How Many Guests To Invite To Your Wedding

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One of the biggest decisions that you will need to make regarding your wedding is how many people you are going to invite. This definitely is not easy and time and time again this is a problem that couples run into from the very start. This is either caused by the fact that one person wants a big wedding with the whole town invited while the other wants an intimate affair with just a few close friends and family. Or maybe you've both dreamed of tying the knot in front of the entire town but there is simply not enough money to have a lot of guests. Regardless of your situation, it is important to decide on wedding size early on.

In order to ensure that you decide on the wedding size that is right for you and your partner, it is essential that you get started on this aspect of the ceremony right away. In other words it is not a good idea to do other things before you know how many people you are going to invite. The reason for this is quite simple; the amount of people that you invite will directly affect a lot of other decisions that you will have to make down the road. If you do not make this decision first, you'll probably end up having to redo most other areas as the wedding plans start to unwind.

There are many factors that will contribute to the overall size of your wedding. Of course this is not the same for every couple, but generally speaking there are some that are catch alls.

First off, your wedding budget is always going to determine how many people you can invite. The bottom line is that you can only invite as many people as you can afford to accommodate. Many couples make the mistake of over extending themselves in this area and they end up running into financial issues. In turn, this means that they have to cut back on other areas of the wedding that they would have liked to make a bit more luxurious. This is more common in people paying for their wedding themselves.

Another factor that is going to affect your decision on size is personal preference. Some people want to have a large blow out where then invite everybody they know, from your good friend to your second cousin. But on the other hand there are people that would rather plan a small wedding with only close friends and family invited. There is no right and wrong way of deciding your personal preference; it is simply a matter of what you and your partner decide on as a couple.

The venue where you are going to have the wedding and reception must also be taken into consideration when trying to determine size, which brings us back to the first point of making sure that the decision on size is one of the first steps to take. This way you will be able to book a location where your entire party will comfortably fit. In some cases you may be in love with a certain location and have to cut down your list.

It's important to remember that your parents may want to invite certain guests as well, especially if they are helping with the cost of the wedding. All of this will go into your overall total, and will cause you to have to adjust accordingly.

Once you have actually decided on how many people you are going to invite, you will then have to decide who to invite. This can sometimes be even more difficult than choosing a size, especially if you have to start cutting people from the invite list.

Generally speaking, the bride will get to invite half the guests and the groom will take care of the other half. Simple right? Unfortunately, things are not always this easy. In many cases you will have to cut back on your half of the list so that your partner can invite everybody that they have in mind. Not to mention the fact that one person's family may be bigger than the others.

If you are in the predicament of having to cut down your guest list there are two groups of people that you should start with. First off, you can start by crossing off colleagues. Unless they are very good friends there is no reason to leave them on the list unless you have room. Another way to pair down the list is to not invite children. This may put a strain on some of your guests, but the fact of the matter is that this is sometimes necessary. Just make sure that if you are not inviting children that it holds true for everybody. You do not want to show special treatment, and put any of your guests in an awkward position.

Some people often invite guest because they feel like they have to, or they do out of guilt. This is never a good reason to put somebody on the list. Remember, if you do this you will then need to cut out somebody else that you may rather have there.

Trying to decide on whether to invite couples or send solo invitations is also a big decision that has to be made. For the most part, if somebody is engaged or married you should invite both people. On the other hand, if you are simply inviting colleagues or acquaintances you can send out a solo invitation. This may also save you some extra space.

Deciding on size is a crucial part of any wedding. Make sure that this is one of the first things that you decide upon with your partner. If you get this out of the way early on, the rest of the planning will go much more smoothly. All in all, your guest list is nothing to stress out about. Simply go with the flow and work your list down until you are at the right number.

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