20 May 5 Tips For Writing Your Wedding Guest List

The question on most bride and grooms’ lips when first planning a wedding, is who should we invite? For some couples, writing your wedding guest list can be a grueling process and a source of contention among families. You may feel obliged to invite your parents’ friends, distant relatives or work colleagues and consequently, your guest list may get out of hand.  Following these 5 simple tips to writing your wedding guest list can help you decide on who the most important people are to share your special

1. Work Out Your Budget

Before you start writing your wedding guest list, the first step is to discuss your wedding budget with your partner. Work out who will be contributing financially – do you have parents that are willing to contribute, or will you be funding the wedding yourselves? Be clear of expectations of all those financially involved from the get-go to avoid misunderstandings later on. Your budget will dictate how large or small your wedding will be, depending on the venue you choose.

2. Research Venue Capacity

Once you have your budget set and depending on the venue, work out a minimum and maximum number of guests you can afford to invite. This should give you a magic number of maximum guests you can work.

3. Establish Culling Rules

You and your partner need to sit down and establish some rules when it comes to narrowing down your guest list. Make sure the rules are fair and apply to both sides of the family. For example, you may wish to make a blanket rule not to invite anyone you haven’t seen or contacted in the last 12 months. Or perhaps as a couple, you decide not to invite children to the wedding. Make sure you stick to your rules as hard as that may be!

4. Be Firm About Plus Ones

You may have friends that do not have a partner, however, don’t feel pressured to add a plus one to their invite. If you do this for all your single friends, your numbers will quickly skyrocket. Weddings are a great occasion for people to mingle and meet new people, so leave it up to your friend to decide if they are comfortable to come to your wedding! Not adding plus ones will help you narrow down your guest list easily.

5. Start The List…

Now you have your budget, venue and guest list rules in place, it’s time to start writing that list! Most couples wish to start with immediate family, then move on to cousins, aunties and uncles and distant family. Once family is catered for, add close friends to the list. These people will often make up most of your guest list. If you still have numbers to make up, then you may wish to invite work colleagues. Choose people that know both you and your partner well. Flow diagrams such as this one from passionateaboutpaper set some good foundations to help you narrow down your guest list!

But most importantly, remember your wedding day is all about you and your partner, so you should have the final say on who you want to share your special day with!

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