You open your mailbox and find a pretty little envelope! It’s a wedding invitation from your friend! You’re so excited and can’t wait to mail your RSVP saying that you’ll be in attendance back to your friend! Then the wedding day arrives, you drive to the venue and walk into the ceremony space! If you’re like a lot of people, you choose the middle aisle seat! It seems like one of the best spots to get a good view of all of the action. I totally get it! But today I’m sharing 3 tips for wedding guests!

Be mindful of your bags and body

After photographing quite a few weddings over the years, we’ve seen a lot of stuff! One of the things that I notice quite often on wedding days is that a guest will sit along the middle aisle and place their bright red purse on the floor right at the edge of the aisle! Or guys will often have a knee, leg or foot in the aisle as the bride and groom are walking down the aisle! Not only is it not the best for the couples photos, but sometimes it makes it harder for the bridal party to get past or they may have to squeeze awkwardly around you or your items! Next time that you’re at a wedding, be mindful of where you place your bags and body!

Put away your cellphone and tablet

This is a really big one for two reasons! When the bride and groom look through their ceremony photos, they want to see smiling (crying is cool too) guest staring at them. I’ve never had a couple say that they want to see lots of electronic devices staring at them. A lot of couples choose to have an unplugged ceremony for this very reason! But even if the ceremony isn’t unplugged, please put away your cellphone and tablets if you’re sitting in the middle aisle. The guests who are sitting along the aisle are the first ones we see in all of the photos. And this will also ensure that you don’t lean in front of the professional photographer during the ceremony while trying to snap that photo for Facebook!

Watch out for the aisle decor

Vases full of water have been knocked over. Flowers have fallen! Lit candles have been overturned! We’ve seen it all! If you choose the aisle seat, watch out for the aisle decor! Especially if you walk down the middle aisle after the ceremony!

I hope that you find these tips helpful the next time that you’re a guest at a wedding!