Are you losing sleep over your guest list? Does the phrase, “It's your wedding, invite who you want,” offer no consoling relief? When it comes to “should they stay or should they go,” ask yourself these questions first…
Inviting friends and family:
- Do you regularly keep in touch?
- Do you have fond memories of them?
- Have they been supportive about the marriage?
- Do they play an ACTIVE role in your life?
- Have you spent a significant amount of time together?
More on inviting family:
- Do you spend the holidays together?
- If they are long distance, would they spend the holidays with you if they could?
- Will not inviting them cause a world war, or family equivalent?
More on inviting friends:
- Have you seen them in the past 6 months?
- Do you have to go searching for their contact information?
- Are they someone you will keep contact with in the long run?
- Do they know both of you?
Inviting coworkers:
- Will you be friends if either one of you move onto another job?
- Have you done things outside of work together?
If you just can't bear the guilt of not inviting everyone, here are some ideas to help combat the budget…
Have a small wedding ceremony at your ideal location and a larger meet-and-greet style reception somewhere else. Or have a large venue for the wedding and a smaller dinner for family and close friends afterwards.
For the casual weddings, make it a potluck reception.
Have an after-party where you invite just your friends to join you for drinks and dancing, either that night or a following weekend.
Suggest to a family member that they hold a family reunion at some other point in time, and not on your dime.
