Guest path
The evening is a path, not a still
Photographs are rooms at rest. Guests are rooms in motion. Rank the transitions before you dress the tables.
What this is
Ceremony to cocktail, cocktail to dinner, dinner to dancing, dancing to departure. Each beat shares — or fails to share — an aisle. One pretty bottleneck will be walked a hundred times.
What planners actually fight
A photo backdrop on the only path. Lounge furniture in the aisle. A bar that is also the transition. Service and guests using the same pinch. None of these are taste problems.
A reversible test
Walk the full sequence with a tray. Mark every place two people cannot pass. Clear one guest path and one service path with tape. Buy nothing until both walks are clean.