Accommodating all of your guests on your big day can be a lot to consider. There are so many different considerations to be made that it’s easy to miss something. You want your big day to be special and making sure all of your guests are able to enjoy it can be a big part of it. To help make this process easier you can use some simple tips to make sure no one is left out on your wedding day.
1. Don’t assume your guest’s needs
It’s important that you understand that not all disabilities or needs are visible. Your RSVP can be a great place to include a spot for people to include an accommodation that may be necessary on your big day. A simple space for someone to include a food allergy, need for a wheelchair ramp or anything else you may need to be aware of can go a long way for making your big day go off without a hitch and make sure everyone enjoys it.
2. Consider the right venue and vendors
If you do know some accommodations that are necessary early on you can factor that into your venue and vendor choices. If you know that you will need wheelchair access then you can seek out a venue and transport services that can correctly accommodate that. Food allergies are a big one that can arise and having a caterer that can handle food properly and safely to accommodate those needs can be extremely important. Outside of talking to these vendors to see if they have these considerations you can ask them how they’ve handled these in the past to know they are truly ready to make your big day as perfect as possible.
3. Make sure you can communicate to guests
If you have visually impaired guests then you may need to consider braille invitations or just simply getting embossed invitations where the lettering is pressed into the invitation to give it a physically raised appearance and allows the text to be recognized with physical touch. If you have deaf guests at your wedding you may need to consider a sign language interpreter. Ultimately there are a million different considerations you may need to make but having open and early communication with your guests makes sure you can integrate them easily.
It’s important to recognize that no disabilities or considerations look the same and some are unable to be seen at all. It all comes down to being considerate and reaching out to guests to make sure you can accommodate them all seamlessly. If it’s possible and reasonable, think about your big day from your guests eyes and what considerations would be important to make.
Will there be a gap between the ceremony and the reception where guests may need to be able to sit down? Do guests have to transport to a new location? If so, is there adequate and close parking? Visually impaired or hard of hearing guests may need to sit closer to be able to properly experience your big day. It may not be feasible to accommodate everything, but if you are able or a large enough group of your guests would benefit from it then it may be a good idea to make that happen for them.
Early and open communication with guests can make this easier and working with an experienced stationery designer can help make invitations and RSVPs that can accommodate your guests or offer options for them to communicate their accommodations with you.
XOXO – Chelsey