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The guest list can often be a difficult and sometimes touchy list to put together, especially when you are working on a small budget! A guest list has the potential to completely hi-jack a wedding budget and send it soaring sky high! Here are some tips to help you put together a good guest list and some ideas for dealing with some common issues couples face!

Building a Basic Guest List !!

1. Know your priorities! Before you begin planning to sit down and make a list of what your dream wedding consists of, what things are more important and what things would you be unwilling to give up! When it comes to your guest list, a bride working on a budget has to decide which is more important to her: the number of guests or the type of reception. Then you can go from there !!

2. If you decided the type of reception is your priority, then you first need to decide what type of reception you will have. You will need to figure out what your budget will be for catering / food, invitations, favors, rentals, and anything else that will vary based on the number of guests you invite. Then, find out what you ideal reception will cost per person. Based on the cost per person, and your total budget, you will be able to determine how many people you can afford to invite.

3. If you decided the guest list is most important, you first need to estimate the number of guests you would have. Then, you need to make sure you can afford that on your budget – if you want 500 guests but the only location big enough is to expensive, then you have to reconsider your list, etc. Once you have a fairly good idea of ​​how many guests you can afford to invite, then set a limit and start the list.

4. Making the list, normally, you will starting with the immediate family and wedding party, then extended family. After that, the remaining spaces are generally divided 4 ways between the bride, groom, and their parents. For a smaller wedding, you may not have sufficient extra spots to allow parents to invite extra guests and may want to fill the remaining spots with your closest friends.

Solving the "Dad's Got A Million Business Contact's" Problem

One common guest list buster is the parent with a LONG list of clients and business contacts or old friends that feels should be invited. This can be very touchy and can blow even the best budget! There are a few ways you can deal with this: one is to simply give them a set number of guests and stand your ground. One of my friends who is getting married this spring faced a similar situation and came up with this great solution !!

She had her parents, her fiancé, his parents and herself each make their own guest list. In this case, the parents' lists also included their own families, but those who would be on the bride / groom's lists are you paying for those guests. Then, the cost per guest for anything that is affected by the number of guests was divided based on the percentage of the guest list.

In this case, his parents' list made up 50% of the guest list. Since a larger hall was needed, his parents paid for 50% pf the hall rental, table rentals, centerpieces, catering / food costs, favors and invitations. Her parents paid for 35%, which was their portion of the guest list, and the bride and groom paid for the remaining 15%.

This was successful on two levels. First, she stayed under budget and was still able to make both sets of parents happy. Second, the parents were much more picky about who they invited, because they knew they were paying for each guest they added to the list!

But WE'RE the ones with a million contacts !!

With many couples waiting till they are older to get married, you may be facing your own long list of clients and business contacts! Here are a few suggestions to deal with this:

Annoucement Cards – an announcement card is similar to the invitation but announcements the wedding has happened, and is sent a day or two after the wedding. This is a great way to let clients and business contacts know what your new name will be as well.

The Post Wedding Party – Have a friend or coworker plan a post-wedding party when you return from your honeymoon. This can be a simple in home dessert or could be done in a restaurant were guests can choose to purchase drinks and snacks if they wish. This is a great way to let them celebrate with you without overwhelming the wedding budget!

Separate Guest Lists for the Wedding and the Reception

The reception is the event that can blow your budget with a large guest list! There is nothing wrong with having a separate guest list for each! Of course, all guests would be invited to the wedding. In most cases, a invitation is sent that states "Reception By Invitation Only" and then a separate reception invitation is included only with those invitations going to those you want at the reception as well.

Some MUST Invites !!!

While you work on trimming your guest list, here is a list of people who should be included: parents of the couple, wedding party and spouses, siblings and their families or significant others, parents of child attendants, grandparents, the officiant and spouse, unless you have a Justice of the Peace, spouses or fiancés of any invited guests.

Some possible Cuts!

Leave "And Guest" off the invitation so single guests do not feel the need to find a guest to bring with!

Children of friends, unless you are close to the children as well

And in the end, remember WHY you are getting married, and keep that in mind. Everything else is only details.

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Source by Crystal Unrau