We all may know by now that the only way to cut costs drastically is to cut the guest list. The pangs of cutting ours has been physically making us ill. Every time I try to cut one of our many friends, my fiance rolls over and squeals in discomfort.
Neither of us were expecting to deal with the guest list this soon – before even setting our date. However since our #1 venue choice’s dinner capacity is at 200, and because of the uncertainty of the economy in a year and our jobs’, we need to scrutinize the list today, 16 months before our wedding.
Both my fiance and I want to host an amazing party in a unique Chicago venue with our family and best friends present….however, this is about 100 people OVER the capacity of our #1 venue’s dinner space. We can fit them all into our venue #2 but then we are about 10k over budget! Many of our friends have shrugged it off telling us to, “do what you want” and “invite only your family and best friends.” Well, our family alone that live in Chicago totals to 12o! And as for our best friends, we have a lot. Since we are tying the knot nearly a decade after graduating from college, both of us have close friends from grade school, high school, college, study abroad, Peace Corps, grad school, and work! Our parents’ lists are the least of our concerns. Now, every time we need to cut further, we ask the question, “Would we be hurt if we were not invited to their wedding?” If it’s ‘no’ we hope they won’t either. I know it’s not fool-proof, but we’re humans, and nothing is. :(
So, I know that I promised you our venue selection this week, but we are still struggling with our guest list and need to get that sorted out before we put down a deposit. I’ve spoke with many wives who’ve told me both that they wished they had not invited as many people, as well as that they had regretted not inviting others.
I promise though, that by next Tuesday, I will share with you our venue choice. We have meetings scheduled this week to discuss final proposals. Until then, I’m back to to dissecting our guest list and deciding who has been naughty and who has been nice :)