Creating your wedding guest list may possibly be one of your least favorite parts of planning your wedding, so we came up with a few tips to hopefully lessen the stress. Be sure to keep in mind the venue’s maximum guest capacity and your budget! Questions like “Should I invite him? What if I do not invite her? Should children be invited?” may arise when you start to create your list and most definitely when you need to cut down the list.
First, start by writing down each person you would like to invite to your wedding. You can call this your “rough draft guest list” because changes may be made.
Second, look at your list and think to yourself…
Are you in contact with him/her often? Or do you plan to be in the future?
Are they a distant family member you have never met? You do not have to invite them… you have never even met!
Not thrilled about inviting children? Do not feel bad about wanting an adult-only wedding. This is your wedding!
Were you invited to their wedding and now feel guilty about not inviting them to yours? Do not sweat it! Again, you do not have to invite them.
Third, create an A-list and a B-list! Having two lists allows you to invite the majority of your original guest list without putting your budget at risk. Your A-list (aka the must-invite list) consists of guests you couldn’t image not inviting. Your B-list still consist of people important to you so do not just list anyone, simply be more selective. Send out your A-list invites 3 months prior to your wedding and your B-list 6-8 weeks prior. Make sure your A-list and B-list have different RSVP dates, if not your B-list invites may realize they were on the B-list if the RSVP date has passed.
Lastly, use names on the response cards. This should help prevent uninvited plus-ones (or two or three!). If a plus-one is added onto the response card, call your invited guest and kindly explain that you would love to invite everyone, but budget and space simply do not allow it.
We hope you find these tips helpful as you tackle this task!