Choosing Your Wedding Guests: Easiest List Planner Ever

Choosing your Wedding Guests: the easiest list planner ever.
Our tips guide you in choosing whom to send invitations,
which is never an easy task!

 

And then, when Great Aunt Myrtle wonders why she didn’t get invited,

you can blame it on our guidelines.

After all, if you do it by the “book” it will make everything okay, right?

Well, no.

But it mostly ensures that major names don’t get left out.

(And these days, the pandemic can always be blamed, too.

In 2020 we missed a few weddings we’d have been invited to if it weren’t for the restrictions.

It’s disappointing, but what can we do?

And the bride and groom definitely didn’t miss us.)

 

How to Create your Wedding Guest List

The most important part of any wedding guest list may be to start it as soon as you get engaged.

Even before the wedding date is set and the invitations chosen.

Because when this job is done, and done correctly, it saves tons of headache pills.

 

 

Start with a good form

Whether you use a notebook and pen, Google Sheets or Excel, or a printable download like the one we offer below,

keep your list all together and exhaustive.

That last word simply means, keep all the info about your guests in one place.

Names, addresses, sent invite, received rsvp, diet restrictions and so on.

Then, when you figure out your seating and catering, you won’t be exhausted.

 

 

Choosing your Wedding Guests

The traditional way to divvy up the guest choices is to divide it into quarters.

The bride, groom and each set of parents get 25% of the guests.

This means deciding on a total number of guests early on, so you know how many each of you can invite.

There’s always exceptions to the traditions, so if the groom’s circle of friends is half the size of the bride’s by all means share.

For example, bride and groom together get 50%, especially since some guests will overlap on your lists.

 

Who goes on the list.

Etiquette demands certain mores.

You can’t leave that ornery first cousin off the list if all the others are invited.

Guidelines for deciding who makes the list could be:

• • Uncles and aunts, and married first cousins. If it’s a large family, include cousins only your own age or you’ve been in touch with. Also, an exception I’d make is extended family I haven’t seen or heard from in years.
  • Close friends, which include those you see regularly, communicate with often, and have been invited to their wedding in the last year.
  • Co-workers. Include those you work with daily. If one doesn’t make the list, don’t invite any.
  • People who affected your life, such as mentors, childhood and school friends, and others who have played significant parts at some time in your life.

 

 

Collect information

As soon as a name goes on the list start collecting the info you need.

Address, phone number, email, how many are included with that name, and so on.

This list is not only for sending invitations. It will also be handy for keeping track of who has responded, and thus, create your meal requirements. And later, for thank you card mailing.

You may want to number your list, then put the guest’s number on the back of the response card. Then if they forget to include their name on the response card, you check the list to see who it is.

Also, if you haven’t heard from someone by the response deadline, call them. The phone number will be on your list and a quick call is all it takes.

 

And that’s all… the easiest list planner ever.

 

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