When guests don't like your plus one policy

My plus one policy was more concerning with children, as we had given most people a +1. My fiance and I decided we'd invite out of town guests and their children, but no one from town would be able to bring their children with them, to keep our numbers low (my fiance has a very large family, and if we opened it up to his cousin's kids, it would have been massive!). Our RSVPs are due next week, and so far we haven't had any complaints, just a few swaps for +1s (brining a friend instead of SO due to work commitments) which we were happy to accommodate as it doesn't change our numbers.

Im holding down the policy.:
plus one only for those engaged/married/serious relationship.
my FH has also been told, so he can field q's should they arise.

We are only doing plus one's for the wedding party and long term relationships. If people are upset then tough noogies. We are on a really tight budget so I just don't have the wiggle room to compromise on it.

I think if they complain they have no respect for the bride and groom. Most, including myself, are allowing guests to bring a plus one (gf/bf, friend) as I understand not everyone knows everyone so it's nice to bring someone you know. We are allowing ample time for our guests to let us know who they are bring and if they are bringing one. We have both decided that any last minute plus ones will NOT be permitted and we will brush it off as we have already provided our venue with final numbers and they cannot be changed. Luckily the only thing I need to worry about is my side of the family, none of my cousins are married so they don't know the wedding details and when final numbers need to be in by. So I can make things up on the spot to deter them if need be.

Realistically you cannot please everyone and that's too bad for them. They are getting a free dinner out of us...and we are paying for it....

For the most part, no one complained about the plus guest as it was mainly family and close friends.

However, there was one guest who was invited as 1 guest only and decided upon himself to text one maid of honour saying he's bringing his mother and boyfriend. That got me pissed and had to feed 2 unwanted guests. Just before the actual reception entrance, he personally approached me and wanted to know where his mom was sitting. Again, i was pissed. After the wedding, we sat down one day on the weeakend, we looked at the cash or cheque given by our guests and realized they hadn't given anything though they got a favour. He claims he had given the card at the Buck & Buck (which technically doesn't count as the actual day) to our maid of honour.

My message to all is stick to no and don't back out on your answer. Don't feed any unneeded guests on your list.

I don't think most guests will know your complete guest list so they have no reason to get annoyed at who is or isn't coming.

We had people bring plus ones that we had not originally designated but since other people weren't attending we were able to accommodate them. My one irritation is that my cousin, who was single when we invited her, just RSVP'd with her and her boyfriend attending without asking if it would be ok for him to attend. Another friend, a groomsmen, started dating someone pretty seriously about 6-8 weeks before the wedding and asked my now husband if he could bring her. I originally wanted to say no but they have been friends for 25 years so he made the choice to allow it.

No one had a problem with our plus one policy as most people we invited were couples anyway.