Week 6 - The dreaded guest list

When you book a venue to view for your wedding the first question you get asked on the phone before you have even given your name is how many guests are you looking to have in the day and in the evening? You don't then want to be left blank with that awkward 's**t, i really don't know what i'm doing' silence.

This type of decision effects a lot of things. Is the venue big enough to fit everyone in? Do they have a minimum number of guests for booking? Can they cater for all of the evening guests? Would there be enough rooms for the guests to stay in?

Therefore, figuring out numbers is one of the first big decisions a bride and groom have to make. I assure you it's not an easy one. There's always the questions, do you have to invite every living blood relation? Every person has an Aunt Maud that they haven't seen since they were 7 years old and all that can be remembered about them was their funky perfume, do you invite them ? (Please note: that neither of us actually has an Aunt Maud) How far back do you go inviting friends? Then there is the day ceremony night ceremony debate. Does how far people are travelling influence this decision? Because we live so remote that hardly anyone is local. Both bride and groom have people they know from their lives before each other. Though i must say not many for us we did meet when i had just turned 16!

So as you can see a lot goes in to the planning, but i think we have nearly done it.

It must be acknowledged that there are disagreements and that's before you've even shown the family, oh Jesus we are going to have to show the list to the parents ! Fear not it's our day - that's all that matters. Or does it ?

Should you worry what the outcome will be if someone is not getting an invite, or would someone else secretly expect a day invitation rather than an evening invitation ? It's exhausting.

Alas, these are numbers you need to know and quite early on. So how is it looking for us - well ideally we are thinking somewhere around 70 day guests and 150 evening guests. (Not an extra 150 may i add , 150 total). At this moment in time it's around 84 day and  74 evening (totaling 158). People may drop out and your left pondering the question - Have i left someone really obvious out,better check i definitely put my sister on it!

Only joking Lis!!!!

The sheer drama of cutting the list down and being ruthless is quite odd. For those that know me i can be quite blunt when i need to be, but this is excruciating.

Despite all of this planning, we also have to consider that we are not likely to get 100% of our guests attending. So to all our future wedding guests that do attend - please note that we love you dearly and we really can't thank you enough for coming along to our special day.