Invites

We are being selective! I have pretty intense anxiety and my FH is fairly shy so we didn’t want too many people. When we first discussed what we wanted I had said I’d love a 20-25 person wedding but that just wasn’t possible. We did however make one very important rule in order to keep the numbers down and that was NO COUSINS. If we added cousins our guest list would go from the already overwhelming 60 to about 100. Aunts, uncles, and a few select friends will be the only ones invited. I honestly get a little panicky even reading about others that have 200+

View quoted message Sounds like a great plan. It's so easy to get overwhelmed with the invites. Congrats on your wedding.

We were selective! We knew we wanted max 100 based on our budget. Immediate family and aunts and uncles (inviting cousins was going to be too many people) were automatically invited. We keep a few close, couple friends. We each had about 5 friends from before we started dating we wanted to invite because we had known them from childhood. We also each invited coworkers that we talked to outside of work and that had met the other person. Beyond that, if we hadn’t talked to them in over a year, or one of us didn’t know them, they didn’t get invited.

We are being very selective! We have 75 guests and were trying to max out at that! That's mainly just family too! About maybe 5 friends for each of us! But for me I've been inviting anyone who when I picture my wedding day would be really sad if they weren't there! But we don't want everyone and anyone haha

We have a smaller venue so we were selective to a degree. I have a very large family so that was the hardest part. We still ended up inviting about 160 people but we know about half won't come as they are from out of province.

It all depends how many people you want to invite, your budget, venue limits (if you have your venue already).

We want a small to mid-sized wedding of around 90-120. My parents are hosting the reception and they told us that budget wouldn't be an issue for them. Our venue reception hall has a minimum of 90 and our max is 180.

We are at around 145 guests now and that includes aunts/uncles/1st cousins and their spouses (no kids), and then close friends. My parents also had a few of their friends they want to invite which I am close with too so they made the list. I didn't invite everyone I know because that would be way too many people so I'm going with the ones I'm closest with.

Guest list is something you both should agree on and general rule is not anyone whom you haven't spoken to more than a year. Family and close friends of course are on the list.

Despite of how i felt and said and did about 1 guest showing up last minute invite, my husband went against my wishes and that was not pleasant to be facing him after.

Hi Samuel,

Welcome to the WW community!

My FH and I decided invite everyone up to our first cousins (incl. their spouses, but not their kids). We're also pretty strict with our +1, only giving them to people who are in a serious relationship.

We’re doing both - we’re having a smaller ceremony and dinner and then having an open reception where we can invite whoever we want to come celebrate with us!

For me and my FH, we had to go with what our venue could hold which is 250. We would have loved to have more - but alas, some will need to get cut! (Maybe added if we get some no's though!)

My side is much smaller than his (80ish ppl) so all will get invites, and then his side (100+) will get invites. NO KIDS (18+ only). And then select friends.

When we get the rsvps back we will send more invitations out, and after that we may consider last minute asking if there is still some no's.

Basically the big thing was family first, no kids, and close family. The rest would be great but only if there's room.

I'm inviting my entire family because they're the reason I want to have a big wedding (otherwise we would have just eloped). They make up the majority if my guest list (my mom, dad, and step mom all have 6 siblings), and the remainder is my fiance's family (much smaller) and close friends of ours (most of whom are in the wedding party anyway). I'm leaving myself a BIT of flexibility but really trying to keep a cap on it. If I could afford it, I'd invite everyone I know!

View quoted message That is Leah! Congrats on your wedding also and good luck!

Congratulations on your engagement! Welcome to the WW community!

We’d likely to believe that our guest list has been specially curated, but we’ve got “vip” family members who have managed to have some significant say on the list.

Eloping is not an option but we’re hoping for a small final count.

We went through various drafts of our list to come up with a final decision.

Good luck with your process!

Thanks Casey! Exactly what I was thinking. It's a 2nd wedding for both of us. So i think we're just going to keep it small. Under 40..maybe even under 30. Lol

Welcome to the Wedding Wire Community!
You have to start with a couple things. What is your budget? You may want to invite everyone you know, but may not be able to afford it depending on your venue.
Does your venue have enough space for everyone you know? How big of a wedding do you want?
Think of what really matters to you and your fiancé. Is it a big wedding where everyone is invited or do you want something more intimate.
For us we are only inviting family we see, not just the ones who show up at those big weddings and funerals.
Immediate family. Aunts, uncles and first cousins. We only have a few friends coming as well. For us, a smaller (120 ish guests) was more important than having 300 people!