I work as the executive director of a small non-profit in my town. As such, I don't really have a boss per se, but I do have a volunteer board of directors who I work with regularly and who sign my paychecks and contracts, approve my budgets, etc. I'm close to a handful of them, and not at all close to others, but I feel like I can't invite some without inviting them all. The problem is that, with their spouses, this adds 28 people to my guest list, only maybe 8 of whom are people I really want at my wedding. While I think most of them would understand if they weren't invited, there are a few who I feel like would be offended if they weren't invited.
I've read advice about work-related invites, but since this doesn't really fit neatly into a boss or co-worker situation, I'm not quite sure how to address it. If this were one or two people, I'd gladly keep them on the list, just because ensuring that my interactions with them remain pleasant will make a huge difference in how easy my job is. That said, we're at the point where we're considering cutting people who really are much closer to us just to get the guest list to a manageable level.
Anyone have advice for this situation? What is the appropriate etiquette here?