Happenings™ Guide to Creating your Wedding Guest List

The guest list is one of the most important parts of your wedding planning. It can also be one of the most stressful aspects. So we’re gonna help you out with a few tips to help you get it right! 

Why do couples need a wedding guest list?

You may be thinking that having a wedding guest list doesn’t make any sense. But there are actually many reasons why a wedding guest list is essential:

-You want to know exactly how many guests you invited.

-You want to make sure that everyone who attends your wedding gets along/or can at least pretend to get along for the sake of you and your partner.

-You definitely want to avoid awkward situations at the reception.

-You also want to make your wedding planning easier; and the process of inviting guests as stress-free as possible.

Determine your wedding budget before creating your guest list

Before you begin making decisions about your guest list, you should first determine how much money you can spend on your wedding. It’s important to set realistic budget expectations at the beginning because if you don’t you will likely find yourself spending more than planned or having more guests than you anticipated.

Set a deadline for yourself

Set a realistic deadline for yourself. You can’t expect to get everything done in one day, so don’t try. Set a goal of completing your guest list and then break it down into smaller tasks. If you have a lot on your plate, you may want to take some time off from work or school to focus on your wedding planning.

Create a short wedding guest list first

You don’t want to invite anyone you don’t really know. You also don’t want your wedding to become a “wedding show” where everyone shows up just to see each other, or to cause chaos. So, before you make any final decisions about your wedding guest list, you should create a shortlist of the most important guests first.

Make your list before choosing a venue

You can save yourself a lot of headaches by creating a guest list early on; rather than later when you’ll be thinking about how you are going to accommodate your guests in the venue that you chose.

What people should or shouldn’t be included on your wedding guest list. 

Your wedding guest list should include:

• Your immediate family members
• Close friends/family members who aren’t related to you by blood but whom you love very much
• Friends/family members who live far away from you but who you still care for
• Business associates who you respect and trust
• People who have supported you throughout your life
• Anyone else that you and your partner feel should be a part of your wedding

Who shouldn’t be included on your wedding guest list?

While it’s nice to include all of your loved ones on your guest list, there are some people who simply won’t fit into your wedding plans. Here are some examples of people who should definitely NOT be included on your wedding invitation list:

• Someone whose presence would cause conflict between you and your partner
• A person who isn’t close enough to you to be considered a friend
• Someone who is rude or obnoxious
• Someone whose presence could potentially embarrass you or your family
• Someone who doesn’t support your values

Central Park Wedding Guest List - A-List vs B-List

A-List Guests

When deciding whether to invite someone to your wedding, answer these questions:

Do you know them well enough to call them a friend?

Would you feel comfortable inviting them to your home?

What kind of event am I having?

What does she/he bring to the table?

Who else has invited her/him?

Should I invite him/her anyway?

If you have a good sense of who the person is, then you should probably consider inviting them to your wedding. These guests are usually the ones you’ve known since childhood or college. They are often good friends with your significant other, which makes them easy to include on your wedding guest list.

B-List Guests

While you might not know the people as well as you know your A-list guests, you may still want to include him/her on your wedding guest list, because it’s polite to invite people you don’t know very well. However, once you’re done creating your guest list, you should remove anyone who doesn’t meet the criteria for being included.

Make a plus-one rule

You can include a plus-one option on your wedding invitation so that you can add additional guests.

Decide if you want children at your wedding

Some brides and grooms prefer not to have children at the wedding. If you plan on allowing children at your wedding, you should keep your guest list small. In fact, you should probably only invite close relatives and best friends.

Guest List Done: How should I create my wedding guest invitations?

There are two main ways to go about creating invitations for your wedding guest list:

The traditional way – involves sending mail invitations to all of your guests and then asking them to RSVP by email or phone. This approach works great if you have lots of time to plan your wedding. However, it takes a lot of work, and you might not even receive responses from everyone.

The modern way – this involves using online tools such as Eventbrite, Google Calendar, and Facebook events. These tools allow you to send invites directly to your guests through their social media accounts, texts, or email, which makes things much simpler than the old-fashioned method.

About Happenings™ 

Based in Manhattan, Happenings™ founder Tom Noel would often take a walk through Central Park. In 2008, during one of his walks, he stopped to sit at one of his favorite iconic locations in the Park, the Bethesda Fountain. There, Mr. Noel noticed that the intrinsic beauty that surrounded him was not being fully harnessed. He also realized that not a single business provided the exclusiveness of an affordable and high-quality event planner. Determined to change this, Happenings™ was born.

Happenings™ Ever After

Most people give up on their dreams of an iconic wedding ceremony because it feels too overwhelming to plan. Happenings™ is here to help you create the wedding of a lifetime through thoughtfully organized wedding planning tailored to iconic locations throughout Central Park so you can step into your moment with the one that you love. BOOK YOUR  CENTRAL PARK WEDDING CEREMONY TODAY