Your invitations are packed, sealed, and in the mail. Your guests will receive their official invite to your best day ever, any day now. They’ll patiently await the next 6-8 weeks. Depending on how proactive you were in sending out those invitations – until your big day arrives. All the while, you’ll be lost in a haze of excitement, last-minute prep & planning mixed with incoming phone calls, text messages, and emails. You can’t wait to hit the dance floor with your new life partner and party until the break of dawn.

But the days leading up to your wedding are very different for your guests. They’ll spend the next 6-8 weeks wondering who they’ll be sitting next to. What they’ll be eating for dinner, and deciding whether or not they need to work up a special signal with their plus one in order to make an early breakaway. On the day of your wedding, they’ll stuff an envelope full of cash, a gift for the newlyweds, naturally. Then, they’ll arrive to shakily search for their seating card. All in the hopes that their table is not full of a bunch of randos they’ve never before met. Sitting beside those “randos” at their table will leave them in a constant search for small talk and chit-chat. You know, to fill the uncomfortable silence in between the night’s events.

Think of Guestie as the digital party starter for your wedding day! Don’t worry, we’ll walk you through how to get the party started, step by step!

Not exactly the dream wedding day you pictured, right? You pictured everyone you love, in a room together dancing their booties off, having an absolute blast with you until the break of dawn. All while stuffing their faces with the most delicious food and drinks. You want them to talk about your wedding day for years to come. That exact scenario is entirely possible for your best day ever. And is 100% our mission at Guestie to make it happen!

In this guide, we’ll show you how to get your guests amped up and excited for your wedding day. How to introduce them to each other in advance of your wedding day, to get the conversation started. PS: No additional pre-wedding event or downloading confusing apps required! And, above all, how to have a vibrant, energetic wedding day full of guests who arrive ready to party & celebrate with you. No waiting until 11 pm for the dance floor to be lit. Zero forced small talk about the weather. No wondering who is who. And most importantly for the couple, no spending the night of your wedding dashing from table to table greeting everyone! All in an effort to make sure they’ve met everyone at their table, and that they’re all having a good time.

“Guestie allows you to spark the vibe & energy of your wedding day in advance!”

The pandemic created a huge shift in the way we celebrate. Weddings went from cookie cutter 6-hour events at a ballroom, with the choice of plated dinner or buffet. To full-blown experiences! We’re talking after parties, guest entertainment, cocktail hours, and details that have been planned by infusing your unique brand of flavor. The priority in planning a wedding has taken on how everyone in attendance can have an experience they’ll never forget. And you can spark your guest’s experience before your wedding day – through your Guestie account!

“Setup Your Guestie Account In Less Time Than It Takes To Find The Open Bar!”

Because really, who has time for another app? Signing up for your Guestie account is as easy as putting in your phone number and clicking “add event.”  Here’s the part where we click our “that was easy button!”

From there you’ll be prompted to add your co-host or co-hosts, plural! Is your fiance involved in wedding planning? Perfect! Pop them in as a co-host! Did you hire a wedding planner who is dedicated to making sure that each & every detail of your wedding goes off without missing a beat? Amazing! Add them as a co-host! Maybe you skipped right over a full-service wedding planner and hired a day-of coordinator. They can take on the role of co-host for your Guestie account as well!

Have a close aunt, uncle, or cousin who is the dedicated “pack the gifts in the car” or “take down the ceremony decor” person? Great! They just received a promotion to co-host! Look, we are not oblivious to the fact that epic wedding day celebrations take the hands & hearts of multiple people to come to life! That is why the co-host feature of your Guestie account is so vital.

Next step in the process of igniting your Guestie account? Name your event. Boom. Done. Hey, where’s that easy button hiding?

After you hit the easy button, you’ll be prompted to write a welcome message. This message will appear to all of your guests as they begin to filter into your Guestie account.

We’ll explain how to add them further down this post! If you have some creative writing chops you can definitely put them to good use with your welcome message by making it fun & lol-worthy for your guests. Snippets, rhymes, and anecdotes are always welcome. Your account will only be accessible to you, your co-host(s), and your guests, so it’s definitely not the time to hold back! 

If the blinking cursor got the better of you and you’re not too sure what to pop into that message box, a nice simple straightforward “We’re so excited to celebrate with you” will do the trick. If you need some inspiration for your writer’s block, feel free to check out our demo page here! When setting up your welcome message, keep in mind that it will be visible to everyone you invite into your Guestie account, you know, in case you need to keep it “PG for the kids”.

From there you’ll be prompted to fill out the name of your venue, including the full address. This is for all those guests that lost the nice little direction card you no doubt stuffed in your invitation suite! In this step, any additional links that relate to your wedding will be added as well. Such as your wedding website, or registry. How nice would it be to have everything all together in one spot for you and your guests? No flipping from site to site. No fielding endless phone calls and questions about basic wedding day information. Because it will now be easily accessible to you and your guests!

Want to get some mileage out of those amazing professional engagement photos you invested in?

After signing up, adding your co-host(s), naming your event, writing your welcome message, and adding in your wedding website or link to your registry (oh hey! look at you go!) You’ll finally have the chance to put those professional engagement photos of yours to good use!

Upload a few of your engagement photos to your event so that your guests will be greeted with your smiling faces alongside that amazing welcome message you wrote! And, if you’re asking us, you can add in some photos of your favorite shots that show off your latest travels, that time you and your fiance went to the game with your college friends or your most recent family gathering. The photos you select will appear to your guests in a slow transitioning sort of slide show effect, so feel free to have fun with your selection. 

Seems like a small step when we are constantly inundated with information overload on social media. But this step in setting up your Guestie account will provide an additional sense of connection between you and your guests. And, it will provide an instant state of excitement about your upcoming wedding day and pull them further into your wedding day experience. After all, isn’t building excitement and anticipation the driving force in creating a room full of guests who are ready to celebrate? We think yes!

Haven’t met your spouse’s family yet? Or, can’t keep your friend circle or endless stream of cousins straight when talking about them to your fiance? We’ve got your back!

Your wedding might very well be the first time you are meeting your fiance’s extended family. Or any of your fiance’s family for that matter! Maybe distance or previous restrictions imposed by the pandemic have kept you all from being in each other’s presence.

Before you start inviting your guests into your Guestie account, you have the opportunity to create guest tags! Guest tags easily show how everyone is connected.

We’ve created a few suggestions to help you get started. But you are more than free to take the reins and get as fun & creative with your guest tags as you like! Have a “Sunday Brunch Crew”? Make them their own tag! Your other guests will be asking how to get in on the mimosa and omelet action! Have groups of High School friends, College friends, co-workers, or the never-ending stream of cousins? Create a tag to identify their relation to you in a fun way that makes them feel connected! 

The tags in your account work as key identifiers in more ways than one. Either for you to get your know your finance’s family members (or vice versa)! Or for your guests to be able to identify each other. And yes, you can assign your guests more than one tag.

“Pro Tip! Get the Conversation Started With Fun Questions for your Guests to Answer!”

You created your Guestie account with the intention of your guests having an amazing time at your wedding by getting to know each other. Your Guestie account comes with the benefit of fun conversation starters for your guests to answer. We’re not all about the super invasive personal questions here either. But wouldn’t it be great to know what song is guaranteed to get them on the dance floor? Which team they are rooting for during NFL season or the funniest memory you have with each other? Adding in some fun conversation starters to your Guestie account will allow your guests to answer these questions in a fun care-free way.

If you’re not sure where to start with your conversation starters, we’ve added a few selections in the drop-down for you! Or, you’re welcome to come up with your own question. Like “what kind of treats are you hoping to enjoy at dessert service?” You can get as fun and creative with the conversation starters as you like! Your guest’s answers will appear under their individual profiles where you and your other guests can view them!

“Pro tip: Have a list of your guests neatly organized & alphabetized on a Google Sheet? Use it to start inviting your guests to your Guestie account!”

It’s time to start inviting your guests! The coveted moment you have been waiting for! Your account is set up, you’ve set your profile photo, color palette, guest tags, created fun conversation starters for your guests to answer, and you have an amazing welcome message to kick things off. It’s now officially time to start inviting your guests into your Guestie account!

This can be done in two ways. The first way is by uploading your guest list. If you already have your guest list all mapped out in a document or even a wedding planning website, you can use our guest list template to go with a quick copy and paste to get the job done! Not much for Type-A lists, documents, and spreadsheets? It’s ok, we have you covered!

You can invite your guests by adding your guests’ names and assigning a hand-picked photo to their profile.

Adding in members of your bridal party? You have the ability to fill in their role in your wedding under their profile! Trust us, your single friends will thank you later – wink, wink, nudge, nudge! In addition to filling in the role of each of your guests, you can add in the relation of the guest to you or your fiance and what location they’ll be visiting from when they attend your wedding.

All of these fields on your guest’s profile work to create a sense of familiarity among your guests so that they can get to know each other before your wedding day. No more working up a signal with their plus one to leave early because they’ll feel at ease being in the know about everyone in attendance! 

Ok, guest profile created, photo added, role filled out – what’s next? A story from the host(s)! We know you’re busy planning the wedding of your dreams. So nobody expects you to write a thesis on each and every one of your guests. Unless of course, you’re into that sort of thing, then, by all means, full steam ahead! In fact, what we’ve found is that fun one-liners and quick-to-the-point “remember whens” work amazing on your guest’s profiles! Remember, your other guests will be peeking into each and every one of these profiles. So you’ll want to give them a quick bite of something that’ll familiarize them with the profile they’re viewing. You want them to feel a sense of knowing when learning about your other guests. And fun one-liners and treasured memories will make their experience learning about other guests memorable!

The snippet you write about your guests will appear on their profile under “from the hosts”.

Conversely, once your guests have accessed your account, they’ll have the opportunity to write their own snippet in their profile. This will appear directly under your no doubt funny, creative, and memorable one or two-liner as “From the Guest”. They’ll have the opportunity to share as much or as little as they like. In a way that is comfortable for them. If you really want to have some fun with the “From the Guest” feature, ask your guests to include their favorite piece of advice to the newlyweds on their profile!

Once you’ve cooked up your guest’s profiles with a photo, their name(s), and title or role in your wedding, it’s time to tag them. Using one (or two or three!) of the tags you created in the beginning steps of setting up your account. The last step in the process of sparking the excitement and celebration of your wedding in advance is to invite your guests using their cell number!

Once your guests have been added and invited to access your Guestie account, they’ll have the opportunity to play the Name Game! The name game will present your guests with a profile and give them the option of four different names that they can select. All in an effort to help them put a face to the name before wedding day arrives! And yes, we’ll give them a score and a streak to really help them keep track as they play. If they reach a streak of 30, there’s a good chance they’ll know everyone’s name at the wedding!

“Pro Tip! Keep your guests in on the excitement of your event through text alerts, your message board, and song requests!”

Every aspect of your Guestie account has been designed & created with building connections in mind. Now that you’ve set up your account and your guests have been given access behind the velvet rope, they want the scoop on what to expect when it comes to your wedding day!

We love using the text alerts feature to surprise and delight your guests. Or to involve them in different aspects of your wedding day. Setting up text alerts to send out to your guests can be accessed by you and the co-hosts you added at the beginning part of setting up your account. Not sure what you’d need text alerts for on your wedding day? Here’s one we love! Using the text alerts of your Guestie account to tease a big surprise to your guests! If you plan on having special entertainment at your wedding, like a caricaturist, a magician, a guest singer, a fire-breather, a belly dancer, or a barbershop quartet – getting your guests involved and excited about what’s to come is key in creating an epic experience! 

You can use your text alerts to entice your guests by sending out a mass text message that says, “You’ll want to be as close as possible to the dance floor by 9 pm for a special surprise! Grab your signature drink and we’ll see you over there!”

When you draft a text alert, whether it’s for a fire-breather or a barbershop quartet – hey, we’re not here to judge! you’ll also be presented with the option of attaching a file. So those funny photos you scrolled through when setting up your profile picture will come in handy here if you want to drop in some extra hints! From there you’ll be able to select if you’d like to send your message now, tomorrow, or 1 day before your wedding.

Worried about last-minute changes to your ceremony because of weather or other unforeseen circumstances?

Aren’t we all? Your message board is where you’ll have full advantage of keeping your “behind the velvet rope” wedding guests in the know. Use your message board for reminders and to keep your guests up to date. Like, “In case of rain, the ceremony will be held under the tent on the grounds of the venue”! Or other reminders such as, “Don’t forget your sunglasses”! And, “We know it’s going to be a cold one today but we have plenty of blankets & throws to keep you warm”!

Conversely, your message board is a great way for your guests to reach out. Your guests have the privilege of opening up to one another on your message board. Coupled with the privacy that they will not find on social media! Here your guests can chat each other up about splitting ride shares at the end of the night, or ask if anyone has an extra ticket to the game on Sunday after your wedding. 

We also love the accessibility that the message board provides for guests who are traveling in from out of town! Your out-of-town guests can pop in your message board to ask for recommendations on local restaurants, or places to sightsee.

Your guests will feel comfortable connecting with each other in this space and starting conversations through your private Guestie account because it’ll be filled with the people you know, love, and trust.

“Pro Tip! The key to having a lit dance floor is to play the songs you know your guests love!”

We love nothing more than a lit dance floor at a wedding. But we’ve said it before and we’ll say it again. A lit dance floor with beats pumping and everyone out of their seat, typically doesn’t happen until the 11th hour. We pride ourselves on cutting down that time frame through your Guestie account. Not only by introducing your guests to each other but by taking their song requests!! Do you want your guests up out of their seats on your wedding day? What better way to have them shaking what their mama gave them than by dropping their favorite beat!?

We love the ability to open up your Spotify playlist and let your guests drop in their favorite songs! There is, however, one super important thing to note. Be very clear and upfront with your guests about the window of time that they have to make song requests. And if your plate is overflowing, you can easily put your music-loving friend in charge of this! To add a co-host after you’ve already created your event, select “manage hosts” from the drop-down menu in your Host Toolkit. We all have a friend who is obsessed with music. Make them the liaison between your guest’s song requests and your Spotify playlist. So that everything goes off without a hitch!

Your guest will be able to easily add songs to your Spotify playlist! All they need to do is go into Spotify, copy the link for the song, and paste it into the Song Requests page of your event and click submit. Boom, done! Make sure that you have your Spotify account connected to your Guestie event to access all the song requests. Simply head to the event settings for your event, toggle on the song request option for guests and follow the button to sync your Spotify account. And just like that, you’ll be set up for a lit dance floor all night long!

Congrats on making it through our epically long guide to get the max fun out of your Guestie account!