How to create your wedding guest list!

When planning your wedding and choosing a venue, the first thing you need to do is to decide who to invite. This will dictate the size of the venue you will need and help you form a wedding budget.

Creating the guest list can be one of the least exciting tasks you will do for your wedding; it is nowhere near as fun as dress shopping or cake tasting.

There will be many opinions about who you should invite and who you shouldn't invite to your wedding including thoughts from your fiancé, family & friends, and even yourself.

I have outlined the process below, that my fiancé (now husband) and I found helpful when it came to compiling our guest list.

Step 1 - Start by deciding who you and your fiancé want to invite individually.

Don't think of anyone else, just write down the guests that you want to invite.

Write this initial list with no rules applied. Don't worry about the total guest list number and those that have a question mark next to them, just write them all down.

Step 2 - Add your fiancé's names to the list and remove all of the double-ups.

Compile all of the names into an excel spreadsheet for easy editing.

Step 3 - With your fiancé, discuss and decide who your non-negotiable guests to invite are.

Read below the different types of people you can invite to help you do this.

At the end of this step, you will want to have your initial guest list 90% complete.

Tip: At this stage, don't talk to anyone else about who to invite, including your parents.

Groups of people who you will need to consider inviting

• Family
• Friends
• Parents Friends
• Work Colleagues
• Children
• Plus 1's

Step 4 - Talk to your family.

Sit down and have a calm conversation with both sets of your parents and show them the guest list you have finalised including the list of their friends you have added.

Show them the complete list of who you are inviting, including their friends.

Now is the time to ask them if there is a handful of people you might have missed and see what they say.

This will show that you are in control of who will be invited to your wedding and at the same time showing that you are embracing their wants and needs.

Keep in mind that your parents have raised you and watched you grow into the lovely adult that you are. You are now officially leaving their family to start your own with your husband or wife to be. They will want to both celebrate and grieve this with those that are close to them.

At the end of the day, this is your wedding so the guest list should only include who you and your fiancé want to invite. However, there are family expectations for many couples out there, and I am sure you are not exempt from this completely.

Additional helpful tips to help you create your guest list

• Note down separately the guest names for the invitation and the guest names for the envelope as they will be different.
  For example, John & Mary will be on the invitation and Mr & Mrs Smith will be on the envelope.
• Remember that everyone you send a save the date too is considered invited to the wedding, so ensure you get your guest list correct early on.
• Include your bridal party and parents. Even though they may know a lot about your wedding day, they will still need to be sent a formal invitation.
• The total number of invitations you need to order is approximately 50% - 60% of your total guest count due to your guests attending as a couple or as a family.

Good luck with drafting your guest list!


If you have any tips of your own that you would like to add, please comment below for all to see!

Until next time
Bel x

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