by Timmy Duncan

Created on: September 02, 2010   Last Updated: September 03, 2010

You have found the perfect venue for your wedding day. It took your breath away from the moment you saw it and you just knew that it was the right place for you to get married. The problem? It’s more expensive than you were prepared for and you may have to cut down your guest list in order to afford it. Or perhaps, your perfect venue has the capacity for 175 guests, and your guest list is approximately 200. Whatever the reason, it is never easy cutting your wedding guest list down to size. But it can be done with a little thought and some creativity.

First off, decide on parameters for cutting people. It is certainly not an easy thing to do, but if you need to do it, you will need a method to your madness. If neither of you have never heard the person’s name before, chances are they don’t need to be at your wedding. Be respectful of your parents and of your future in-laws, but within reason.

Adopt an all or nothing policy with work related guests. If you are going to invite one person from your team, you probably need to extend the invitation to your entire team. The exception to this rule is if there is someone in your office that you consider a friend and socialize with outside of work. Otherwise, plan to invite either everyone or nobody.

An easy way to cut some of the guests off your list is to declare your wedding a kids free zone. You can obviously make exceptions for immediate or close family members, but if your wedding is an evening affair and you need to keep costs down, you might want to think about leaving those under a certain age off the list.

Focus on guests who are important to your life now. Don’t feel that you have to invite couples that you have lost touch with simply because they invited you to their wedding. They probably had to make similar cuts for their own wedding and will be the most likely to understand not getting an invitation.

Above all, try to relax. Most people understand that budget determines the amount of people that you can invite and will not get offended if they don’t make the list. If they are offended and let you know that, extend your regrets and explain that you were under tight budget and space limitation constraints. Anyone who is worth it will understand.

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