Dividing the wedding guest list – Tips for getting it right

Making wedding plans is a stressful process especially when it comes to the guest list Many couples find they disagree about who should and should not be invited to the wedding. To avoid conflicts, it’s best to come up with some basic ground rules right off the bat. Traditionally, the bride and groom would determine the number of total guests and divide them in two – half for the bride and half for the groom. Today, a different approach is often used. Some couples divide the invitations in three and allow a third for the bride’s parents, a third for the groom’s parents, and a third for the couple.

The main consideration when deciding how to divide the list is the total number of guests you’ll be able to invite. Weddings are very expensive, so you may need to pare down the guest list. Decide whether you’ll allow children and whether singles will be able to bring guests. Whatever you decide, the rules need to apply to everyone invited regardless of whether they are guests of the bride or groom.

Sometimes one family is much larger than the other. This can pose a problem for dividing the guest list. One side will end up filling their quota with relatives and have little room for friends. If this occurs, you’ll need to re-think the way the invitations are divvied up. It makes more sense to allow both sides to invite their closest family members and friends. One way to do this is to start by having both the bride and groom come up with a list of potential guests. Then, the list can be combined and reviewed to see if it needs to be reduced.

While the bride’s family traditionally pays for the wedding, this rule is becoming more lax over time. In cases where the groom’s family is much larger than the bride’s family, the groom’s parents may offer to assist with the wedding expenses. This will help to ease the burden of the costs and allow the family to invite more guests than would have otherwise been possible. However, the couple should set a limit on the total number of guests they want at the wedding or it could turn into a huge affair that they aren’t prepared for.