134 guests attending… out of 175 invited.
Not too shabby if you ask me, considering all of our estimates have been based on 140 people, in a room that can hold a maximum of 160 people! I’m really astounded that so many people are traveling to Monterey for the weekend… but I guess our advanced planning really helped out.
I also think it was a lot of the little things that we did to help everyone out. We sent our STDs last August… which got all family members talking about the event long before travel arrangements could even be booked. Mr. Lemon’s family is almost exclusively on the east coast (PA, NY, MA) and they all cleared their schedules for a week vacation and rented out houses for their little clans to hang out in. I also kept an email list for guests to notify them of special hotel deals that I happened to find, and taught them how to use Priceline for some real steals on accommodations and car rentals. The last thing I ever wanted was for my wedding to be a financial burden on anyone because I happened to grow up in a touristy location.
We’ve also had our share of guests decide to come at the last moment, and got good news when I found out my cousin will be on leave from Iraq and could attend! I know some people beg for people not to come (due to extra $$ or size constraints), but our guest list was always an essential list…and I’m so happy that the room will be filled with these friends!
So… how did your guest list turn out??
Mrs Bee, wow, 96/100? That’s amazing! We have currently got 105 guests on our list and can only probably afford 80 so some will have to be cut. I can’t take the chance on having 20-25 people accept that we can’t afford (even though the space could fit them in.) Most of our guests are people that I would be heartbroken if they couldn’t attend but there are a handful of my mom’s guests that I am secretly hoping will decline.
Miss Lemon - this is such a great post - our list started with over 200 people and we cut it down to 130 and we will have about 120 at the wedding… I agree, invite the really important people as they are the ones who you care about being there and they are the ones who will come!
Umm, instead of packing for your wedding weekend, I’m catching up on the blogs I’ve missed in the last week or so. EEK! Monterey!!! It’s gonna be so much fun!
(Guest list…we invited 215, expected 150-175, 155 RSVP’d and I think there was a flake factor of about 5 who didn’t show, it all worked out perfectly, and I don’t think I could have squeezed 10 more people into the tables so…phew!)
Happy 4th! 7-7-7 is just around the corner!
Mrs. Lemon, Los Angeles/Monterey
Age and Occupation in 06: 26, Graduate Student (Public Policy)
Fiance's Age and Occupation: 29, Environmental Consultant
Engagement Date: April 7, 2006
Wedding Date: July 7, 2007
Venue: Rosary Chapel & Monterey Marriott, Monterey, CA
About Me: My FI and I met online, but we like to tell people that we met at a "cookie shop" which is the technical location of our first encounter. He proposed exactly 1 year, 1 month and 6 days after our first date (it's the only part of his proposal speech that I remember), and we're planning long-distance from Los Angeles for a July wedding in my hometown of Monterey, CA. I have a passion for all things "cool, cute and quirky" and I enjoy video games, reading blogs (WeddingBee, trashy celeb, consumer & political) and crafting in my spare time, if I have any!
Yay! Now you can invite ppl. you really wanted to invite but had no room for. =)