Let’s face it, weddings are expensive these days and many couples are paying for them with little to no help from family. Gone are the days of small ceremonies at the church or in the backyard with cake and punch to follow. With all of the reality TV wedding shows, a grand extravagant wedding with 300 plus guests has become almost the expectation of newly engaged couples. But unless you’re one of the Kardashian’s, it’s best to live in the real world and plan your wedding within your means and the way you envision it.
When beginning the planning, finalizing the guest list will be the first priority in the process. This can become a daunting task. Deciding who to invite, and painfully who not to invite, can be tricky. If you invite your co-worker, does that mean you have to invite your boss? If you invite your friend from college, does that mean you have to invite her new boyfriend? If you invite your next door neighbors, does that mean you have to invite their kids? And your parents want to invite their friends so that means the groom’s parents will want to invite their friends, and if you invite Aunt Rhoda then you have to invite Aunt Mildred and so on and so on…where does it end?! Before you know it, half of your guest list will be people you don’t even know and will probably never see again!! And, to pour salt in an already open wound, you’re paying boatloads of money for them to attend! Well, enough of that…stop! Take a deep breath and ask yourselves (you and your future husband, that is…not you and your mom, or you and your best friend- you and your fiancé), who’s wedding is this?
Getting married is the first step of becoming a unit of one with only two team members…you and your husband! This is the time to put your big girl and boy pants on and let everyone in your life know that the decisions for your wedding are yours and your fiancé’s alone and this includes the guest list. As difficult as it may be to put your foot down, allowing others to influence your decisions now during the planning of your wedding will only give these same people the open door to meddle in your marriage after the wedding. Your loved ones and friends will understand that it is not within your budget to invite everyone. Those that may give you grief will eventually forget about it anyway. So stay with the mantra… “It’s my day and it’s my way!” A quick rule of thumb: If in doubt, leave ‘em out… they’ll get over it.
Taken from http://erhartsbythesea.com/keeping-the-guest-count-under-control/
White Light Events Team xx