Bride-to-be Blogger Alyse: Who Makes The Cut?

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In my opinion, figuring out the guest list has been the most difficult part of wedding planning. It is amazing how much thought and critical thinking goes into who makes the list and who should be invited with a guest. It’s as if you have to go through every person in your life and define him or her in some way. It’s not something that people think about every day—nor should they—unless of course, you are planning a wedding.

The reason that the guest list issue is on my mind now is that the save-the-dates will (hopefully) be sent out in January (yay!). I’ve been advised by numerous people that save the dates do not need to include the “and guest,” that apparently that can wait for the invitation. That is one piece of wedding advice that I am taking very seriously—clearly because it is convenient for me, and saves me from stressing about at least one aspect of the list. To make that decision now would require a level of critical thinking that borders on psychic powers.

Our venue, Peche in Radnor, holds a maximum of 200 people. I think it’s a nice size—although it does pose some problems, and honestly, if Kevin and I and our families could, we would probably invite many more people. But thankfully, having the strict maximum has benefited us in the budget area—and kept us from going overboard with the invite list. (As a side note, I’ve decided to label people I come across into two categories: those who think 200 people is an extremely large and overwhelming wedding, and those who think 200 is a small and intimate affair. I know that this is all based on personal preference or experience, but it is still interesting to see where people fall.)

So for now, I will continue to analyze the many excel spreadsheets I have dedicated to this task until the final save the date is addressed. I will probably hold my breath when I drop them off to be mailed, and wish that I could make some final changes—but that’s for a later date. I am absolutely not looking forward to the “and guest” discussion, but thankfully, we have a few more months before that needs to happen.

How did you decide who to invite? Did you stress about it as much as I am, or was it an easy decision?

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