Decrease guest count?

Hi there! I am getting married July 31. 2021. We sent out our save the dates in October as if we were proceeding with our full amount of guests (150). During our tasting, we had a frank conversation with our day-of-coordinator and told her we would have to postpone if we couldn't accommodate 100 people (we both have large immediate families) and asked her to be realistic with us. Vendors are hopeful they will be able to accommodate 100 by than, but definitely not 150. We will also follow up in May to ensure we will be able to have 100 before sending out invitations. With that information, we have made the decision to go through our list and send wedding invites to those who are on a must-have list ('A' list if you will), and wait until we hear back. If there are declines from the A list, we will send out extra invites. A month before the wedding we will be sending an apology email/calling guest who received save-the-dates, explaining the situation (along the lines: we apologize, but due to restrictions we have had to make a tough decision to stick with a more intimate wedding. We look forward to celebrating with you at a later time). To sum it up: I would send invitations to those you will be able to accommodate and then extend invites if anyone declines (and people will!). Hope this helps! Good luck

Provided they don't change the guidelines, you can have 50 guests inside only if the space allows 6 feet apart per person in an Orange Zone venue.

Does your venue have an outdoor option?

For those who are going through with their intended dates, what I see them doing is making separate guest lists (10, 25, and 50) so they know who will be cut if things go south. Some people are sending only in small batches and adding guests as people decline, while others are sending all invites with a disclaimer that their attendance is pending government restrictions. Anyone who has to travel and book accommodation are usually advised to hold off for that reason (but to be fair, it's very unlikely hotel rooms will be unavailable).

With 70 people, you would likely have to keep it outdoors as things were capped at 50 max for indoors even during the summer.

If you don't have out of town guests, I don't think Save the Dates are necessary. Assuming your venue requires the guest count by four weeks out, invites can go out four months prior with a due date to RSVP at two months out. This gives you a month to sort all your RSVPs and send them to venue.