Who Should You Invite?

In my 14 years of planning weddings, it has been my experience that the number one area of contention between the bride and groom during the planning process is the dreaded guest list (second only to the budget of course)! To help ease the stress of deciding who to invite, and hopefully eliminate those awkward disagreements in front of your wedding planner (wink, wink), following are some tips to consider when developing your guest list:

• Remember, the idea is to surround yourself with the people in your life who are the nearest and dearest to you. Your weddings is no place for mere acquaintances or strangers.

• Keep in mind that the number of guest you invite will affect the cost of your wedding and where you want to hold the ceremony and reception.

Steps To Developing Your List

1. Start with close friends and family and expand from there.
2. Determine if single guests will be allowed to invite an escort to the wedding.
3. Will children be welcomed to attend?
4. Keep in mind your budget, location, and desired ambience.
5. Keep a list of those you would like to invite (B List) but can’t due too constraints such as budget, room size, etc. As people send back their regrets (from A List), mail out additional invitations (from B List). Expect that perhaps 25% of those invited will not be able to attend.
6. Discuss how many names the groom, bride, grooms family, and brides family will be allowed to contribute to the guest list. Try to divide the list evenly between bride and groom. Each parent should be able to invite 1/3 of the guests.
7. Remember, the invitation list should include immediate family, officient, wedding party, and their guests.
8. Think about this: How many of the 300 people you have on your list, have you actually seen or spoken to in the last 5 years? Humm….