Your guest list is of great significance when planning a wedding. It can affect everything from your budget and the venues available to how quickly guests RSVP.
Step one is creating an A-list of guests you must include at your celebration, consisting of close friends and family members.
Now it’s time to consider the rest of your list, keeping in mind these tips:
Family
Making decisions regarding who to invite can be one of the most challenging aspects of planning your wedding, but one crucial part is discussing expectations among family members contributing financially. If this applies, make sure your discussions include open and honest dialogue about their expectations regarding who they’re bringing with them to the event.
Limit the number of guests you invite by considering travel costs and logistical concerns, like travel time. If inviting guests from far away, it would be prudent to limit attendance to ease travel expenses for each attendee and the availability of childcare services in case any family members wish to bring children along with them.
Once you have established a minimum guest list, make a second list containing guests you would love to invite but may not cut. This list can serve as a guideline for those who may be available and allow more flexibility when sending out save the dates.
Remember that their attendance may not be guaranteed even when inviting parents as guests. While you should respect their wishes to attend your wedding, if they show no enthusiasm, they should know it’s okay not to come. Also, remember that people may decline invitations at the last minute for various reasons, so be prepared for some last-minute noes when sending out invites.
Friends
Identifying those to invite can be more of a challenge when your families have large friendship circles and are contributing financially. Your parents or relatives may even have input on who can and cannot attend your wedding celebration.
One way to avoid offending anyone’s feelings when creating your guest list is for both of you to create an initial list before the budget becomes an issue. Your “A” list should consist of everyone you absolutely must invite, while your “B” list may include coworkers or acquaintances you haven’t seen recently.
Your final guest list will likely depend on the capacity of your venue. A beautiful hotel ballroom may accommodate hundreds of guests for your celebration, while that renovated barn you discovered through Pinterest might only accommodate 75 attendees for a sit-down dinner.
Once your guest list is finalized, sending out invitations and RSVP cards is the next step. Paperless Post provides tasteful designs at affordable prices that allow you to personalize text and add pictures of you and your partner for extra impact on guests’ memories. Once received, guests can respond via an online RSVP app or mail back their responses – giving you a well-balanced group excited for your big day together!
Co-workers
Inviting coworkers may seem tempting, but your work and personal lives must remain separate. Also, asking coworkers can quickly expand your guest list and increase costs on a costly day.
If your budget is limited, making tough decisions about who to invite may become necessary. Start with your A-list and work backward – don’t feel bound by expectations to invite distant cousins, casual acquaintances, or those you haven’t seen for some time. Once your list has been narrowed down to its finalists, inform those expecting an invite that they won’t receive one as soon as possible.
Communication between you and your parents should also be open and honest regarding how much of a budget is available for a wedding and who you want to invite. This is also crucial when planning a destination event where guests must travel a considerable distance to join the celebrations.
As your number of guests will affect the type of wedding you can plan, you must consider this carefully when creating your guest list. Remember, it’s your special day; spend it with those closest to you! Hopefully, this guide can assist in narrowing down your guest list so you can create the wedding of your dreams! Happy planning!
Neighbors
Your decision on inviting neighbors to your wedding should be made jointly by you and your partner, considering their proximity, time spent together, whether or not your relationship is close, etc. To be safe, use the “one-year rule”- if someone hasn’t spoken to you in at least twelve months, it might not be best as an avenue for renewing friendships during your event.
Your future spouse-to-be and you should collaborate to compile a guest list and rank its names according to importance and your budget. If space or finances prevent everyone on your A-List from attending, consider collecting a B-List instead. This could include coworkers, casual friends, or acquaintances you might only occasionally interact with.
Tradition holds that inviting neighbors or work colleagues isn’t considered bad etiquette, but if their attendance would make them uncomfortable on your big day, it is acceptable to exclude them. If this bothers you, invite them to your post-dinner cocktail reception instead.
It is customary to allow every guest–even single friends–the option of bringing along their significant other, but this could quickly spiral out of control and cost too much in space and budget constraints. Plus-ones may also create unnecessary drama, so before sending invitations, it is wise to carefully consider who to invite before sending out the invites.
Children
There is no clear-cut rule about who should attend your wedding; each couple has different considerations when creating their guest list. At the core, however, celebration is about you and who matters most to you; ultimately, it should be about celebrating together. When making this critical decision, though, you should keep some key things in mind while creating it.
First, decide whether you would like your guests to bring plus ones and children. Doing this will significantly reduce the guest list, while an adults-only wedding will simplify your guest list and budget.
Consider if your event will feature open or closed invitations when inviting plus ones. While available invites allow your guests to bring additional guests, closed ones only include spouses or partners of those invited; you might even opt to request one date instead, further narrowing down your guest list.
Rhee stresses the importance of considering whether to invite extended family members. While this may be key to celebrating in style for some couples, others might prefer only inviting close relatives they know well and share relationships with. You should also decide if you will give out plus ones to unmarried guests and what criteria will be used to determine this decision.
Once you’ve finalized all these details, you should know how many guests to invite. As you send out save the dates and wedding invitations, keep track of RSVPs so that your guest list can be updated accordingly.
