come back and share my wedding story.

My partner and I got engaged in June 2026 and knew we didn’t want a big wedding and didn’t want to wait, so we decided to have a registry office ceremony and dinner after for 20 guests in October.

We did want to do all the parts of a wedding that were important to us though and that was dressing up in nice outfits, exchanging rings, and good photography! We also wanted to give our guests a really nice dinner.

Our day went PERFECTLY! I still can’t believe our luck.

We had the only sunny day amid a week of rain, guests had a lovely time, and we had a super chill day which we got to really enjoy and savour.

We booked a very nice registry office in a historic building which made for great photos, and picked music and readings that were personal and meaningful to us which made for a very beautiful ceremony.

I also customised a few things on Etsy and Shein (chocolate favours, confetti, welcome sign, guest book) which gave a personalised touch to everything for relatively little cost.

We had a 30 minute gap in between ceremony and dinner where we didn’t want guests to wait in the street so we treated our guests to a round of drinks in a nearby bar until it was dinner time.

We then went to a private dining room in a nice restaurant with stunning interiors. We served canapés and a 3-course dinner with wines & beers then cut a wedding cake and gave our guests cake in goodie bags as we thought people won’t want to eat cake straight after dessert. We also had a first dance in the small space we had at the restaurant just for the memories. We did one bride & groom combined speech, and the groom’s best friend did a beautiful toast.

Our guests didn’t really know each other (lots of different groups and some individuals) and we had one long dinner table so we were very intentional with seating guests in a way were everyone had someone they could chat to. Everyone chatted away and had a great time.

We’d booked some hotel rooms for ourselves to get ready in and some out of town friends so we ended up going back to the hotel after the wedding and just hanging out on the patio with our friends chatting away into the night.

I also really enjoyed getting ready, didn’t do bridal party but had my mum and my best friend in the room with me with some chill music and prosecco and it was perfect. I loved my look and it came out exactly like I’d planned it in my head. I found all of our vendors through Instagram and they were all amazing! My dress was from the Brides Do Good sample sale and the only alteration I made is shortening the train as it was too long for what I wanted.

Our ceremony was at 5pm, so my (husband!) and I did a first look and private vows around 2pm then went for photos at a historic location in town and the photo previews are STUNNING!

Our day wasn’t exactly cheap - it came to around £9k for the registry office with extras (we had a live stream for a few friends who couldn’t come), dinner & drinks, welcome drinks, cake, outfits, hotel rooms for us and 2 friends, hair & makeup, wedding bands, and photography. We feel it was worth every penny for us.

Everyone commented on how chill I was and that’s not normally me as I’m a very anxious person, but the combination of good planning and having a small guest list meant I had nothing to worry about - I kept telling myself it’s just a dinner with 20 people we love!

All in all feeling incredibly lucky that it all worked out! Highly recommend having a micro wedding if that’s what you feel is right for you, I wouldn’t change a thing about it and still can’t get over how perfect it all was.

Edit 2: Maybe something's got lost in my post or people are just misreading, but at no point did I say that the guests would be paying for the tea towels. Only that they'd tell us if they wanted one so we didn't get too many made. We would never make the guests pay for a wedding favour, that's insane.

Edit: Thanks the feedback, everyone. Didn’t expect to get so many responses so quickly.

It seems I’m in the minority of thinking the guests would want one of these. I also thought the order form was a compromise between giving them to everyone or to no-one, but I get that everyone here thinks that’s weird too.

Some people have suggested a small order, and just give them to parents/wedding party, which I think it nice. Sadly, my partner thinks making even just one extra will ruin our original.

I also like the suggestion of using the drawings for thank you cards. I’m going to look into the practicality of that, so at least people get something back from their drawing effort.

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We’re getting married next September, both in our late 30s, really looking forward to it and planning is going well so far.

Today my fiancée brought up the idea of doing a “school tea towel” with the wedding guests. Before the meal, every guest gets a pen and a small square of paper to draw a picture of themselves on. These get collected up afterwards, arranged by us and then sent off to a company who will make it into a tea towel, tote bag, apron, etc. We both thought this sounded like a great idea, and got very excited about it.

Very quickly, however, a problem arises.

I was under the impression that this would be something we would create on bulk, either as a gift for the guests or (more financially practical) provide the guests with a link to order as many tea towels/totes they wanted. They helped design the towel, so they should have the opportunity to have one to remember the day.

My fiancée, on the other hand, thinks we should make only one tea towel just for us. She thinks no one will want one, and that it’s weird to ask them. She also says that by making more than one, it will make the one we have less special.

She’s been quite adamant about us not doing wedding favours as she thinks it’s a waste of money (which I agree), but I feel like this could be a nice balance of people only ordering what they want, and also it’ll be a good activity on the day.

Am I being unreasonable wanting more people to have this than just us? Or should be it something special, even if I think guests will want one too?

Hi!

My sister is getting married next year and we are really struggling to find a venue, even after months scouring. Hoping that someone may read this list and spark some ideas!

This is just for an evening reception, food and dancing.

In London
Aesthetically they don’t have a style but it needs to be nice (ie not just a hall)
160 people
Late license
No hire costs or very reasonable hire costs (ie minimum spend instead - they want as much as possible to go on food and drink)
Food: either Indian or Nigerian or the ability to bring in catering (even just for the late night food)
They’re very happy with hiring out a bar/restaurant as well as an actual event venue
Ideally not dry hire as it seems really stressful setting up and cleaning up after

If you’ve got any ideas, please shout - hoping someone will share something we haven’t come across yet!

Thank you!

I don’t usually wear Indian outfits, but since it’s my sister’s engagement, I thought I’d give a lehenga a try!

Any tips on how to accessorise?

Outfit details:

* Brand: House of Indya

* Price: Around $46

* Material: Silk blend

* Footwear: Most probably going with cream-coloured wedges

People tend to accessorise heavy in south Asian weddings, but it’s not really my style, so I was thinking statement earring and no necklace? Not sure if this is too minimal.

Open to suggestions!!

Hi all ! I was wondering if anyone could recommend any bridal shops in London that stocks mini wedding dresses (short wedding dresses) that I could try on? It's for my civil ceremony and I wanted something short and cute with a big poofy veil :)

I've been researching and majority of shops only do long dresses and I really would love to try on the dress before purchasing it. Buying one online seems like a big risk, and I wanted to be in a shop to try on the veil at the same time.

Thank you!!

Think I'm set on my dress (a simple mikado a line, soft sweetheart neck and a chapel train) but I'm unsure about ordering the veil with it. I did like it, it was basically what I want... but I'm torn.

It was £130 for a pearl and diamante single tier cathedral length. It had a cut edge which is what I'm torn with. I think I would prefer a slight trim to it so it looks "finished" and I'm thinking I might like one that has a few more of the pearls/ diamantes on it. I did try a cut edge all pearl in the same length, which again, was very nice, but was £350. The second also left me missing the slight sparkle, and again had a cut edge.

Has anyone get any suggestions on where to look (online or in person)? I don't really want to go over £150. I know that this is slightly popular so I'm hoping people will know what I'm on about and have some suggestions.

I'm wanting:

- a slight pencil trim so it looks finished

- chapel or cathedral length

- sparkle and pearl

- ideally less than £150

- if in person, either near Essex or East Midlands works. Happy to travel.

Follow up question, did you get charged much to order your veil from a bridal shop separately to your dress? I'm worried if I do, I'll get charged an extra £30 delivery fee and make it more expensive than if I just bought it at the same time with my dress/ extra fabric.

I'd be equally happy with a large single, platter, or sheet cake option as traditional tiers, as a home baker myself I care more about taste/options of flavours rather than fancy florals or intricate icing since our decor etc. will all be pretty low key.

Other than Costco, all the supermarket/chain/national delivery options seem to cap at around 30 people or cost similar to local bakers. I wouldn't mind getting separate cakes/desserts but we'll also need 1 or 2 options for allergen friendly versions so I don't know how much space we'll have to accommodate different versions.

Planning an Indian wedding can involve several events, different venues and traditions that are important to your family. Choosing a photographer involves more than finding someone whose Instagram photographs look beautiful.

Here are five things I would recommend checking before booking:

1. Experience with your ceremony. Hindu, Sikh and multicultural weddings each have their own important moments. Ask whether the photographer has experience with your particular traditions.
2. Complete wedding galleries. Don't judge a photographer entirely on a handful of portfolio images. Ask to see a full wedding to understand how consistently they capture the day.
3. Lighting and skin tones. Large venues, dimly lit receptions and outdoor ceremonies can present very different challenges.
4. Team size and coverage. If events are happening at different locations, make sure the proposed team can realistically cover everything you need.
5. Photography and film working together. If you're booking both, ask how the teams coordinate during important rituals so they can capture the moment without getting in each other's way.

It's also worth asking about delivery times, image selection, albums and exactly what is included in the package.

I'd be interested to hear what other couples found most important when choosing their wedding photographer.

Hi! For anyone who had a dry-hire wedding in the Cotswolds (or elsewhere in the UK), I’d love to hear how you managed costs!

My fiancé and I are considering a beautiful dry-hire property in the Cotswolds for around 200 guests. The venue rental itself is definitely not inexpensive, but we love the flexibility of having the property from Thursday to Monday, especially since around 60% of our guests will be traveling internationally. It would be lovely to make it feel like a proper family gathering rather than just a wedding day!

We’re planning a pretty relaxed welcome night with dinner, drinks, and maybe an open bar, followed by the wedding day with all the usual festivities. We’re hoping to save a bit by purchasing alcohol wholesale, but obviously with dry hire, all the little things add up quickly!

For those who went the dry-hire route, where did you find you could save money, and what ended up costing more than you expected? Did you find creative ways to keep catering, bar service, furniture, and staffing costs manageable without compromising too much on the guest experience?

Would also love to hear any regrets, things you’d do differently, or vendors you particularly loved. Trying to figure out whether the flexibility of dry hire is worth all the extra coordination and costs!

ETA: One other consideration for us is that the property doesn’t have a built-in wet weather contingency plan, so we’d need to hire tents or marquees for the wedding festivities regardless. Given the unpredictability of British weather, we’re trying to factor that into our overall budget, especially with 200 guests. Has anyone navigated something similar, and how did you manage the additional costs?

Hi! My fiancé and I absolutely fell in love with Kin House, especially the hospitality and the team! Unfortunately, they’re fully booked for summer weekends next year, and we loved it so much that we’re actually considering a weekday wedding (eep!).

Our alternative is a dry-hire venue with weekend availability, a more relaxed curfew, and the flexibility to stay and enjoy the property the morning after the wedding without feeling rushed. Also, worried that a dry hire will end up being more expensive.

So my question for Kin House brides is: Was the experience and hospitality at Kin worth the tighter turnaround or having a weekday wedding? Did you feel rushed at all, especially the morning after (they expect guests to be off property by 10:30AM…not uncommon but still would be nice to have a lax departure) or was everything so well handled that it didn’t really matter?

We’re so torn because we genuinely loved Kin, but also want the wedding weekend to feel relaxed and unhurried for us and our guests. Would love to hear your experiences!

Hi,

I'm looking to book two black cabs to take us on the 10- 15-minute drive from the hotel to the town hall, for the bridal party and groom's party which are both quite small. I had a cursory Google search, but when you start looking at dedicated wedding cab companies, the price shoots up, of course. I wondered if anyone had used a similar service and could advise?

I'm also considering pre-booking an Addison Lee, as you can choose black cab as a service on there, and they've always been very reliable when I've used them in the past.

Any advice or suggestions welcome!

Thanks

Song to walk down the aisle to?

Metal, emo, rock community

I'm getting married next October, it'll be a civil ceremony in a stunning venue, we are going Gothic style, black dress and music getting progressively heavier throughout the night, we actually have most of it booked in bar the photographer. So now I'm focused of choosing a song to walk down the aisle to,

I would absolutely love black wedding by in this moment or raise hell by Dorothy.

Ideally something unexpected for me, anyone who knows me would be expecting the black parade or similar.

I ideally would like female fronted (big fan of halestorm, within temptation and similar)

I'm looking for something bouncy so I don't get emotional or start balling, and something fun and unexpected but fitting, definitely no instrumental versions or softer covers.

The issue I'm having is the council will not allow any songs with religious wording, so rules out alot, certainly the 2 top picks, any song suggestions would be much appreciated, or any songs you've gotten away with for a civil ceremony that we're a similar theme to what we had in mind?

Does anyone have any contact information for an imam who's willing to perform an interfaith marriage between a Muslim woman and a Christian man?

I've been trying to contact a couple of Imams but had no luck.

Please help. We're planning to get married in a month.

Thanks in advance