The Wedding Guest List
The most stressful part of any wedding planning effort is probably the Wedding Guest List. Who is going to attend the wedding and how many guests to invite? How many entirely depends on your budget and resources, but 'who' part is the one that creates the most ill will and frustration.
The main thing is to sit down with your partner and work on the list and be practical about it and not to worry about hurting people's feelings. I dont mean to sound nasty but feelings get hurt intentionally or unintentionally anyway in any case.
Who will be present to bear witness to the Wedding Day is something that no family has ever been able to agree upon. In most cases, some of the prospective guests never actually make it onto the final guest lis. A fairly approximate head count is needed early on in the wedding planning stage as the number of guests invited to your wedding will have a considerable impact on your wedding budget. In the end everything has to be planned to fit the wedding budget. You'll need a venue large enough to hold all your wedding guests comfortably, you'll have to feed them, they'll need invitations, and if they're coming from out of town, they'll likely need overnight accommodations
Every wedding needs guests, so who will be attending? You and your mate will be there, of course. After that, add your immediate family to the guest list. Mothers, fathers, step-parents, brothers, sisters and grandparents are absolute musts, unless personal situations dictate otherwise. According to the above estimate, you're already spending considerable amount of money for food just on this group! That should make you rethink your grand illusion of 250 guests
Traditionally it is important to have wedding attendants and they should be added to the guest list next. A maid or matron of honor and the best man are absolute minimums. From there, the number of bridesmaids and ushers is purely a personal choice. But remember, even though the attendants will be paying the costs for their attire, the number of wedding attendants will have an impact on your budget.
Why? First, they'll be at the rehearsal dinner and they'll expect to eat, Second the bride and groom traditionally give each of the attendants a wedding gift or a wedding favor as a way of showing their appreciation, so the more attendants, the more wedding favors and gifts, and something that's not always considered, a large number of attendants may increase your transportation costs.
With the basics in place, it's time to add friends, coworkers, extended family members, your parents' friends and business associates, your realtor, the butcher, and on and on. Put everyone you can think of on the list and see where you're at. Then, if necessary, take the red pen and start cutting until you're down to a figure that is manageable and that fits into your budget.
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