The Guest List. The dreaded task on every couple’s to-do-list. The unavoidable. No matter how well you think it’s been thought out, no matter how hard you’ve tried to be the gracious couple, you’re bound to have offended at least one person. Remember, this is your wedding, not theirs so don’t feel obliged to invite a guest just because you feel bad. This is not the time to act like you’re best friends with the whole world nor is it a popularity contest. The day is your most private, most personal, most touching and happiest point in your life. Spend it with those you care.
How to draw up your list:
1. List all your friends and categorise them into Tier 1, 2, 3 and so forth.
a) Tier 1 = those you’d meet up frequently (bumping into each other in a bar and saying a courteous ‘Hi’ doesn’t count), your best friends (even if you don’t see them all the time), you’d confide in, who’d you inform whenever you have news (good or bad) and you’d do anything for.
b) Tier 2 = those you may have been close to but for whatever reason you only see once in a while and those you’d have a good laugh with when you do meet up.
c) Tier 3 down = Facebook friends, ones you don’t even know why you’re friends with in the first place and if they’d invited you to their wedding, you’d think twice about.
2. Do not invite acquaintances. They’ll feel obliged to give you a present even if they don’t attend and you don’t even bat an eyelid as to whether they turn up or not so why bother?
3. The more people your invite, the more mouths to feed which means your wedding bill will inflate. It’s also more stressful coordinating hundreds of guests so keep it small. Unless you’re a Kim Kardashian, the celebrations should be an intimate affair.
4. Invite those in your Tier 1 category and depending on your venue size, wedding budget and how important you feel Tier 2 guests are to you, you can invite them as well.
5. It’s a matter of politeness to invite +1s and that applies even if you don’t like your best friend’s boyfriend. When it comes to the photos, you can photoshop him out.
6. Make it a balance between the bride and groom. If one side has a significantly larger party, the other is going to complain and get jealous. Talk it through. The last thing you want is to start off your marriage with ill feelings.
