Planning a wedding requires quite a few steps, including creating your wedding guest list. While this might be a simple task for some, it may be more challenging for others. Ultimately it comes down to the size of your venue and your ideal number of guests, as well as the amount of people in your life that you want to be witness to this event.
Tips to Create Your Wedding Guest List
There are a few steps to consider when planning out your wedding guest list. Be sure to consult with members of your family, like parents and guardians to ensure that everyone is included who should be. You don’t want to realize you forgot someone when it’s too late!
Determine your venue’s capacity
The first thing to know is how many guests can fit at your venue, which will guide your guest list creation. You may find you have plenty of space for all your family members and friends, or you’ll need to think carefully about invites.
Start with your immediate family and bridal party
When you’re planning your guest list, start by considering your closest family members and bridal party members. And don’t forget to include yourselves on the list! Once you’ve got your core group of attendees, you can start filling in the remaining guests. Consider creating tiers if you are going to struggle with capacity.
Make a long list of all considered guests
It can be helpful to start building out a a long list of all considered guests so you have all names in front of you. This is a great time to pull in assistance from family members to be sure you have everyone included. In some cases, there will be extended relatives who you invite based on other invitees. Don’t forget to include cousins, spouses, and children of relatives when you’re building out your list.
Decide whether you’ll include plus ones
Plus ones will play a big role in how many guests you have capacity to invite to your wedding. It’s considered fairly standard to offer plus ones to guests in long-term relationships, while you might not need to offer them to guests who are single or in new relationships.
Stagger your invitations
If you have a list of guests that is too long for your venue’s capacity, consider staggering your invitations. You can send out your initial batch and wait for responses until you send out more batches of invitations to more distant relatives or friends you haven’t spoken with in a while. However, if this is a route you’re going to take, be sure that you’re giving guests enough time to plan.
Book an Event Space at Historic Acres of Hershey
If you’re planning a wedding in Hershey PA, consider Historic Acres of Hershey for your event. We have event spaces with varying capacities to accommodate groups of all sizes. Give us a call to learn more or schedule a tour.