Planning a wedding comes with having to make A LOT of decisions! Some may be easy, such as selecting the flavor of your wedding cake (at least we think it’s easy RED VELVET OFC!). Whereas some may be REALLY difficult such as deciding who WILL and who WILL NOT be invited to your wedding! 

As there are so many factors to consider when building your guest list, we came up with the following 5 tips to help you in creating your perfect guest list! 

1. Set Your Budget 

Most of the time, the greater amount of guests that you have at your wedding will result in the greater amount that you may need to spend on your wedding. With this in mind determining your overall budget, especially on how much you will be spending on your venue, will influence your guest count! Once you set your budget, you can then set your guest count, and then finally begin determining the people who will make up your set guest count number! 

Additionally, be aware of costs that may arise with out of town guests! 

If Hawaii is a destination wedding for any of your guests, and paying for a portion of the lodging/flight expenses is something that’s important to you, factoring in these possible costs may greatly influence the size and the names on your guest list. 

2. Establish Policies for Plus-Ones and Kids

If you’re planning to send an invitation to guests that have a significant other or kids, we highly recommend establishing a policy for determining if any/which Plus-Ones and Kids will be invited. By communicating with each other and creating a set rule for these two additional invitation groups, it will be clear to both you and your guests who will be invited. The following are some examples of policies that can be set for Plus-Ones and Kids.

Plus-Ones 

• A significant other that both of you know.

• Their other half is a part of your wedding party. 

• Engaged or married couples.

• Couples who live together. 

• Been together longer than X months. 

Kids

• Parent(s) are a part of the wedding party. 

• In the wedding party (i.e. flower girl or ring bearer).

• They’re family. 

• At least X years old. 

• Younger than X years old and both parents are invited. 

By setting policies early, you may be able to avoid having to make decisions for Plus-Ones and Kids, on a case by case basis. You’ll also be able to anticipate how many Plus-Ones and Kids will be included in your guest count and decrease the chance of being surprised with a higher count when you receive RSVPs. 

3. Stick to the Guidelines

Whether it’s  guidelines you’ve created, like on Plus-Ones and Kids as mentioned above, or policies out of your control such as COVID-19 regulations, sticking to these guidelines will make it easier for you to communicate with guests how the guest list was created. Note that if you make any exceptions to the guidelines you may have to be prepared to explain the exceptions to your guests, that’s also why we highly recommend sticking to any guidelines, so that no one takes anything personally! 

4. Order Your List

Order the people on your guest list by priority rather than group. Instead of putting the names of your guests in relationship sections such as family, friends, coworkers, etc. Order your list from the people you most need at your wedding to the people that you will be okay with them not being there. Though it may sound harsh, by creating your list in this order if your guest list size has to decrease in any way, it will be easier for you to see who will have to not be invited (names at the bottom of the list) rather than re-looking at your entire list and going through the list by the different relationship sections.

5. Know Your Priorities

Does the wedding that you dreamed of match your guest list? If your vision is to have an intimate backyard wedding, but your guest count is over 50 people, really think about which one is more of a priority to you and who are really the people on that list! During the wedding planning process outside influences (espeically parents) can tend to affect the number of guests as well as who the guests are. Though this special event can be seen as a family event, at the end of the day it’s central focus is on you and your other half. So by knowing your priorities it will help you to keep to the wedding vision that you want! 

We hope these 5 tips help you in creating your ideal wedding guest list! As your wedding day is the ultimate celebration of you and your significant other committing to spend the rest of your lives together, you should be surrounded by the people that you wnat to be there to witness and support this incredible moment in your lives!!

XOXOXO

Happy Planning!

(A Perfect Day)