If that special day you have been waiting for is approaching, now is the time to prepare the guest list. We know, you are in a phase that is both very exciting and very confusing. But don't worry, in this article we have put together tips that will help you prepare your guest list.
Preparing a Wedding Guest List Step by Step
Choosing a Venue According to the Number of Guests is the First Step
Most of the time, to realize your dream wedding, you choose the location of your wedding venue according to the design, style, location and of course budget. However, choosing a venue by preparing a draft of your guest list in advance will help you narrow down your options and will prevent you from encountering unexpected surprises such as exceeding the guest capacity of the wedding venue or guests you cannot invite.
Capacity of the Wedding Venue
Find out the maximum capacity of the venue where you will hold your wedding. And be careful not to exceed this capacity. Although people may give up at the last moment, there will definitely be people who increase the number by coming with their guests, spouses and friends. Therefore, do not exceed the capacity of the hall too much in order to avoid breaking hearts or reaching more people.
Prioritize by Budget
Depending on your number of guests, your catering budget will be approximately determined. Therefore, first of all, get offers from the venue or the catering companies you plan to cooperate with, which include alternatives according to your venue capacity. Do not forget to check whether the catering offers will be revised if the number of people decreases or increases.
Sort Your Guests into Categories
Make the initial distribution according to the guests coming from you and your spouse. Then, each party can start making distributions among their immediate family, distant relatives, single friends, and friends who will come as couples.
Get Help from Your Family
Trying to do everything yourself is a big mistake! So ask both your spouse and your own family who they would like to invite and start dividing the number of invitations. For example, ask your own mother and father how many families they would invite. Don't skip getting the kids involved. Once you have made room for their own circle of friends, you can return to your personal circle of friends.
Create subheadings in your guest list by dividing them into categories such as singles table, friends table from university/high school, friends table from work. (You can also check your contact list with new generation solutions.) In this way, it will make it easier for you to make seating arrangements and you will be less likely to miss people's names when thinking on a category-based basis.
It is easier to identify your relatives, close friends and people in your current work and school life. However, in today's busy and hasty world, as you rush from one job to another (especially during such a laborious preparation process), you may forget some people and be embarrassed afterwards. Therefore, you can also use your social media accounts as a kind of control mechanism. For example, you can check the people you invite using the names in your follower lists and get up-to-date information about their whereabouts.
Saying that no one should be offended or upset may unfortunately mean calling people you have never met or don't even remember the last time you saw them. We recommend that you do not make this mistake. Your main priority should be to invite people who will be happy to be with you and who you will be truly happy to see on your most beautiful day.
First the Wedding, Then the Wedding
Another way to reduce the number of your wedding guest list is to slightly change the setup of your most important night. This scenario would be an ideal solution, especially for families living in different cities. For example, if the wedding will take place in the city where the boy's side lives and the girl's circle of friends and family is in a different city, it would be an ideal solution to hold the wedding first and then hold the wedding.
Nowadays, wedding halls also offer many catering/cocktail options. For this reason, it does not mean that you underestimate the people you invite to the wedding or that you do not host them well.
You can invite people from your business circle, your neighbors, and especially those who are not friendly enough to come to the wedding or cannot spare the time, but you would not want to invite them to the wedding ceremony. This option will benefit both them and you. This way, you can also reduce the number of people on your wedding guest list.
If the wedding will be in a different city, people from your side may be hesitant to come to a foreign city, and this is quite normal. At the same time, your guests who will come to a city different from yours will create a lot of stress for you before the wedding day. Therefore, having a wedding ceremony beforehand will help you and your guests. In addition, the wedding night also eliminates any problems/stress that may arise from the wedding officiant.
Seating Plan is a Must!
Many people get support for the organization from event companies during the wedding phase. However, you can also do this yourself, and there are many online tools that will make this process easier. For example, do not struggle with papers to prepare a seating plan and guest list.
You can complete your preparations systematically by using the templates below, which are available free of charge on the internet and can be accessed from almost any computer. And you do not need to pay extra fees to third party companies while doing these.
Don't Leave Distributing Invitations to the Last Minute
Distributing your invitations is another important issue. Therefore, people in the same category may need different distinctions during the distribution phase. For example, even though two distant relatives' family tables are technically in the same category, divide them into subcategories based on who you will be delivering invitations to and how, such as out of town or out of country. Now, sending online invitations and agenda invitations to their calendars is a savior solution for the young generation. You can add digital images of your invitations to these invitations.
Be careful, preparing an incomplete list can lead to major crises, ahahaha.
I gathered my mother, my aunt, my aunts, etc. and made them sit for a day. I told the same thing to my wife, the elders of the family sat down and wrote down everyone one by one, and all we had to do was write the invitations.