We all go to a wedding for the same reason, to celebrate the union of the couple and show our support and blessings.  The more closer you are to the couple, the more you want to do for them.  But the reality is, there are times when the wedding collides with other events in your life.  You may have a business trip, you may have kids, you may have an engagement party for your family, your babysitter bailed on you last minute, you may have someone in the hospital that you need to take care of, and the list goes on.  And plus, the wedding trend has changed a little bit that the bride and the groom aren’t in a hurry to go to their honeymoon.  They like to stay until the end of their wedding night to have a good time with their friends and family.

Instead of not showing to the wedding at all, these are few possible tips on how to leave a wedding early.

+ Check that you have a legitimate reason to leave a wedding that they’ve spent thousands of dollars and over a year of planning.

+Let the couple know your situation long before the wedding.

+Let the couple know that you will only be joining the ceremony, and that they should recalculate the number of plates they will report to the caterer.

+ Offer the couple to give up your seats for someone else if it’s a small wedding.

+ Show them your frustration for your unfortunate situation.

+ General rule is that you should stay until everything that the bride and the groom has paid for has been served.  Most of the time it would be your meal, desserts and reception favor.

+ Another good cue to leave would be after all the special events.  First dances, cake cutting, speeches, bouquet toss etc.

+ When you let the couple know that you will be leaving the wedding early, it should never be on the day of.

+ Tell them a specific reason for you changing your schedule, instead of saying “Something came up.”  That just sounds like an excuse.

+ If you know that you’re leaving early, don’t carpool with others.  It’s already a sensitive issue that you’re leaving early, you don’t need to take a whole big group with you.

+ Write them a congratulations/sorry/thank you card after the wedding to show your deepest apologies.

+ Try your very best to cancel the other event!

Remember, these are only tips on how to make a well-mannered wedding exit, ONLY if you absolutely have no solution for you to avoid it.  You should always try to stay at the wedding as long as you can.  These couples only get one wedding in their life time!

Tags:Wedding 101