How Many People to Invite and Expect to Your Wedding

How many wedding guests to invite and expect

It’s the first and foremost question that comes in every couple’s mind when they start planning their wedding. And it is actually a very important question for every couple.

Your wedding invites depends on number of factors, such as the size of your wedding, type of the wedding, venue of your wedding, and most importantly the budget that you have set for your wedding. There are people you’ll have to invite, and there are some you would really want to skip, and some would be there who would want to have force invites. Yeah, it happens!!

So, the ‘how many’ part of the question very much depends on the type and size of the wedding you are planning! For instance, if you are planning a big fat wedding with lots of guests, then surely you are going to invite 200 or more than 200 wedding guests. If yours is going to be an intimate wedding, or a destination wedding, then automatically the number of guests will reduce to minimum. They may be just 50 or may be less than 50 or if you want you can plan an intimate wedding with 100 wedding guests. So, this is how you will decide how many guests you should invite for your wedding.

How many wedding guests to invite will always depend on the type of your wedding and your wedding budget!

⇒ How many guests you should expect at your destination wedding:

Of course, if it’s a destination wedding, then definitely you would want to have only the close ones, so the question of how many to expect comes nowhere as all your because almost everybody will turn up as all the arrangements will be done by you only. Hardly anybody would be there who won’t make up for it that too because of some unavoidable reasons, otherwise most guests never miss the chance of attending a destination wedding. Because destination weddings are a good break from their routine life.

Also, in a destination wedding, you prefer to invite only those you are actually close to, like your family members, very close relatives, and a few very good and close friends, that’s all! And the ones who are close definitely make for your big day, no matter what!

 How many guests you should expect at your intimate wedding:

If yours is an intimate wedding with too less guests than expect everybody attending the wedding. For instance you plan to host your wedding only with your family and close friends, then hardly there would be anyone who would not attend. As, in case of intimate wedding mostly every guest turns up because they are from family and circle. Only in case of some sudden occupancy or if a person is in another country or town won’t be able to make otherwise everybody comes.

However, in the case of an intimate wedding with 100 guests, you can expect 85% guests turning up as there will be many who won’t be able to make it because of number of reasons, like job issues, out-of-towner, old age, etc. Locals will surely make for your special day.

So, if you have invited 100 guests, out of 100 you can expect 85 guests at your wedding. Fair enough!

⇒ How many guests you should expect at your wedding with 200 guests:

If you are hosting a wedding with 200 guests, you can expect 80% to 85% guests turning up. Of course, some of your wedding guests would out-of-towners and most of the guests would be locals. So, the entire calculation will depend on the number of guests who will be coming from different towns. You can expect 90% locals turning up and around 60% out-of-towners turning up. For instance, if you invite 60 out-of-towners and 140 locals, then the calculation would be like this:

Out-of-towners: 60*60% = 36

Locals: 140*90% = 126

Total expected wedding guests would be: 162, which is 81% of your total invited guests.

However, if you have invited more than 200 guests, then expect 75% of turn up on the total number.

Also, keep plus ones in mind. While calculating your estimated guests, don’t miss on plus ones if you have invited for your wedding. Missing on plus ones can affect your wedding budget and the wedding arrangements.

⇒ The best tips to create a wedding guest list

Be pragmatic and thoughtful about the number of guests. Of course, you would not want any stress later, so it’s good to be pragmatic about the number of guests in the first place. Though, cutting on guests is not a nice idea, but the fact remains you can avoid the number as well. You cannot go beyond your venue size and your wedding budget. Remember, each guest will cost you! They will add to the number of plates your caterer will prepare, chair rentals, favors, and not to mention the size of the wedding cake. Keep your number on the conservative side, there is no point having guests more than your venue size and regretting later.

Make two guests list ‘A’ & ‘B’. Yes, have two guests lists A & B. You know having two lists allows you to invite the most people that too without raising your budget or having to find a larger venue. Don’t get confused, this is how it works: The A-list will contain all the must-have invites that you couldn’t imagine your wedding without, such as your immediate family, relatives, and close friends. However, your B-list will have guests you still want to be at your wedding, so put names wisely. Now, here is the catch – send your A-list guests first round of invites and if you have enough “regrets,” from your A-list then you can start sending invites to your B-list.

Also, it is important that you send you’re a list wedding invites at least 8 weeks prior to your wedding. This will help you have enough time to receive RSVPs and likewise you will know how many regrets are there based on that you can immediately start sending B list invites, so that people in list B can plan for your day ahead of time. Remember, your wedding guests also need time to make arrangements, especially when they are out-of-towners. So, you have to be extra careful about timing while sending your wedding invites. If you will be late in sending your wedding invites, later all you will have is regret and nothing else. So, it is crucial to be extra careful about timing.

Also See : Never Invite to Your Wedding

And yeah, don’t send the same reply cards to your B-list guests, make sure you print a second set of reply cards with a later RSVP date!!

FINAL VERDICT……

It is your wedding, go by your discretion. Be clear about your wedding budget and venue size while you start to prepare your wedding guests list. Remember, having too many people at your wedding will not add to the celebration, in fact having the important and the closed ones will make it more celebratory and an extraordinary event.

Happy Wedding… ☺ ☺