How Many People Should You Invite to the Wedding?Besides the many things to think about when it comes to your wedding, one of the most important questions you have to answer is: how many people, among relatives and friends, you should invite .
Usually, the list should start with your closest friends and family. Besides the ones you will never do without, the question is more for those on the maybe list. Although you want to please everybody, one consideration is a must for making the final choice: your Budget’
Here are some tips to help you decide how many people to invite and how
The First List: the people you absolutely need to be there on your wedding day
One of the first steps in wedding planning is to list out the people you absolutely need to be there. You may find it difficult to invite everybody you know, but it’s important to keep your wedding day as stress-free as possible. You can always call them and ask about their availability.
Your guests should be people you trust, family members who know you well, and people who are comfortable being around you. You will not want to spend your special day without these people. However, you must also be careful about who you invite. Try to invite – as much as possible – the “same tribe vibe” people. Remember they will sit, eat, drink and dance together.
How Many People Sould I Invite to my Wedding
Second List: the people who are closest to you
After you have listed the people that absolutely must be at your wedding (your mum? your best friend? That auntie who was your second mother?), start listing the friends and relatives closest to you.
Of course, this list should include the closest relatives; not only from your side, but also your parents’ side. They might have a cousin, or someone in their family that meant a lot to them. Although it’s your wedding, you might want to invite them out of respect for your parents. You don’t want to displease them and make your day turn into a sad one, only for overlooking those few extra guests.
The size of your wedding reception room, though, also plays a role in determining how many guests you will invite, so it’s important to plan ahead.
How Many People Should I Invite to My Wedding?
The Final List: the Maybes
Once you’ve determined which guests are a must, which ones are closest to you and nice to have around, it’s now to draw the list of those that would be lovely to have, but are neither a must, nor closest.
In this instance, it’s important to consider 3 factors: whose feelings you will hurt if these people are not invited, your budget, the overall flow of the weddings and if these people fit the age and the vibe.
As a general rule of thumb, it is not necessary to invite people who don’t mean much to you. But here, you want to list your co-workers, old school and university friends, people in town that helped with your wedding, like the celebrant.
Consider your budget
Budgeting is a must and it’s the first and last thing you need to look at
Therefore, once you have done the 3 lists above, play around with your budget and see if it can cover them all.
Make sure to factor in a number of expenses, which go beyond the cost of the food and drinks itself.
You want to add the cost of favors, transportation -if needed, the size of the wedding cake, or even the size of the dance floor. Even one extra guest can greatly impact your budget. For instance, if you need to transfer your guests from one venue to another, consider that coaches have a limit of 15 /25/50 people. Therefore even one extra guest that makes the total to 16/26/51, will literally double the cost of the transportation.
Hence, answering the question: How many people should I invite to my wedding, the answer lies in between what you want to do and what you ought to do, making sure your special day is a happy and stress-free occasion for everyone
