Planning a wedding guest list
Planning your Wedding Guest List for Sending Invitations
You are planning a wedding but how do you work out who to add to your guest list? Who needs to be invited as opposed to who should be invited? How do you choose who to leave off when the space available is getting rather full? What about your proposed budget? Ultimately the overall number of people you invite depends largely on your budget but it still better to draw up “the long list” first and then cut back.
Planning a wedding guest list should start with three separate sheets of paper one for each defined group. Of course the very first people you would normally invite would be your immediate family. And then your wider family such as grandparents, aunties and uncles and any cousins you are really close to. These are you’re A list people.
It is at this point you can start to add those people who you regard as like family members. These are the close friends that you see most and mean most to you and would be written on a separate B list sheet of paper.
Your C list of people are comprised of the other people who you have been close to you through your work, your hobbies and social activities and of course your neighbors but are not the closest of your friends. These are the people who may have done so much for you in the recent past (for example they supported you in your work or when you were going through major problems) and you want to thank them by including them in your list.
When listing close friends remember to include their spouses and live-in partners.
Now you know the potential number of wedding guests you should go back through it to add any other potential guests. Who else has been involved in a major way of looking after you when you really needed them? Who stepped in and saved your bacon when everything else seemed lost? Are there any important business connections it would be good to add to the list for perhaps commercial rather than friendship reasons? Add these people to your B or C list depending on strength of connection.
NOTE At this point do not leave off any names simply because they are someone who might be an embarrassment at the wedding or because you have had an argument with them in the past. For example, is one of the guests likely to drink too much and cause a scene. If this is the case would you still want to invite if they were getting professional help and the problem fixed by the wedding date. How would you feel if you had not invited them? If it was only a minor issue you argued over all those years ago could you make friends again and bring about a family reunion at the wedding. You could start now.
Okay you are now planning a wedding guest list and have reached an important point. Is your budget big enough to be able to invite all the guests (including partners)? Is the amount of space in the rooms big enough to cope with all the people? Maybe you find the actual wedding room is large enough but you can’t sit everyone down at tables for the reception. Or it is the other way round? The Wedding Chapel you had dreamed about for years can’t seat everyone but your reception room is big enough for everyone and still have lots of space for dancing etc.
This is when the difficult decisions are being made. Who do you leave off the list for the wedding ceremony or the wedding reception or both? Can you change the venue for the wedding? Can you lift the size of your budget or is it already stretched too far. If you are cutting the numbers start by cutting back on you C list names. Go through them and cut off names as necessary before doing the same on your B list until you have reached the necessary number of people still left on the list.
This way you are trimming off the least important people first and not arguing over really close friends and family members at the beginning. Remember it is your wedding day as bride and groom but you should at least listen to your parent’s point of view especially if they are footing the bill.
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