Taming Your Guest List | Becky’s Brides

One of the hardest parts of planning your wedding will be the guest list – believe it or not!  Pulling a list together of your family and close friends is simple enough, but then it can get tricky. What about your parents’ friends? What about those people who invited you to their wedding 5 years ago? Who gets a plus one? Do you invite your second cousin you haven’t seen since you were 6? You start out wanting a small intimate gathering and end up with 400 people on your guest list in a flash. Don’t panic! We can help.

We always like to remind a bride and groom (and their families) that ultimately the wedding is about you. Your guests will understand if you want to have a more intimate gathering, whether it’s because of your personality or budget. Also, the family that is hosting the wedding should decide on some parameters for the bride and groom. Here are a few suggestions on dealing with your guest list:

• Give each of your parents’ a set number of people they can invite outside of family. This can be split evenly or divided based on who is hosting. If one side would like to invite more guests, consider having them pay per person over the set number they can invite.
• Set specific rules to shut down arguments such as, if you can’t greet them by name, don’t invite them (this applies to parents’ friends, co-workers, etc.).
• Only give guests a plus one if they are married, in the wedding party, engaged, or living together. Sorry single friends! Also, help your out-of-town guests out by granting them a plus one.
• Invite people you have had contact with in the last couple of years (this includes long lost family).

Creating a guest list turns out to be difficult because you don’t ever want to hurt someone’s feelings or offend them. At the end of the day, this is you and your groom-to-be’s big day so you want people there that truly love and support you, not someone who is just there for the free cake.

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