Bored guests?

That sounds like a fun wedding to me! Don't overthink it. I got in this mindset too. People are coming to show you love. If they leave early...let them...if they stay and party great. I think we all put too much emphasis on these things. It will be a magical day no matter what. I will end with this. I had a friend who spent a HUGE amount of money on her wedding. LIKE A LOT. NO ONE DANCED, and people left early. Sometimes you can do the very most and people may not be in the mood. So again, don't overthink it.

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Thanks Gina. Being it's a small crowd to start with, I just don't want it to be "ho-hum", ya know? I don't think I'll mind if they leave early, just if they leave because they were bored or weren't having a good time. I'll try to relax .... I only have 487 more days to worry. LOLOL

I wouldn’t be interested in either of these things, but if you think YOU would enjoy it and that it would appeal to at least some of your guests— go for it! That’s what matters. I found that those of my guests who were not big dancers were content to drink and mingle , and wander around and take pictures in our pretty venue. Actually the last wedding that I went to had terrible music so while I’d usually be on the dance floor, I was not into it , but had a great time hanging out chatting with people by an outdoor fire pit they had going. The fun cocktails they had available were entertaining enough for my crowd. But this is TOTALLY a know your crowd thing— you know your guests’ interests best. My crowd are drinkers and foodies, so I chose a good assortment of drink options and a good assortment of food options, and everyone was pleased. I don’t think many of my crowd would’ve gone for a drawing or tarot reading except maybe a small handful, so i splurged on what I knew they would respond to. So, my best advice is to think about your guests first. If you think they’d be into those things, go for it!

View Quoted Comment Thanks for your input, you pointed out some good thoughts to consider. Many of our guests are Friends of Bill W, so the drinking part of the event isn't priority- though I WILL have a fun signature mocktail! I will mull it all over and discuss with my very best friend who is visiting us next month. She knows a lot of the invitees, and can help with input/feedback. FH says to do "whatever feels right" @@

People are going to hang out and chat and eat your delicious food and drink your fun mocktails during "cocktail hour" - maybe you can do a playlist on your phone for for that time, so there's some background (low-key instrumentals maybe, nothing too loud). Everything else is just the cherry on top. Personally, I love the idea of a caricaturist or a photo booth, and H and I would have a ball with either or both! Your guests are there to celebrate y'all and you're (from what I can tell from your other comments/posts I've seen) being gracious and lovely hosts, so people will have a wonderful time.

This sounds like our wedding! We invited 25 but 19 guests celebrated with us. We had an open bar, DJ, and a caricaturist for entertainment. Nothing else. My husband and I are military (I'm not a veteran) so hardly any of our guests knew each other but it wasn't awkward. There were no lulls or awkward moments for guests and everyone had a great time. The only complaint was that the wedding didn't last longer!

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Thanks Becky. 90% of our guests who will come will be flying in from out of state. It's expensive and a long way to come, so I want our wedding to be one they can look back on and say "I'm so glad we went". Plus .... I'm a mom with strong 'mom' genes; I want everyone to be happy. LOLOL My FH and I are in a really good financial place, so I want to help wherever we can, so we're doing a big welcome dinner the night before the wedding, gift bags at the hotel(s), hotel blocks and providing a trolley ( I KNOW, right?!?!) to our venue (guests WILL have to call Uber or Lyft to get back to their hotel(s) ) and a light brunch the day after the wedding. These guests have been our super supporters through all our ups and downs, and ONLY people that are very close to us are invited. (we're not even inviting FH sponge step-daughter!) So going out of our way to make the weekend special is easy to do.

View Quoted Comment A fun signature mocktail is just as fun! I love trying new concoctions

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I found a super fun website, (https://www.townandcountrymag.com/leisure/drinks/how-to/g785/best-mocktail-recipes/) and am now trying to decide on one! I'm leaning towards the Pina Serrano Margarita or the Raspberry Bee's Knees.

View Quoted Comment I want all of these!
Another idea is to pick a couple with some overlapping ingredients so you can offer 2 or 3 options (while not making it too difficult on yourself). Thanks for the list, I’m totally bookmarking this to experiment with some of these !