Narrowing down the guest list

Pjephanie

Hi! My fiance and I have been working on our guest list, and right now we are about 150 people over budget! Sooo I had a few questions I thought I'd throw out there...
1. If I was invited to their wedding, do we have to invite them to ours?
2. Should we allow all of our cousins to bring dates even if they are not in serious relationships?
3. If yes, what should the age cut-off be? I was thinking only cousins over 18...or maybe 21.
4. This one might be out there...but we have 2 family friends that are priests...do they get to bring a guest?
5. If we were both going to invite co-workers, do they get to bring dates? More specifically, if I invite the 9 women in my office and seat them all together, do I have to invite their husbands, boyfriends, etc.?
6. My fiance wants to invite a group of guys that he hasn't seen or talked to in about 2 years...there wasn't a fight or anything, he just moved away from the area and they've lost touch...do i tell him no, or let him invite them?
7. Is it okay to invite your A list people first, and then once you've seen how many people are not able to attend, to start inviting people off your B list?
8. My cousin recently got married and invited my great aunts and uncles. My grandparents, especially grandma, are very close with their siblings, and I know they would like if I invited them...but do I have to? That would cut 14 people.
9. Any other good ideas or suggestions on how to narrow down the guest list?
 
I want my friends and family to be there, but I don't want to worry that they are not enjoying themselves because they don't have a date or feel guilty about the friends we weren't able to invite! We are already doing other things to cut costs for the wedding, so now it's really about getting this number lowered. Any advice would be appreciated!!!

FutureMrsTR

1. If I was invited to their wedding, do we have to invite them to ours?  No, weddings are not tit for tat.

2. Should we allow all of our cousins to bring dates even if they are not in serious relationships?  You don't have to, but keep the rule the same for all singles.

3. If yes, what should the age cut-off be? I was thinking only cousins over 18...or maybe 21.

4. This one might be out there...but we have 2 family friends that are priests...do they get to bring a guest?  I would keep this rule the same as any other singles.

5. If we were both going to invite co-workers, do they get to bring dates? More specifically, if I invite the 9 women in my office and seat them all together, do I have to invite their husbands, boyfriends, etc.?  If they're in a serious relationship, yes you have to invite their significant other.

6. My fiance wants to invite a group of guys that he hasn't seen or talked to in about 2 years...there wasn't a fight or anything, he just moved away from the area and they've lost touch...do i tell him no, or let him invite them?  Let him invite them, it's his wedding too and it sounds like you're inviting 9 women from your office.

7. Is it okay to invite your A list people first, and then once you've seen how many people are not able to attend, to start inviting people off your B list?  No, not at all.

8. My cousin recently got married and invited my great aunts and uncles. My grandparents, especially grandma, are very close with their siblings, and I know they would like if I invited them...but do I have to? That would cut 14 people.  We didn't invite great aunts & uncles or even first cousins on my H's side.  Just make sure you're inviting in circles (first cousins, second cousins, etc) and include everyone in that circle.  But you know your family best and if it will cause trouble, it's probably best to invite them.

9. Any other good ideas or suggestions on how to narrow down the guest list?
Don't invite 9 women from work (plus their significant others).  Unless you hang out socially with these women and are genuinely good friends, I'd invite the great aunts & uncles over them.