If you are planning your wedding, you will need to create a wedding guest list. This important task can be challenging for many reasons. Deciding between your second cousin twice removed and your partner’s ex stepbrother from another marriage while on a limited budget calls for some serious thought. These tips for creating a wedding guest list will help you prioritize and stay within budget.
The Wedding Party and Your Wedding Guest List
You might not think of the wedding party as being on a wedding guest list. However, they are a number that must be factored into the total headcount. The wedding party is central to your ceremony. Before you start creating a wedding guest list, make sure that you have accounted for this essential category that will ultimately reduce your total guest count. Begin your headcount with these important people that you have chosen to be in the wedding party. You will also need to add their partners and children to the wedding guest list in a priority category.
Family Category of a Wedding Guest List
When we create a wedding guest list, we should always begin with our innermost circle. Begin with your closest family members within this family category. This list might begin with parents, followed by siblings, grandparents, aunts, uncles, and cousins. Unless you are having an over-the-top extraordinaire that is indifferent to a budget, try to keep the wedding guest list limited to the family that is involved your life. It does not need to be contact on a daily basis to qualify. However, you might draw the line when it comes to distant relatives that you barely know.
Close Friends Category of a Wedding Guest List
As you can imagine, close friends are next to family when it comes to a wedding guest list. This list can be a little easier to create, considering they must be in your life on the regular to make the list. If you go months without hearing from them, they are not in this category.
Professional Friends Category of a Wedding Guest List
There is a different type of friend to add to the wedding guest list. This part of the list consists of close friends from work. They will be your coworkers, mentors and close connections from your professional life. They are usually important people in your life that are closely related to projects that you work with.
Distant Friends Category of a Wedding Guest List
Not all of our friends are considered close friends. However, they might still be considered very important people in our lives. The people that are added to this section of the wedding guest could be the childhood friends that moved away. This is probably the space to add that old college friend that you barely talk to anymore. It can be a challenge to put a label on a friend and to decide whether they are close or distant. If you have a friend down the road and one in California that you never talk to, it is obvious which friend belongs in this category of the wedding guest list. Try to keep it simple and not overthink the purpose.
Challenges of a Wedding Guest List
One of the most challenging parts of creating a wedding guest list is understanding that the guest count must be divided by two, the groom’s side and the bride’s side. The general rule is to try and allot the same number of guests for the groom as for the bride. Also, each guest that you invite will naturally bring a date. That doubles your guest count. If you are allowing children at your wedding, you will need to add space for the children. This can create an unequal count when thinking in terms of adults. This wedding guest list is only the beginning of the fifty-fifty and what is yours is mine concept.
Tips
The guests that you bring to your special occasion will also be the guests of your partner. Be mindful of the people that you invite. Try not to invite those from past relationships. Be mindful of the space and the company you bring to it. Invite people that are close and supportive. If they do not have business in your life, they do not have business at your wedding.
Dream your wedding guest list, consult your budget, and get realistic. Make sure that you consider the seating capacity of your wedding venue. If push comes to shove, there are some creative ways to trim the wedding guest list. You might consider having an adults-only wedding. If having children at the wedding is important, start removing guests from the distant friend category before touching the family and close friends. Never invite someone to your wedding just because you are feeling guilty. Create your wedding guest list to fill your wedding venue with the people you want to celebrate with.
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