One of the tasks you will face early on in the planning process is deciding on a guest list for your special day. This may prove to be quite challenging and often tends to lead to family disputes, so here are some tips to help you go about drafting your guest list wisely.

Numbers vs venue:

Before you start looking for your wedding destination, try to establish a rough estimate of how many guests you’d like and the minimum number of guests you could invite. This way you’ll know how the size of different venues fit in with your attendance requirements. At some stage you may have to decide which is more important to you: your dream venue or the number of people on your guest list. This will help with your final decision.

Drafting your list:

Coming up with a final list of names can be a difficult task, especially if you have to limit numbers. If the bride or groom’s parents are contributing financially, they should be involved when it comes to drafting the guest list. One suggestion is to divide the total number of possible guests into thirds for the bride and groom and both sets of parents to nominate guests respectively. In this way you will have equal representation between the families and your friends. Realistically, you can’t invite all of your friends and family. If you’ve lost contact with people recently, don’t feel guilty about not inviting them. It’s also not practical to invite everyone from your workplace, neighbours and siblings friends. Also bear in mind that there’s a good chance of some last minute additions arriving, so leave space for a few extra seats to avoid last minute chaos.

The seating plan:

Decide whether you want a formal seating arrangement or open tables for guests to sit where they choose. When deciding how and where to display your seating plan, the sky really is the limit and you can get as creative as you’d like. There are tons of fun, imaginative ways which could compliment the overall theme and feel of your wedding. If you choose to go for the traditional route of a board display at the entrance, make sure the venue has an easel to stand your display on.