Forget searching for a venue and booking a caterer. Sometimes simply putting together your wedding guest list can be the most stressful part of the entire planning process. Whether you’ve got a massive extended family, pushy parents, or hordes of work friends, it can be tough to narrow down your list—especially if you have budgetary and venue constraints. With these challenges in mind, Shutterfly recently teamed up with a handful of wedding experts and newlyweds from across the country to create the Ultimate Guide to Building a Wedding Guest List. Among the tips and tidbits: Seven tips for getting started. Here’s what you need to know.
1. Talk – With your ideal wedding size, location, and overall feeling in mind, talk to your fiancé about how you envision your big day.
2. Target – Create a target number of guests, taking into account your budget and venue.
3. Think Tiers — Make a list of potential guests, then divide it up into tiers—Tier 1 being the people who have to be there, Tier 2 being the people you’d like to be there, and Tier 3 being the people you’re not as concerned about.
4. Take Suggestions — If your parents (or anyone else) are helping pay for the wedding, they deserve to have a say in the guest list. Ask for their list, but be clear about your target number.
5. Reassess — How does your list line up with your original target number? Who should stay and who can go? Do you have any wiggle room? It’s time to settle on a final number!
6. Cut, Cut, Cut — Simplify the process by creating some cutting rules. For instance, if you haven’t spoken to someone in three years or more, you may decide not to invite them.
7. Stay Strong — Plan to have a finalized list at least nine months before your wedding date—and do your best to stick to it!
About the Author:Erica Jackson Curran is a writer and editor whose own wedding guest list challenge was a strict 75-guest limit. She’s written for Smitten Magazine, Destination I Do, and Charleston Weddings, and she blogs about weddings for Shutterfly.
Sources – article:Erica Curran / photography: Sean Money + Elizabeth Fay
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