Significant others / plus one's!

For me personally I would rather make my list smaller so I could accommodate plus ones for my guests. I know I would never go to a wedding if I didn't have a plus one unless I was part of the wedding party and would be busy all day. Even then I hated being there alone once everything was done. Had I been a guest I would have left shortly after dinner.

My fiance and I are including plus ones for our guests since most of our guests are married or in serious relationships.

We are on a tight budget for the wedding and we basically aren't giving anyone plus ones. Some of our friends get to bring their significant others but only if we would actually spend time with both of them. Then I have 1 friend that's getting a plus 1 because she will be traveling from a different province and won't know anyone.

It’s typically customary to allow your bridal party to have plus ones. As for everyone else if someone is engaged or married, definitely plus one. Also if someone is invited and doesn’t know anyone else, they should get a plus one. For example if you invited a coworker who has never met anyone else, it’s polite to give them a plus one or else they’d likely feel uncomfortable. Personally, I’m only giving plus ones to bridal party, married & engaged guests. I don’t think it’s necessary for my 19 year old cousin to invite a random girl just so he can have a date 🤷🏼‍♀️ But ultimately it’s up to you and your fiancé!

I’d consider bringing this up to your bridesmaids and ask for their opinion. Everyone has a vision of what your day will look like , if they are both coming from out of town and staying with you they might be envisioning a fun girls weekend without their SOs. I’m only planning on having 80 or less and one of my friends is a single mom with a daughter and she knew theyd both be invited - since then she has started dating and moved in together with a single dad. I wasn’t planning on now giving her 3 plus ones. She came up to me and said she didn’t expect me to invite everyone- but thought her daughter would appreciate going more then her boyfriend. So they are making a family week vacation out of it - and just her daughter and her are coming to the wedding while her boyfriend and his son will find another activity for the day.
I think if you are honest and ask for their opinion then you can all figure it out together.

Though convention says you should invite people's SOs, I personally don't believe in fully adhering to the rule. When I originally had my 250 guest list pre-covid, we were planning to invite certain SOs (ones we had an actual relationship/rapport with) but not all. There were people who just started relationships at the time. Some have been together for a little while but we've never met the SO before so we didn't feel obligated to invite them.

If you can swing it, allowing a guest who doesn't know or are friendly with anyone else at the wedding besides you would be nice so they won't be bored. And if you and your fiance have attended the wedding of a guest together, it's courtesy to invite their SO since you were allowed to bring yours to theirs.

As for the bridal party, it highly depends on your relationship with them. Based on personal experience from when I was a groomsman, I was so busy during the day that I barely had time to interact with my fiancee until very late into the reception. With her not being much of a social butterfly, it was really difficult for her and I wouldn't want to put her in that situation. But some people are attached to their SO's hip and because your bridal party is special to you, throwing them a bone wouldn't be the end of the world (just make sure they're not distracted from their bridesmaid duties). And don't worry about the SO's itinerary. If they choose to come, they know the drill and they'll figure it out. At the end of the day, you'll have people who will feel entitled and get upset with you but at the end of the day, you have to do what works for you. Just don't be upset in the future if you're invited to a wedding but your husband isn't.