How to be a Gracious Hostess
By Linda Moore
A gracious hostess will plan ahead with anticipation of her
guests needs, providing comfort and a perception of generosity.
The challenge when planning the wedding is to
appear as a gracious hostess while staying within the allotted budget.
Several opportunities are available to provide your
guests with a warm and comfortable welcome, while maintaining a wedding budget.
Accommodations
Responsibility for providing accommodations is
limited to the wedding attendants; however, it is considerate to book a block
of rooms for out-of-town guests. Most
hotels offer a discount when booking a block.
Enquire about your guests being on the same floor, to eliminate
complaints from other guests, and allow your guests the opportunity to mingle
over the weekend
Out-of-Town Guests
A gift basket, as simple as a coffee mug and a special blend
of coffee or for the chocolate lover a box of chocolates, awaiting the guest at
their hotel with a note of appreciation provide a warm welcome to out-of-town
guests.
Kleenex
As a courtesy to your guests, provide packages of Tissue by
scattering travel packs amongst the pews, for those Tears of Joy which are very
common at weddings.
A welcome and thoughtful gesture is to provide a package of
travel Tissue for the Mother of the Bride and Mother of the Groom, as well as
the female attendants.
Maps
Although you have sent maps with the invitations providing
directions to the reception and ceremony, your guest may have left them at
home, or misplaced them.Copies may be
left at the front desk of the hotel for out-of-town guests, and at the ceremony
have a basket providing maps with directions from the ceremony to the
reception.
Afternoon Tea - Winery Tour
When there is a long period of time between the ceremony and
reception, it is considerate to arrange entertainment for your guests.
Delegating the responsibility to a close
family friend to entertain the out-of-town guests at the bride´s parents´ or
groom´s parents´ home with an afternoon tea and light snack is a generous and
considerate gesture. In the Niagara
Region an alternative suggestion is to arrange a tour of one of the local
wineries. When ordering wine for the
wedding, enquire about their ability to accommodate your guests for a tour between
the ceremony and reception. When the
reception and ceremony are at the same location, cocktails and appetizers are
popular.
Bathroom Baskets
Include emergency items such as band aids, aspirins, mints,
a sewing kit, clear nail polish, and tampons in a basket in the ladies room,
with a similar basket in the men´s room
without the female needs, for the emergencies is a kind and thoughtful gesture.
Favours
Being creative, while choosing a favour which compliments
the style of the wedding and personal tastes of the bride and groom that will
be useful, while staying within the budget can be challenging.
Candy will be eaten, a candle will be burned,
a sewing kit kept for emergencies, manicure set useful, a magnet will be placed
on the fridge, a bookmark used by readers, cork screw or bottle stopper
appreciated, bottle of wine will be drank and cookie cutters used by the
bakers. A gift to a chosen charity in
lieu of favours has become popular with guests receiving a thank you from the
charity.
The gracious hostess will add her personal touch when making
her guests feel special and comfortable, while being creative to be
cost-efficient and maintain her budget, and will be long remembered as a person
of generosity and kindness.
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