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I'M Marianne Blackham

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4 Ways To Keep Your Guest List In Check

Wedding Tips

July 24, 2018

One of the hardest parts of planning your wedding will be creating and managing your guest list!  Pulling a list together of your family and close friends is simple enough, but then it can get tricky. You’ll be amazed how many people end up getting added on after the first draft has been created. 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 10? A task that can start out so simple can become very overwhelming (and expensive!) very fast…but it doesn’t have to be. Here are 4 tips you should keep in mind when it comes to your guest list that will help you keep your sanity and your money!

Set expectations.

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 the ground rules.

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.). This cuts down your list so that the people you truly know, love, and care about are the ones there to celebrate the joy of your special day with you.

No ring, no invite.

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. Cutting back on the plus ones is the quickest way to cut down your guest list.

 

Talked lately?

Invite people you have had contact with in the last couple of years (this includes long lost family). If you haven’t talked to someone in years, it’s unlikely that they’ll be that upset if they don’t get an invite.

 

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 sweetheart’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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