YOUR Guest
BY JENNIFER COX
List
MCPHERSON’S PHOTOGRAPHY
A GUEST LIST WILL HELP SET THE TONE OF THE WEDDING,
INCLUDING THE BUDGET AND THE OVERALL THEME
BASE IT ON BUDGET
A lot of people will base their guest list on budget - they find out
what the costs will be per person for food and alcohol and then
decide from there what they can afford. To get a more accurate
total you can also factor in other things such as favour costs, cake,
number of centrepieces, etc.
From there you can total what the costs will be for each guest and
then decide what is the maximum number of people that you can
afford to invite.
WHO CAN WE CUT?
I have a rule of thumb: if you haven’t seen the person in question
in the last two years, they get the axe. What’s the point of stretching
your budget for your old co-worker from three jobs ago or your
Aunt Sally thrice-removed? Be realistic about who you consider
inviting - if half your list is people you would barely recognize, it’s
time to start chopping.
Also, perhaps the parents of the bride and/or groom have certain
people that they want to invite - this can be a tricky situation as
well (how do you tell your own parents “no”?). Out of respect
they should be allowed to have their say about the guest list...
within reason.
Give them a number of people that you can afford for them to
invite - if they’re inviting their entire office or everyone who
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ever invited them to a wedding, then perhaps it would be fair
if the parents chipped in some extra money to cover their own
guest lists.
KIDS VS. NO KIDS
An easy way to cut down on your invites is to cut kids. If everyone
is toting one or two children, your guest list could balloon out of
control. Find a subtle way of indicating on your invitations that
kids can not be included (for example, blame it on the drinking
age and say that no one under 21 will be permitted). However, keep
in mind that if you’re removing all children from the guest list you
can’t make an exception for your flowergirls or ringbearers, so take
that into conside ration.
For the most part, caterers will only charge half for kids, so if
you’re trying to save money on your overall wedding costs,
cutting out kids may not really make all that much difference.
Also, you can put more children at one table than you can adults,
and they won’t care about centrepieces (you could always put
a basket of crayons and coloured paper instead). This will help
eliminate extra costs as well.
Remember that more people will mean more planning, and if
that’s a challenge you’re willing to take on, then don’t hold back
on your invites. However, if the thought of seating charts and
countless RSVP's flooding your inbox sends you into a tizzy, then
perhaps it’s time to cut back.