Guest List Out of Control

worrelsj

I finally added in all my mom's family onto my guest list and what was 130, is now 170. UGH. She states that most won't show but that we have to invite them anyway. A destination wedding is looking pretty good right about now!

bhalpin39

Wedding lists ae stressful, and I completely understand your frustrations, my honey is a Fireman/Paramedic and we have to invite Chiefs and Officers and blah blah blah lol most of them are not going to show up to the wedding or reception but if we don't invite them its an entire politcal thing. Family and family friends are the same thing they may not show up but feelings will be hurt if you dont invite them. Relax and have fun.

melb2013

Mine got to be a little out of control too.  We went from 150 to 165, but that really is the whole list now.  It's super stressful!  Sometimes you just have to bite the bullet and add the extra people.

HinaChan

We are keeping ours very small. My parents are offering to help but my hunni and I are pretty much paying for our wedding ourselves so small guest list

augurey

I feel like the guest list is one of the most stressful.

FI and I had originally agreed to 100 ideally and absolutely no more than 150 (he has a lot of family). The highest we ended up at was 220... we have since removed some and eventually got down to 192, and somehow we managed to get back up to 200 - and we still have to go over it again; hopefully removing some rather than adding more.

worrelsj

I know, this is just ridiculous since the biggest cost is going to be the caterer and the more people we add, the potential to overspend. Luckily my parents are going to pay for half, if not most of the catering bill. They just told us this which is why my mom was so adamant that we add her extended family.

It's just so many extra addresses, extra invitations, extra money, etc. We went from 50 invitations to nearly 80. I'm also starting a new job soon (although I've already worked with these people before) and I know I'll most likely want to invite them as well. Luckily it's a small office, so about 10 more people. :-/

augurey

^^ I think the catering is what really makes the biggest difference in the number of guests.

I mean, the extra invitations, stamps, etc. do all add up quickly, but it's the catering that just really hits you. The difference between 150 people and 200 for our catering is $1000.

That's great that your parents are able to help out! It really does help when something like that can add up so quickly.

It's definitely overwhelming, especially when you realize you still have more people to add.

I think the guest list will work itself out - it's definitely overwhelming, but it will work out in the end. It may not feel like it, but it will.

turtleslove

I feel you! I wanted to do DW, but FI said no and our guest list is atleast 250

TogetherPerfect

That is one thing we discussed between the two of us and our parents... we wanted to keep it around 150. We are around 160 and I know there's some that are almost guaranteed to not show, so we've been pretty good about sticking to it. Our reception hall (who does the catering)  has a min of 150 for a Saturday night anyway.

SRRL18

Since your parents offered to help pay for the catering there isn't much you can do about their adds to the list. I think the guest list is the one thing that scraes most couples!

RebCappon

Talked to FI's mom this weekend and my guest list is now p to 240. There are people that they don't even talk to that she is inviting, but she's footing a chunck of the bill so I can't really fight her on it.

She said that some of them probably won't show because it's a Friday and a lot are out of town.

Still overwhelming though. So much for the small wedding I wanted.