Choosing Your Wedding Package Based on Your Guest Count

Your guest count is one of the most important things, but not the only thing to consider when choosing your Smoky Mountain wedding package.  While everyone’s situation is unique, the advice in this blog article is based on my twenty plus years of experience in the wedding industry.  Your happiness means the world to me at Honeysuckle Hills, so here’s what you need to know before booking your package with us.

In a Nutshell…

• Choose your package based on your END GOALS, not the guest count
• End goals include things like the size of your wedding party, photography requests, and events such as a cake cutting, first dance, or private vow readings.
• Humans, unlike robots, enjoy socializing, affection, and relishing the beauty of our venue
• Your original wedding ideas usually expand as you approach wedding day

Our wedding venue gives a recommended and a maximum guest count for each package.

The recommended guest count delivers the most rewarding experience and is typical of our five-star reviews.  The maximum guest count is the most we know we can handle without rushing you out the door feeling dissatisfied, based on a wedding with a ceremony, family photos, couple photos, and no additional requests like cake cutting or first dance.  The maximum count requires us to enforce a more demanding timeline to fit everything in.  The more requests you have, the more demanding the timeline becomes.

Everyone is unique!  That said, a bride with a guest count over the maximum listed whose priority is ONLY a beautiful ceremony can easily book a smaller package with a joyful outcome.  The focus is on the ceremony, and minimal images afterward.  These couples don’t have a list of “must have” locations or requests for extra wedding events.

On the flip side, a bride who books a small package with the maximum, or God forbid over the maximum guest count must come to terms with realistic expectations.  Yes, our staff will work extra hard to fit in all the requests, but it forces everyone to rush through the entire process.

Compare Four Unique Itineraries for the Same Package

Consider four itineraries, each based on a couple’s individual needs for the identical package called the Mini Wedding Intimate Touch.  This package offers 30 minutes to change into wedding attire, and one hour from ceremony to exit.  All of your ideas must be completed within that one-hour time frame.

Note that these beautiful events may alter an itinerary, and the timelines are based on how we hope things will go.

• Your grandmother pausing to look at your ring or tell the story about when she got married
• Children who are travel-weary and may delay the ceremony or family photos
• Guests who may run late or need extra help following direction
• Creative use of lighting or photography props (This usually requires more than five minutes in a specific location)
• If you bring your own ceremony officiant, sometimes their ceremony is much longer because they know you more intimately
• Weather may slow down a ceremony slightly, but all our back-up locations are wedding-ready

For a couples only wedding

5:30pm    Arrive with hair & makeup complete, use dressing areas to change
6:00pm    Ceremony on the main grounds
6:10pm    Photos on our main grounds with a leisurely, creative flow, estimating 3 location
(Or three fast paced locations, a first dance & cake cutting photo)
6:45pm    Photos at our mountain view 
7:00pm   Time ends

For a wedding with up to ten guests

5:30pm    Arrive with hair & makeup complete, use dressing areas to change
**Your wedding party should arrive already dressed** Guests wait in the creekside pavilion
6:00pm    Ceremony on the main grounds (seating, wedding party processional & vows)
6:20pm    Family Group Photos  (One large group and five smaller groups)
6:35pm    Photos of the couple (Two fast-paced main grounds & quick mountain view(OR three leisurely or five fast paced on main grounds alone)                
7:00pm    Time ends

For a wedding with up to ten guests & more events

5:30pm    Arrive with hair & makeup complete, use dressing areas to chang
Guests wait in the creekside pavilion
**Your wedding party should arrive already dressed**
6:00pm    Ceremony on the main grounds (seating, wedding party processional & vows)
6:20pm    Family Group Photos (One group photo and five more smaller groups)
6:35pm    First dances
6:45pm    Photos of the couple on our main grounds, two leisurely locations or three fast paced)
7:00pm    Time ends

For a wedding with up to twenty guests (over the maximum count)

5:30pm    Arrive with hair & makeup complete, use dressing areas to change
Guests wait in the creekside pavilion
**Your wedding party should arrive already dressed**
6:00pm    Ceremony on the main grounds (seating, wedding party processional & vows)
6:30pm    Family Group Photos  (one large group and five more smaller groups)
6:45pm    Photos of the couple on our main grounds (two leisurely locations or three fast paced)
7:00pm    Time ends
***This scenario is the one most affected by guests running late and the human element that slows things down to “stop and smell the roses.”  This is a hopeful, yet unrealistic timeline.

When choosing your wedding package, it’s much more important to consider all the photos and events you hope to include on your wedding day than the guest count alone.  TIME matters so much more than the guest count.  Our experienced staff and wedding-ready venue gives a more enriching wedding experience than any other. The key is to be realistic with your expectations and choose the package with as much TIME as your budget allows for.  

We offer several unique wedding packages at Honeysuckle Hills to meet a variety of expectations. Did you know we also offer luxury elopements and weddings with receptions?

Questions about your own individual ideas?  I’m ready to help!  

Email me here: regina@honeysucklehills.com

Or text me here:  865-368-5569