Weddings only happen once in a lifetime, but of course only except if the person decided to re-marry again for some reason. But, it has to be noted that it is still one of the most important, life-changing events that couples really plan and save up for that usually take months, if not, even for years!

Since this is quite important for a lot of reasons whether its cultural, traditional and personal, people who have been invited to attend this celebration of love, commitment and covenant needs to be more “cultured” and respectful towards the event. Unfortunately, some people treat it as nothing more than just attending an event where they can simply have free meals, free booze and an instagrammable background to post on their social media accounts.

Now, what can you do if you received a golden invitation today from your relatives and friends inviting you to their wedding? Or other formal affairs such as Engagement parties and birthdays, yes this is also applicable.. how can you be an ideal guest? Below are some of the common responsibilities that a wedding guest should do.

1. RESPOND PROMPTLY TO THE INVITE. This is the very first rule of being a cultured person even in the age of social media. If you received any form of invitation, be it in a snail mail, courier, and/or an e-invite (in your email or FB invite) better check your schedule for your availability and please, please respond ASAP to the invitation. There’s a reason why it says RSVP in the first place.

2. REFUSE POLITELY IF YOU CAN’T MAKE IT. It’s okay to say No if you really can’t especially if your boss won’t approve your leave from work, or no one’s going to take care of the kids especially if this is an adult-event only affair or worse you feel sick. Things like these do happen so don’t feel guilty if you really can’t attend your best friend’s wedding or your cousin’s Engagement dinner. They will surely understand your reasons, just as long as you reply promptly with your refusal message indicating your reasons for saying no.

3. DO NOT BE DEMANDING WHEN MAKING SPECIAL REQUESTS. It’s actually okay to ask for something, especially when you really have to, but when you do, be sure that it will be definitely reasonable. If you made a request to the couple to bring your boyfriend/girlfriend/kids to the wedding for example or if you asked them to provide you with accomodation for their destination wedding or pay for your attire if you’ll be part of the Entourage and they refuse, please try to understand and hear their explanation first before getting unreasonable by ranting on social media and sounding like a brat. Grow up and be an adult. For sure, they may have a tight budget that’s why they can’t add your special someone to their wedding guest list and they can’t provide for your accommodation, and that they only limit the number of kids to their wedding because it’s an adult-event only, so try to be more understanding. Remember the reason why you want to celebrate their special day in the first place. It’s a celebration of love, after all!

4. DO NOT BE LATE. This is a major no-no especially if you’re part of the Entourage even if you would try to justify your being late because of heavy traffic, car issues, bad hair day, dress problem or any kind of personal emergencies that you have, unless they’re of course, valid life and death situations which you can’t really avoid.

5. FOLLOW THE COUPLE’S WEDDING RULES. There’s actually a good reason why the couple put it up their wedding rules in the first place and even if you’re the smartest-most- opinionated-person-on-the-planet, please, do not argue with them for the sake of being right. If you find something off, politely inform them but do not argue because it will be pointless. It may be a long list of do’s and don’ts that you may not really 100% agree to, but it wouldn’t hurt anyway if you give this to the couple since it’s big day right?