My coworker (who neither me nor my fiance like) thinks him and his wife are going to be invited to the wedding?

This sounds like maybe he just wanted to give you a gift and doesn't necessarily think that he's invited? I know personally that girls from my work are planning on throwing me a work shower, but none of them are invited. Don't feel bad accepting gifts from people who aren't invited - it's not like you asked them for it, it's their choice. Don't bring up your guest list unless he does - speaking from personal experience I told them "due to budget constraints we decided to no invite co-workers". Good luck!

I would tell him that you are tight on budget and/or you are having a small wedding (list is full). It is better to tell him sooner than later, even more so considering how excited he is about your special date. I recommend breaking the news to him outside of work, when the two of you are alone. Reassure him that there are no hard feelings and you are grateful for keeping you in mind in terms of returning from vacation with a present.

If the topic comes up, say offense but we decided co workers aren't invited. Hope you can understand my position.

The bottle of liquor is just a gesture ftom them to you and say Thank You and we really appreciate it.

I would just leave it. Dont tell him he is or isnt invited and if he happens to bring it up just mention you're really sorry but due to a tight budget you guys have decided not to invite coworkers. No one should ever ASSUME they're invited to a wedding its honestly just rude and selfish.

I was able to invite 2 ladies from work, but already I'm realizing that there is going to be an awkward divide of "why them and not me" kind of vibe.

I would say the best option is to state that you've had to keep the guest list concise, and if either of you start inviting colleagues, the guest list grows very quickly.

Honestly, they should be the one feeling awkward, not you, they assumed they were invited to a wedding without a direct request or invitation.

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I agree with this. I'd politely tell him that you're keeping the guest list tight. The sooner you tell him, the easier for you as he'll stop anticipating it (and besides, he may feel worse that you hadn't told him sooner if you put it off).

Yikes I hate when people assume they’re invited! Honestly I would just tell him that you really appreciate how excited he is for you but unfortunately your guest list was too big to begin with and you really didn’t have the room to have coworkers on the list. It’s a simple excuse that makes a lot of sense. He’ll likely be a little upset at first but he shouldn’t take it personally.

I would plead the 5th... If you never mentioned that he is invited then I would just assume that him buying you something is a nice gesture.

The way I look at it is: would I do that for one of my coworkers if I wasn't invited to the wedding? Yes.... I would actually. It's just a nice little something. Then again my work does potlucks and everyone chips in so to buy a present on the side isn't completely unheard of.