HOW TO PREPARE YOUR GUEST LIST (Part 2)
It is an exciting time in your Life as you have just announced that you are getting Married. Everyone shares your excitement and wants to be included on your Guest List! Can you invite everyone while still staying on a Budget you can afford? Unfortunately most Couples can't and as a result have to Limit the number of People to Invite. Choosing who to invite is one of the most difficult decisions that you will have to make but there are techniques that you can use to make the process easier.
• The First Step would be to use the Tier System.
Put all of the individuals in your life into the appropriate Category. Write their names on an index card and in the upper right hand corner put the Tier Number. Also have your Groom do the same thing.
Tier 1: Parents, Sisters, Brothers, In-laws, Your children.
Tier 2: Aunts, Uncles, First Cousins.
Tier 3: Any other Cousins that you are close to.
Tier 4: Your closest Friends.
Tier 5: Your extended Family.
Tier 6: Coworkers with whom you are very close.
Tier 7: Close friends you haven't seen in a while.
Tier 8: Extended family you haven't seen in a while.
Tier 9: Your Parent's closest Friends.
Tier 10: Coworkers of your parents, Coworkers with whom you are just friendly.
Tier 11: Neighbors who you do not count among your closest friends, Your Children's Friends, Friends of your Parent's who they do not count among their closest Friends.
Now that you have the cards do the following: Take the cards that you and your Groom made up and put them together. Sort each Tier. For example put your Tier 1 with your Groom's Tier 1 and so forth. Alphabetize each tier and take out the duplicates. Decide how much money you have to spend on the Reception and how many Guests that means you can invite. Count the number of individuals within each Tier and then eliminate Tiers starting with the bottom until you have the number of people you can live with.
For example lets say that all of the cards equal 500 people and you can only afford 300 people. Tier 11 has a count of 100 people eliminate everyone in Tier 11 from the guest list. You will still need to eliminate 100 people. Tier 10 has a count of 50 people and Tier 9 has a count of 50 people so eliminate both Tiers and you will have the final guest list. One of the reasons why this works so well is that you are not looking at people trying to decide who to eliminate instead you are looking at Tiers and eliminating them.
• Some other ways to Pare Down your Wedding Guest List are:
1.) Don't invite any Children that are not in the Family or in the Wedding Party. An effective way to communicate this is to include a list of baby-sitters in each invitation or to indicate that a baby-sitter will be available at your Reception. If there will be a cost for the baby-sitter ask Parents to RSVP for this service so that a total count can be given to the baby-sitter.
2.) Unless the invited person is in a serious relationship don't put "and Guest" on the Invitation envelope. Would you rather have at your Reception someone's Date or a Good Friend?
3.) Have a DJ not a Band play at your Reception. It is customary to provide a Meal for the Hired Vendors. DJ's usually bring 1-2 people while a Band can range in number from 2 on Up.
4.) Don't think that you have to invite everyone in the Clubs or other Associations to which you belong. Pick the people you are Closest to and Invite them.
Paring down a Wedding Guest List is not an easy task but You can do it!!!! The tips shown in this article will assist you in making a Guest List that is comprised of the people that you care the most about at a Price you can Afford!
