The wedding guest list

As soon as you get that engagement ring on your finger the next big thing to do is to start making the guest list of all those whom you wish to see at your functions. Making the guest list might not be as easy as we all think it is since you cannot avoid anyone and to add excitement to the preparations, your parents and you’re in laws start informing all their old friends about how their children are going to get married.

There is always one rule when it comes to writing down a wedding guest list and that is you should never over invite or under invite. Even if you are on a tight budget do not ever under invite people as this will make you seem to be a mean couple and do not also over invite a lot of people to your wedding because it will turn out to be a concert. Learn how to make a guest list that does will not stress you on your day by getting to know a few things about a wedding guest list which we are going to discuss in this article.

Who should be on your wedding guest list?

With all the different relatives and friends that we have, there are those people who should not miss on your wedding. I have tried to put up a general list of people who you should invite to your wedding reception and after these ones, you can add whoever you want.

• Invite the immediate family

It is impossible to have a wedding in Uganda without your parents unless if they are dead. Invite your parents, siblings and their family and your grandparents. These should be the first people to receive an invitation card even though they have been involved in the preparations of your wedding.

• Invite your distant family members

After inviting your immediate family, you should then invite your distant family members to your wedding. These will include aunts and uncles and their families but it is advisable that you send these invitations earlier if you know all them and if you don’t know most of them, then send the cards through your parents.

• Invite friends and colleagues at work

We all have a lot of friends we would love to invite for our wedding but it is better if you look out for those who are closest to you and then invite the res in the group who are normally referred to as the regular friends. Go through your list of friends that you were with throughout your school life, those you grew up with and those you have met after school.

Remember that some of your friends are married whereas others are not. Feel free to be ruthless and invite your friends who are married to come with their partners and for those who are not, to come alone for the wedding.

Send out an invitation to your workmates even if you do not connect with some of them. If you do not want to send out individual invitation cards, then it is very okay to send an organization card inviting all of them to your wedding. This will also help out when it comes to finances.

• The children

In most cases children are now being exempted from weddings most especially because they are hard to take care of during the reception. But sometimes you have no option because some parents cannot come to parties without their children and that is why they also need to be invited. I is therefore much better to talk with your partner and decide whether you are going to invite the children or not.

• Friends of the family

These might necessary not be close to you but they are still friends to your parents and that is why they need to be invited. Talk to your parents and request them to write down a list of all the friends that they will want to invite and it should be done earlier to ease budgeting.

Taming the guest list on your wedding

A wedding is a celebration that all people want would love to attend that is your relatives, friends, workmates and friends of your friends although sometimes it is hard to actually hard to invite all these people especially if you want a low key function or if you are low in the financial department.

As noted in the African society, people have large weddings where almost everyone is invited because we all believe that if we do not invite some people they will get angry so we are forced to invite a lot of people even when there are constraints to managing the wedding and that is why we are going to look at the different ways on how to control the guests list on your big day. There will always be gate crashers to your reception especially if it is hosted in an open area but you can always find ways of controlling the crowd with a few steps. 

• Go for a weekday wedding

As we all know most weddings are mostly held on weekends making it easy for all those who are invited to attend but if you put your wedding day on a weekday where people have to go to work, you will be shocked by the number of people who will send in their apologies because they cannot attend due to the fact that they have to work. This will help you tame on the guest list for your wedding reception.

• Hire a wedding planner

A wedding planner might come at an extra cost but once you do it, it will be worthwhile. A wedding planner has no connection with your family members and friends and therefore they will be able to advise accordingly on who to invite and who to leave out. If possible on your wedding day let the wedding planner coordinate the entrance to your reception venue so that they can turn away all those who were not invited. Even if they get angry you have an excuse that you were not aware since you did not man the entrance.

• Do not involve children

If you want to tame your guest list then make sure that you put a no children rule in your celebrations. Children can be tiring and they add on the estimated budget for your function therefore if you are giving out invitation cards, make sure you include the no children are invited clause to your wedding. This will limit the number of people who will come for your function since some of them cannot leave their children behind.

• Do the invite only rule

There are always many gate crashers when it comes to wedding reception parties and therefore in order to limit the number of people who will be able to access your venue. Send out invitations to only those who you want to attend and inform them that without a card, they cannot access the reception area. This will help you limit the number of people who will attend your wedding.

• Put emotions aside when planning a wedding

When planning a wedding make sure you put emotions aside and try using common sense. If the wedding day is nearing and your budget is still lacking take a drastic measure and cut down on the guest list. Yes many people will get angry for not being invited to the wedding but it is much better to have a few happy people with various angry ones as long as you are not living in debt after your wedding.

• Look at your budget

Your budget will be a huge determinant on how many people you are going to invite for the wedding. If you have limited funds it is advisable that you invite few guests for your wedding so that you do not go into debts after your wedding. Draw up a wedding guest list that fits your budget and not more.

• Work with your partner

In everything that you do when it comes to making a wedding guest list you need to work with your partner to come up with the final guest list for your wedding. First make independent lists and later on join them and see the people who are essential to both you and your partner and delete those that you believe can be avoided on both you lists when it comes to sending out the invitations.

• The distance to your wedding

If you ever want to tame your wedding guest list, just put your reception in a place can only be accessed by a few people. Many people are now opting to have their weddings in other countries or wedding from faraway places so that it is only their parents who can be able to attend and a few friends who can afford the transportation. This way you will have cut on the costs of feeding people and limited the guest list.