The answer to how many people should I invite to my wedding depends on five factors. More than the budget, there are other considerations that will affect your guest list size during wedding planning.
Regarding how many people to invite to wedding, you may also want to know how to say no plus ones on wedding invitations. This way, you’ll only have the wedding guests you want and avoid awkward moments during your special day.
Planning The Wedding Guest List? Here’s How To Decide How Many People Should I Invite To My Wedding
It’s difficult to mention a specific number to know how many people will be on the wedding guest list during planning. Instead, you’ll use five factors to determine the people who should be invited tailored to your specific wedding.
5 Important Factors To Know How Many People Should Be Invited To Your Wedding
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Decide on the people you want to attend
Sit down with your partner and decide on the people you want at your wedding. These are the non-negotiable wedding guests that must be present and that you want to celebrate with you, regardless of the wedding size.
Make sure that you and your partner are both happy with this initial guest list to avoid having anyone feel that their wants are overlooked. This isn’t the final guest list yet, but these are the people that won’t be cut off when you recheck the list to shorten it because of constraints.
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Have a maybe list
Next, write the other guests that you may also want to attend the wedding, but they’re not precisely must-haves. They can be colleagues, acquaintances, distant relatives, or other related people in your life.
While you’ll appreciate having them, these people are typically cut off from the wedding guest list when limitations require. However, they can be your “maybes” if there are people from your main list who can’t attend.
Identify when should RSVP be due for a wedding so you’ll know when to contact the maybe list to meet your headcount in the wedding.
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Consider your budget and venue
After having the members for your ideal guest list, you can cull it to adjust the size according to your wedding budget and venue. Keep in mind that about 40% of your budget will be allocated for the guests, so having an extensive guest list will be very pricey.
You want to give them a comfortable venue and satisfying catering to celebrate with you at your wedding. And before the wedding itself, you will also spend on wedding invites and potentially travel and accommodation for destination weddings for your guests.
As for the venue, this factor matters when deciding the number of people you should invite since its size should accommodate all the guests comfortably. Check with the coordinator or your wedding venue staff regarding the headcount they can hold.
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Stick to your boundaries
Remember to stick to your boundaries regarding this final count once you deduce your guest list according to the venue’s capacity and your wedding budget. Family and friends might suggest who should be invited to your wedding.
This is even more likely if parents are the ones paying for your wedding. However, don’t hesitate to communicate with them why you have already decided to go through with the people and number you want for your guest list.
If relatives are the issue, read tips on how to have a small wedding with a big family.
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Modify based on the type of wedding you’re having
Finally, ask yourselves what kind of wedding do you want? For example, will it be something intimate?
Perhaps you want to expand it with other people besides close friends and relatives? Or maybe you only want very few people for your elopement.
This is the final consideration to get the number of guests to invite to your wedding. For starters, you can check what is an intimate wedding to get an idea regarding weddings with a few guests.
What Is The Average Number Of People Invited To A Wedding?
The average wedding size in the US is under 200, whereas in 2021, most weddings will have 105 guests. This is smaller than the previous years where weddings have an average of 120 guests.
You can use this number to guide how many guests you could invite. Then, you can shorten the guest list based on the budget, venue, and if these are genuinely the people you want to celebrate with you.
What Percentage Of Wedding Guests Actually Attend?
When you send out wedding invitations, this doesn’t mean that everyone will surely attend the wedding. On the contrary, you can expect that only 75 to 85% of your guest list will make it for various reasons.
This is why once you receive the confirmations, you can use your “maybe list” to replace those who can’t attend if you’ve already counted for a specific wedding size. Just make sure that you confirm everything to avoid miscommunications with the guest list.
Conclusion
Was this article helpful? To recap how many people should I invite to my wedding, it will depend on five factors.
You can also follow the average wedding guest list size, under 120 people. But, ultimately, every wedding size varies according to the couple’s capacity and expectations.
We hope this helps; leave us a question if you have any.