While getting an engagement ring is exciting, planning a wedding can be stressful. One fact is an absolute truth: wedding guests are expensive. Plus, they take up space, and it turns out venues do not have infinite capacity. When you combine the two issues, it can create a difficult scenario. In order to decide who makes the cut, you should pay careful attention to your invite list. When creating your invite list, it is important to be realistic. You will not be able to invite all of your Facebook friends and all of your mother-in-law’s second cousins, so be prepared to compromise.
The A List and the B List
The first thing to do when figuring out your list is create your dream list. Basically, start making a list of every person you could ever want to invite to your wedding. From there, start whittling down to an A list and a B list. This will allow you to determine how many people you absolutely must invite– immediate family, wedding party, and the closest friends go on the A list. Everyone else lands on the B list, and then compromise with your soon-to-be spouse. For every long lost sorority sister that gets moved to the A list, add your favorite high school soccer teammate.
The wedding guest list takes lots of patience and compromise
Truthfully, you should plan on 10 percent of people you invite to decile. However, if you are exchanging wedding rings and vows in a destination wedding, the number rises to 20 percent. If you find that more people are declining earlier than expected, then you can send late invites to more people from the B list. However, make sure to be timely in sending the invites. You wouldn’t want to a wedding guest to think they were a “maybe” all along!
Family and Friends of Family
One of the things many brides and grooms learn on the wedding day is just how many people they don’t know at their wedding. Since the bride’s parents traditionally pay more (or all) of the wedding costs, her parents will have plenty of input on the guest list. However, more and more young couples seek to pay for their weddings themselves. Nevertheless, you should expect both sets of parents to provide suggestions. Keep in mind that while you may not want to invite your mother-in-law’s boss, the future in-laws are simply excited about the wedding, too. In order to make sure their happiness is considered, leave room for a couple friends of the family on the A list.
Once you have cut down the A list, hopefully it close to your target number. If not, you’ll have to start making cuts together. The wedding guest list is one of the more difficult parts of planning a wedding, so plan ahead and keep the conversation civil. In the end, it is your wedding day, and you’ll want to enjoy it.
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