The average number of guests that people invite to their wedding is 126.
Before the “I do’s” can be shared, the bride and groom must first figure out who they want to invite for their special day.
Simply writing a list on a scrap piece of paper may be useful for a moment, but creating a master list can help you throughout the entire wedding and keep you organized.
Continue reading to learn about how you can create a wedding guest list that is organized and useful.
How to Create Your Wedding Guest List
You’ve got the ring, the date, and the dress but one of the most important things you must tackle when getting married is the wedding guest list. Deciding who to invite for both sides of the soon to be family can become stressful, especially when you don’t know where to begin.
Creating a solid guest list that won’t see many changes can also make other aspects of getting married easier. Before you even invite guests, you will be more organized and can use your list to track addresses, RSVPs, and gifts that you receive.
Below are 5 tips on how to make a wedding guest list.
1. Close Family and Friends
The first and most obvious step in creating your guest list for the wedding is deciding the most important people who you want on your special day. Close friends and family are the obvious first choices, be sure that you consider if those members have children or significant others.
Putting together a list of the main people you know you want will help you see how much room is available for anyone else.
2. Avoid Overwhelming Yourselves
One of the biggest ways you can prevent overwhelming yourselves is by not inviting people you don’t really know. It is common that parents and other family members will try giving guidance on who you should invite, if you don’t know who they are, they probably shouldn’t be on the list.
If you decide that there are some people who you don’t know very well but you still want them there, you can consider inviting them just to the reception, and not the ceremony too.
3. Consider the Kids
Many people are now doing “adults only” weddings and setting an age limit on who is invited. If you choose to do this, it will help open up space to invite others and relieves the stress of having to keep track of children when celebrating.
If you do decide to celebrate with those of age, be sure that you have that clearly marked on RSVPs.
4. Research Your Venue
Researching your venue is extremely important when planning your guest list. Depending on the location and size of your venue may limit you from over inviting guests and deciding who can’t come. Check out the Opium London guestlist, this venue can hold over 500 people! However, most venues are a lot smaller, it just depends on your location.
5. Use the Information
Once you have compiled your list of guests, many people suggest that you create an excel document that has each person’s address, the gift they gave, and their RSVP information.
This will be your quick go to when doing the rest of your wedding planning and will help keep track of your guests.
Time to Celebrate
Creating your wedding guest list is reason enough to begin the celebration. It is important that you put quite a bit of thought into your list so that you don’t have to deal with any issues down the road.
Don’t be afraid to make it an “adult only” event or to just say no when the family is pressuring you to invite members you don’t even know that well.
Get on your computer or grab a pen and start your guest list today, you’ll see how easy it can be! Keep checking back for more tips and leave a comment below with your best wedding planning tips!
