by Amanda Giannaros

Created on: August 15, 2009

Cousin Mel and Great Aunt Nell, that's what wedding guest lists are made of. Planning a wedding is a very exciting thing. It's a lot of work and probably one of the most stressful things a couple will have to do is come up with the guest list. There are several things to consider when deciding who to invite to your wedding. How large is the wedding? What is your budget? Where is your venue? Many couples get pressure from family members. The mother of the bride wants to invite her neighbor's daughter, and the father of the groom feels that his golf buddies should be included. Where do you draw the line?

The size of the wedding: Imagine your wedding is a body of water. It can be a puddle, a pond, a lake, or an ocean. Now throw a pebble into that water, how many rings are in the ripple that is created from the pebble? The size of the body of water determines how many rungs can fit into it. The first ring is immediate family, parents and siblings. The second is extended family, aunts, uncles, cousins and grandparents. The third is close friends. The fourth, co-workers, friends from school, etc. Once you move into a ring you have to invite everyone in that circle. If you are having a very small wedding, a puddle for instance, you may only be able to invite the first two rings. Once you invite one close friend from the third ring you have to invite all of them. If your wedding is the size of an ocean you can invite everyone you, your fiance, and both your families every knew.

The venue and the budget: The size of the guest list is most often determined by these two things. Most venues have a cap on how many people they can accommodate and they often charge by the head. How many people can you afford to squeeze into a room and feed. If you are on a tight budget or in a small venue then you have to make cuts. Sometimes it's tough to make those decisions, this is where the water ripple principle comes into play and can be very helpful.

Deciding who to invite to your wedding can be hard. You want to include the people you love and not hurt any feelings. Remember, this is your day, you don't owe anything to anyone. Sometimes hard decisions have to be made but in the end your wedding day is going to be special and the people you love will be there to support and celebrate with you.

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