Perfecting Your Wedding Guest List
One of the first tasks of wedding planning is making the guest list. If you can estimate the number of people to invite before looking for the venue, it will help ensure your venue can accommodate all of your friends and family. But, the guest list can be tricky, especially if you come from large families.
Here are a few tips to help you get the list started.
As wedding planners, we always ask couples how many guests they’re inviting rather than how many they are expecting. For example, many couples say they will have 60 guests when they invited 100 people. In our experience, almost everyone you invite to the wedding will come, even if you are having a destination wedding in another country. After all, who wouldn't want to witness a beautiful celebration of love?
If you have a destination wedding or invite guests from afar, there’s only one important factor that would stop guests from attending and that’s not giving them enough time to save and prepare. Otherwise, trust us…
Everyone will be there.
Only invite the people you genuinely want with you on the day-of. Try not to ask people solely because you feel obligated to invite them. If you haven't heard from Uncle Fred in ten years, he probably won’t be upset you didn’t invite him.
Budget is a significant factor when it comes to planning your guest list. The cost for the ceremony usually stays the same for small, medium and large weddings, but when it comes to food and drinks, 20 or 30 more guests can work out to be quite costly. Try to set a budget before making your guest list to avoid exceeding the budget.
Other factors to consider:
Do you want children at the wedding ceremony and reception?
Will you invite equal numbers from both sides of your friends and family?
When sending the wedding invitation, will you allow single friends to bring their significant other?
Should you have a B list if your numbers are lower than expected after the RSVPs are returned? (Just a little hint, yes!)
Finally, leave a few guest spaces for new friends you probably haven’t met yet. If your wedding is a year away and you’re an outgoing and social couple, it's possible you have yet to meet some special people you would love to help celebrate the best day ever.
If you’re looking for your wedding venue, we would love to hear from you. We are always ready to start planning a fabulous wedding - no matter how many guests will be there.
