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When planning your wedding guest list, it’s natural to want to invite everyone you ever met. After all, when he popped the question, you shouted your love from the rooftops… surely you should invite your upstairs neighbor that heard your girly giggles as he placed the ring upon your finger. Right? Wrong. When it comes to drafting the guest list there is one thing that all brides soon figure out: “You don’t have a limitless stream of money.”

While your wedding is first and foremost a declaration of your love, you must also look at it logically: it is a really expensive social event. So, before discussing who will and won’t be invited, let’s be clear on the financial implication of each guest. Adding an additional guest won’t just add the cost of a plate to your final budget. Instead, you have to factor in that guest’s invitation, wedding program, favors, chair covers… you get the point. Each additional guest you invite could be $100+ out of your pocket! Do you still want to invite upstairs neighbor, or have you suddenly remembered the time she overflowed her tub and it leaked into your bedroom?

Who to invite:

Deciding who to invite to your wedding doesn’t have to be rocket science. Instead, look at it as a game of Jenga! Stack up all the people you want to invite and then start to remove guests one by one, being careful to avoid a collapse.

Once you and your fiancé have decided upon the number of guests that will be invited, you should both write out a guest list-wish list. This list should have the names of everyone you would invite if money were no object. Next, sort your list into 3 priority groups: A, B, and C. The A Group are guests that must be invited: parents, siblings, etc. The C Group are guests that you would like to invite: distant relatives, college friends. Those in the B Group fall in between.

When it’s time to send out invitations, start with Group A. As Group A guests decline the invitation, begin to invite guests from the B Group. When the B Group has been exhausted, move on to the C Group. This method keeps you sane and your guest list manageable. That is, of course, until someone asks to bring their toddler to the ceremony….