Do you avoid seeing people leading up to the wedding?

I can sympathize with you. Lots of people exhaust me. Nonetheless, I think you need to spend time with your family as they came to support you. I find meeting people OUT for meal in a restaurant is easier to navigate. Also, meeting early in the day for a short breakfast or brunch is better than meeting in the middle of the day. You could also say that the wedding preparations have kept you very busy and you need to rest before the big day. Your family likely knows you are introverted and that all of this is overwhelming.

From what I've heard and seen there's really not a ton of social time the day before the wedding.


Could you show up maybe 10-15 minutes while you're "on your way to last minute planning details"? Just let them know you're so happy to see them and can't wait to celebrate tomorrow but right now you need to just relax and finalize details.

No people took the time off/traveled to come celebrate with you. It doesn’t hurt to pop your head in to speak and say hello before running off to the next thing

I agree that guests are traveling from far to your wedding, you should make some time too see them.

I agree with others - especially since guests are traveling in, the host should be saying hello (at minimum not avoiding them). I'd find it strange if I traveled to someone's wedding and didn't see them the day before or after. You can be intentional about when and how long you schedule this for, but it's important to interact with your guests.

View Quoted Comment Wedding ettiquette completely varies by family, culture, etc. It really depends on the size of the wedding.
For the brief moment we came down for just some group photos at cocktail hour people stole my groom away for photos we didn't plan and he would have been caught up forever if I didn't have my attendant snag him and bring him back to me.
Completely normal in my culture to dance with your guests smile at them wave and the guests completely understand the bride and groom are basically celebrities on their day and not occupy their time with conversation. If the wedding is like 50 people then yes perhaps for a part you can greet everyone quickly thank them for coming and move on.
At our weddings there's always 150+ guests and greeting all your guests will take up your entire wedding. One fun ways to "greet" all your guests is the DJ to put on a song for you and you dance around to every table before it's done. Another thing is.. if people are there to the end then the bride and groom can say goodbye to people once the party is over.
When I travel for a wedding I still don't expect the bride and groom to make time for me. They're busy with each other. I'm there to witness their marriage and watch and if I'm lucky get to dance with them for a bit. Only people would small egos would get offended that I didn't spend personal time with THEM on MY wedding day when I had so many guests to attend to.

View Quoted Comment Sorry I was responding to another thread responded here instead. Other comment was for something else.


I made time for whoever I can but realistically did not have time to see the people who traveller a day or 2 before. It is what it is I just saw them at the wedding.

View Quoted Comment I did what I can I wasn't able to see a few of them before. I saw them during. The 2 that arrived 2 days before.. too hectic. I had work then ran wedding errands. The issue is they were staying with family with houses filled with 10 people at a time so there's no quick pop in. They understood thankfully and said they know it's my wedding.

View Quoted Comment I made time for most and saw my family a ton but I wasn't able to see the family that arrived 1-2 days before. I didn't take any time off before my wedding bc I have 2 weeks honeymoon and work. It is what it is. People come to see the wedding, bride and groom are going to be busy. To be honest every wedding I've traveled for I didn't expect to spend any time with the bride and groom before. Or even immediately after.

Definitely empathize with the social anxiety. But when you make the choice to invite guests, you need to spend time with them, or else elope with 1-2 legal witnesses only.


That is why we were very selective about the guest list with people we couldn’t imagine the day without, and not including people we had no relationship with or that were triggers. Because we don’t live where the majority of our loved ones do, they all made the effort to travel, which is common for most weddings. Pre wedding parties such as destination bachelorette parties and welcome parties in lieu of a rehearsal dinner are not done in our social circles but we wanted to spend as much time as possible with them before the wedding day. So we had a full family reunion-esque party the night before instead of a rehearsal dinner for attendants only. In addition to greeting guests at a pre-ceremony cocktail hour before guests were seated which we heard many compliments about. It would never occur to either of us to invite guests and then hide from them at any point, including the recent trend of private cocktail hour/dinner for the couple only, or make any excuses to avoid them leading up to the wedding day.