Making Tough Calls When it Comes to Guests

Guests liven up a wedding like no other. From emotions during the ceremony to wobble skills during the reception, guests add an extra layer of fun to any day. However, before the wedding, it can be a little daunting coordinating for all the attendees. There's addresses to gather, families to figure out, and seating charts to map to maximize everyone's enjoyment. I know from my own experiences that it can be exhausting, but the thing that worked for Shawn and me when taking them all on: set a cap on guests and hold strong to that number.

For our wedding, Shawn and I decided that we would do a couple of things in order to keep our list manageable. Our first decision was to not invite children except for the two in the bridal party (my niece and nephew). The second thing we decided early on was to keep our family invites to parents, grandparents, aunts, uncles, and first cousins. Shawn has a huge family, and while we didn't want to exclude anyone, we had to think of costs and what wedding size we could manage. The last thing we did was to put the number of seats that were being held in their honor on our guests RSVP cards. We kept this to just two seats for each of our guests, and they were super respectful of our request. I've heard horror stories of people crossing out these numbers and writing in their own, but luckily, our family and friends are really awesome :).

It can be a real personal struggle to make these kinds of calls. You don't want people to think badly of you, but it's your day and if you have set parameters then that is what you need to do.

Brittany & Steve "Limit your allowed guests to a certain number and stick with it!"

Meghan & Morgan "Don't feel obligated to invite anyone you don't really want to spend your wedding day with."

Ali & Matt "Not everyone will get along and you will just need to your best to not let the drama or tension get in the way of your special day."