Who to invite and who not to invite; that is the question
A wedding is no wedding without guests to attend your big day! This, however, can make every single hair on your head stand at end. If you come from a small family, but your better half has a rather large list of family members, you need to start thinking about the number of guests you will be catering for.
Remember that each guest needs to eat, needs to have a seat at your wedding and should be able to enjoy a drink or two while enjoying the party. If you’re not able to cater for a large number of people, the only way to eliminate any hiccups is to construct a wedding guest list.
Who should be on my list?
Below is a general list of people that you could invite to celebrate with you on your special day. Whether you choose to invite them to the day part of your wedding or just the evening reception is up to you!
Immediate Family
Start with your parents, grandparents, siblings, their partners and their children. Then move down a step to add aunts, uncles and cousins that you see regularly.
Distant family
If you have family that you tend to keep in touch with and would like at your wedding, be sure to add them to the list. How far through the extended family do you go before friends start becoming more important than a family connection? As always, ultimately it’s up to you and will be particular to your specific circumstances. In general, we’d always advise early communication and resolution of any disagreements in pursuit of a stress-free wedding planning journey.
Friends
Start with your closest friends and then think about friends you speak to regularly, friends from your school years, university or college, neighbours that you are friends with or friends that you feel could be a great addition to your wedding guest list.
Work colleagues
Depending on how long you have worked for the company, you may want to invite your work colleagues or even our boss to your wedding. You may have some work colleagues that are closer that others who you may want to invite to the day. This can be a tricky decision, but if you work in a relatively small office environment and feel as if you can’t invite some colleagues without inviting others, why not invite them all to the evening reception?
Plus ones
Adding a plus one to your single friend’s invitation can increase your overall wedding guest list numbers. Having said this, your friends who aren’t engaged or married shouldn’t expect to receive an invitation with a pus one. If you’re looking for a way to reduce your guests numbers, then this could be a smart option.
Family friends and friends of parents
Every family has them, so it’s worth discussing with both sets of parents who, if appropriate, it would be worth jotting down on your wedding day or evening wedding guests list.
Children
Choosing whether or not to invite children to your wedding can be a stressful decision. They will obviously add to your guests numbers and in some family circumstances, you may have no option. Discuss whether or not you will be inviting children to your wedding between you, and early on in the process of creating your wedding guest list, as this could change the dynamics of your day.