Hello everyone. We are about to send out Save the Date and I'm going over the guest list with a fine tooth comb. I've been saying this whole time that I want a small wedding. Our current list is 202!!! I can cut people who I grew up with but haven't seen in many years and our co-workers but that only gets us to 167. People keep telling me that 1/4 of the list will not come, but I don't think that will be the case here. This is our breakdown for far: 72 (my family and his immediate family) and 95 (friends).
My groom comes from a big family, think 150+ family members! So we've decided to have 2 receptions. One where we live, Kansas City (and that's the 167 previously mentioned), and one where most of his family is out in California. Should I cut the friends list more and invite them out to the party in California even though they all live closer to Kansas City? The other issue is 65 of those 95 friend are all in a very close friend group. So I feel like feelings maybe hurt if I pick and chose out of that group.
Also what about my friends who were married to each other but are now getting a divorce. Should I just not invite either of them?
Any help would greatly be appreciated! Thank you for listening.
AMENDMENT!: Thank you everyone for your feedback! The party in California would be a "celebration of marriage" not a reception. I honestly didn't know what to call it.