Top Tips For Choosing Your Wedding Guest List
Imagine that we are living in England 600 years ago, 1415 to be precise. The printing press hasn't been invented and most of your friends are illiterate!! How are you going to let your friends and family know that you are engaged and invite guests to attend your wedding?
Well, the answer is simple, you have the town crier announce your wedding - obviously! The problem with this is that your wedding is then fair game to anybody that hears the announcement. Back in 1415 you would have had absolutely no control over who was invited to your wedding. Imagine that! Thankfully in 2018 things have come a long way and it's customary to send your guests a printed invitation.
Ok, so we’ve got your back on the printing side of things, but how to choose who you invite?
A couple of questions that I get asked frequently on this subject are…
How do we decide who to invite to our wedding?
How many invitations do we need to order?
Firstly, you need to write your fantasy guest list, include everybody that you can think of, then make yourself a set of rules and go through the list with a fine tooth comb. Here are some ideas to consider...
Have you ever socialised with this person outside of work?
Has your fiancé ever met this person?
Have you seen this person in the last year?
This should should help you think more practically about who you are inviting and should make the job of deciding who to invite much easier - if the answer to the 3 questions above is no, don’t invite them. It’s a simple as that! If the thought of simply not inviting people at all makes you feel uneasy, try inviting them to the evening reception only so they don’t feel left out. Really, go with your gut and do what you feel is right - it’s YOUR day after all.
Now you have chosen who to invite, you’re ready to order your stationery. There are 2 things to bear in mind...
You don't need to send each guest an invitation, one per family will be sufficient - I normally advise ordering invitations for 60% of your guest list for this reason.
If you’re not having guest names printed onto your invitations, make sure to write each guest name individually on the envelope so as to make it absolutely clear exactly who's invited - we can print onto the envelopes for you to keep it neat if you prefer.
I hope these tips have been helpful. If you have any other concerns or questions then let me know, it's likely that you're not the only one who could use a little advice!