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Ahhhh….the ever-expanding, bursting-at-the-seams guest list. Pressure from your parents to invite their friends, adding people you didn’t even know were part of your family tree and requests for plus ones all snowball into an absolute nightmare that keeps you up til the wee hours of the morning. This is quite possibly one of the most stressful parts of planning a wedding. Your guest list dictates just about everything in your budget: how many chairs, tables and linens to rent, head count for food and drinks, and even sometimes the price of the venue (some venues price by the amount of guests). To be honest, most of us can’t afford to invite everyone we know (and then some) to our wedding. Cue the guilt trip. Here are some tips we give our brides to help make the process a little easier.

1.  Start by going over the list with your fiance and make 2 columns: “Must Haves” and “Others”. Now, keep in mind your “Must Have” list should only include close family and your absolute best friends. If you let guilt set in at this first step, you will be stuck at square one! Everyone else falls into the “Other” category.

2.  Now, you can weed out your “Other” list by asking a few key questions with every name on the list:

-How well do you really know this person?

-When was the last time you saw this person?

-How likely would they be to attend if invited?

-Would having this person there really make or break your wedding day?

 3.  Other names to consider leaving off:

-Old high school or college friends that you’ll likely never see again.

-Second and third cousins whose names you can barely remember.

4.  Make it adults-only. It allows you to not have to account for children, but also weeds out some less committed guests that don’t want to come if they have to find a babysitter. This lets you know that your wedding isn’t really a priority for them anyway.

5. Don’t feel obligated to invite co-workers or business associates.

6.  Don’t feel pressured to invite people just because you were invited to their wedding.

7.  Cut out the friends-of-friends.

You may still feel bad about people you had to cut, but it’s one of the best cost-cutting measures and can lead to you being able to have the wedding of your dreams. Invite only the guests who really care about the two of you and will be excited to be a part of your day!

This is the type of advice we give to our N-joy brides and how we help them in their planning process. Take the stress of planning off your shoulders, get expert advice, and save your budget by employing a wedding coordinator.   We would love to help plan, design or style your wedding!  Contact us for more information and pricing!