Weddings are very important events. But there’s a lot of stressful planning and preparation involved before the big day.
According to a Business Insider survey, 71% of respondents said that wedding planning was more stressful than buying a home or finding a job. Apart from pre-wedding issues, making sure that you accommodate all your guests’ requests on the day of the event can also cause a lot of stress for wedding planners. For instance, an anonymous user shared their wedding day story to Business Insider where a relative requested that they should only be seated with fellow vegans.
The range of unexpected guest requests can be vast, but it’s also very likely that most guests will prefer a non-smoking event. With the negative health effects and the smell of cigarette smoking, it’s not surprising. In this case, if you have guests who want to smoke at your wedding, you can prepare beforehand by following the following tips:
Scout the Venue Ahead of Time
It’s very important to check out the venue beforehand to see if it meets your needs. It’s important to note that if it’s a closed space, there’s a high chance that there’s a no-smoking policy. If you plan to allow smoking during your wedding, you can choose an outdoor venue or at least a venue with an outdoor space. Another reason why outdoor venues are preferable is that they have better ventilation. Even Kristen Rogers recommends that couples have outdoor weddings to reduce health risks during the event.
Dedicate a Specified Smoking Area
If you have guests who smoke, you can have a designated smoking area to separate smokers from non-smokers during the event. If you have an outdoor venue, you won’t need to ask your guests to step outside for a smoke. Aside from creating a smoking area, you can arrange your seating charts accordingly to ensure that non-smokers are seated away from the smoking area and guests who smoke. In our previous post titled post titled ‘Ultimate Guide to Wedding Seating Charts’, we talked about how you should prioritize your guest seating arrangements when planning a wedding. This ensures that the people at one table are comfortable and amicable with each other, especially when it comes to smoking.
Offer Smoke-Free Nicotine Alternatives
If your guests have the urge to smoke, they are likely looking for a nicotine hit to satisfy their habits. To remedy this, you can offer smoke-free nicotine alternatives at your wedding to accommodate their needs. The mixpacks and trialpacks on Prilla are incredibly popular nowadays and great for events like weddings because they are easy to use as well as dispose of. They also come in different flavors, such as coffee, wintergreen, and peppermint, which give your guests various options. In addition to nicotine pouches, the nicotine gum boxes by Nicotinell are also good options to offer your guests as they are just like chewing a piece of regular gum. Providing these options will be greatly appreciated by your guests, both smokers and non-smokers.
Inform Your Guests of the Event Rules
Keeping your guests informed through invitations ensures that everyone is aware of the rules they should follow on the day of the event. Jura Koncius shared invitation do’s and don’ts that event planners should be aware of. For example, guest invitations should include sufficient information about the event, such as event attire and the venue. If you’re allowing guests to smoke, inform them that there’s a designated smoking area and that they should follow the rules and to respect non-smokers. Informing other guests that you have a smoking area also means they can avoid the area so that they don’t inhale any secondhand smoke.