One of the most stressful aspects of the wedding preparation process is creating the guest list. Everyone should be invited, right? For example, your schoolmates, your soccer friends, your college friends, your coworkers, and innumerable relatives. We’re providing our best recommendations for establishing a flawless wedding guest list—and handling any awkward conversations along the way.
Create A Draft List
From relatives, coworkers, and friends to your parents’ social circles, you’ll be astonished at how many people will try to influence your wedding planning process. Working together as a couple to build an A-list of people you definitely want in attendance is the first step in working through your guest list. This could include members of your personal family, your wedding party, childhood pals, and anyone with whom you have a close relationship.
Finalize Your Budget
If you’re getting married in your hometown, inviting out-of-town friends and relatives is a considerate gesture. If you’re having an intimate destination wedding, though, you don’t have to invite everyone; otherwise, you’ll go over your budget! While you don’t need to have your guest list completely finished before choosing your wedding venue, you should have a reasonable estimate.
Make A Must-Invite List
Make a list of the folks you can’t fathom being without. Consider the people who are most important to you, whichever way you define that term. This list might be 25 or 100 people long, depending on the size of your family and social circles. In any case, it gives you an idea of how many more spaces you need to fill on your list, given your overall budget. When determining who should be on your wedding guest list, ask yourself this question: Would you invite them to dinner in the near future? If this is the case, add them to your must-invite list.
Make Your Good-To-Have List
After you’ve decided on your must-invite list, you and your partner can go through the list of extended family members and friends you’ll surely invite, but who might not make the cut if you wind up with a small, intimate wedding. These are the “nice to include” connections – those more social, business, or distant acquaintances with whom you’d love to share your day but with whom you don’t have the strongest, most significant ties.
Choose Distant Relatives Carefully
For more distant relatives, a decent rule of thumb is to gather close-unit relatives together and either invite the entire family or none at all. You can’t invite one of your favorite second cousins without her siblings unless you’re prepared for the awkward family reunions in your life. Divide your good-to-have list into “B” and “C” lists, and anticipate making decisions about whether or not they make the cut based on budget, venue capacity, and RSVPs from the initial round of invitations that may open up spots in the months leading up to the wedding.
Make The Selection Process Easy And Simple
Each additional guest at a wedding has an impact on your budget, and you may feel stretched as the number of attendees grows, especially if you’ve never met a guest’s plus-one. A plus-one, on the other hand, might provide security that attendees will have someone to sit with, hang out with, and dance with at the wedding. Whether or not you have children in attendance should be a joint decision between you and your significant other, and it should be kept consistent, much like the plus-one decision.
Finalizing The List
Reassess where you stand in terms of logistics and budget. Begin the final tally with the guests on list A. List B can be included if there is availability in the budget and space. If you still have room and want to invite more people, do so with visitors from list C. This way, you’ll know what’s possible and be prepared to get started on your wedding invitations when the time comes. As a matter of thumb, only include the guest if you have their phone number on your contact list. This allows you to concentrate on the people you care about the most.
Prepare For A Pandemic As A Precaution
It’s a good idea to prepare a pandemic strategy in case limitations and gathering limits affect your wedding date. Having a pandemic strategy might entail having a second list of close friends and family members who will make the tiny wedding cut, as well as sending out an un-invite with the intention of having people watch the ceremony electronically.
Your special day must be unique, whether you arrange your wedding indoors or outdoors, just as Northumberland Heights Resorts makes weddings memorable. You’ll find a wedding location that’s ideal for weddings, receptions, and pre-wedding ceremonies here. Please contact us if you require any assistance in making your wedding day decisions.