You have already begun planning your wedding and now it’s time to do the guest list. Regardless of whether you are planning to have a small wedding or a big one, the task of putting together the guest list is probably difficult for you. With some planning, research, and creativity you can figure out all of your wedding guest list challenges. Here are 8 tricky wedding guest problems and how to resolve them.
How To Solve Wedding Guest Problems
Should I Invite My Co-Workers?
If you have many co-workers at the office that you consider to be friends, you may be wondering if they should be included in your guest lists. Whether you should invite your co-workers or not really depends on your budget and the size of the venue. As you put your wedding guest list together, start with family members, your closest friends and leave the co-workers for last.
If there are a few invites leftover, consider inviting your co-workers but don’t forget about the plus ones. However, if your guest list only allows for a few people to come from the office, it is best to leave them out so that it doesn’t look like you are picking favorites.
What Should I Do About Friends That Aren’t In The Wedding Party?
Maybe you have friends that you were close with when you were in school but these days you aren’t that close anymore. Regardless of what happened, it’s always hard to tell a friend that is probably expecting to be in your wedding that he or she won’t be a part of it.
In this case, it is important that you are upfront about the situation but you are gentle in your delivery of the news. Make sure that you tell your friend that your relationship matters and you would love to have him or her attend your wedding. Then, demonstrate that you care by including your friend in the wedding in other ways, such as by giving the friend small wedding tasks to do.
How Do I Prevent Uninvited Guests?
While you have probably already created a guest list that can accommodate plus-ones, now your guests are asking if they can bring their friends along, as well. If you don’t deal with this problem fast, before you know it, there will be people at your wedding that you don’t even know!
Make sure to emphasize that your wedding will be at maximum capacity with just one additional guest per person. If there is someone that your wedding guest doesn’t want you to exclude but you don’t have room on your list, talk to your family member or friend and let them know that you would love to arrange a time at a later date to catch up.
Wedding Guest Problem: Should Kids Come?
Children are fun but if your plan was for a sophisticated, adults-only event, you should make sure that you explain to any parents that you can’t include children due to “budget constraints.” It may seem a bit rude to leave out your guests’ children by writing that your wedding is only for adults. Therefore, you should give a subtle hint by including only the names of the guests that you want to invite rather than addressing the invitation to the guest’s family.
Wedding Guest Problem: What If My Family Doesn’t Get Along?
Dealing with family members that don’t get along is one of the trickiest wedding guest list problems to solve because it may seem that no matter who you invite from your wedding, it will be a problem. If you have family members that are sure to start arguing as soon as they see each other, it might be a good idea to invite only those family members who can ensure a drama-free wedding. Additionally, you may opt to have a smaller event so that you can blame the fact that certain family members aren’t invited on the size of the venue.
Should I Have Different Guest Lists For The Wedding & Reception?
If you were trying to avoid problems with your wedding guest list by inviting some guests to the wedding ceremony and others just to the reception, don’t do it. It will just make you look classless or like you are just after the gifts. Either invite the guests to both parts of your wedding or don’t invite them at all.
Wedding Guest Problem: Should I Invite People I Haven’t Seen In Years?
If there are people who you want to invite simply because you haven’t seen them in years, you shouldn’t use your wedding as a time to catch up. Make other arrangements to see them. Additionally, if you are not actually close but they are just a friend-of-a-friend, there is no need to invite them just to get the guest list numbers up. It may actually be more of a headache than it is worth in the end.
What If My Parents Want Their Own Friends At The Wedding?
Your parents may decide that it is their right to invite whoever their want to your wedding because they are footing the bill. However, if having your parent’s friends at the wedding means that some of the guests that you want to be there won’t be able to attend, then you’ll need to find a solution. To make things fair, consider allocating a third of your guest list to your parents, a third to the bride and a third to the groom. This way, everybody has a say in their share of the guests.
Planning your wedding is supposed to be fun. If you want things to go smoothly, it is important that you recognize your wedding guest list problems right away and deal with them head-on. These tips can help to ensure that your wedding is the happy day that you always dreamed it would be.
