After youve gotten a basic idea for how you want your wedding to go, you then have to make the guest list. Youll be including family members, friends, relatives, work acquaintances, and many others. The problem is that you cant keep everyone on that list, even if you have an unlimited budget.

Why you should keep the number low

Of course, a lot of couples may protest and say that they more people come, the more gifts well receive. And while thats true, lets talk about what a wedding really is first. A wedding is a celebration of a couples marriage. And those that come to the wedding should be very happy to celebrate it, rather than just coming for the food or drink.

You want people there that have made a difference in your life. Of course, if you havent been close with your family, well, youre stuck inviting them.

You want to invite people whose names you know and can repeat. This is not the time to invite everyone that youve ever met. Invite the important people.

If youre nervous about omitting someone, then stop to think about how much youd like to talk to them. If its not that much, then you probably can leave them off.

How to trim names

When youve finally gotten your list together, you should exchange it with your soon-to-be spouse. Let them look at it and start to omit names. Again, family members are not allowed to be scratched off unless theres a special situation. And even if there is a family feud of some sort, they wont come anyways.

In terms of friends, you will want to be selective here. Figure out who you really care about, and who you just feel like you should invite. How long has it been since youve talked to them? If its been a long time, you can probably cross them off.

For the work people, you can invite whomever you have a close relationship with. This means that you dont have to invite your boss, but its always nice to out of courtesy. Dont feel that you should.

Making your invitation list shouldnt feel like a burden. At the end of the day, you want to look at your list and see all the people that you care about and want to share this happy day with. And its your day and your time, so dont let anyone else talk you into inviting people that youre not too keen on.