Wedding Blog

Some brides have 2 dresses. Some brides have 2 veils. Some brides even find a way to work 2 or 3 pairs of shoes into the wedding event timeline.I have 3 guest lists.

Best movie ever. I pulled my tshirts off my shoulders and danced around just like Belle as a child.
Source.

Event 1: The Temple sealing at 12:00 pm. As I explained previously, this is a private ceremony. The room we reserved seats 35, and we can fit 45 with people standing. The preliminary list from my mother was 67 people. I have had to fight tooth and nail to narrow that list down to an acceptable number. It’s been a process filled with tears, and I am very happy that the list has now been finalized.

Event 2: The ring ceremony/dinner at Hotel 1000 at 4:30 pm. We are sending out invitations to 127 people for a space with a capacity of 120. 40 of those guests are just my family members (and this only includes grandparents, aunts, uncles, and cousins over 20). Once we added 41 guests for the groom, some bridesmaids and a handful of friends for myself, there weren’t that many slots left for my parents who are hosting the wedding!

We made the decision to only invite married couples and older cousins, and then I made it extra controversial by inviting 4 of my cousins under 20 and no others. These 4 are my double cousins (my mom’s sister married my dad’s brother), and we have lived 30 minutes apart our entire lives. We see them at every family function, since they are related to us on both sides, and the two boys will act as ushers, and the two girls will be junior bridesmaids.

Event 3: The tented reception in my hometown the following week. I have lived in the same tiny town my entire life, and there are just too many people in my life that would be very sad if they didn’t get the chance to meet my husband. We’ll be having a potato bar, cake, and a lot of socializing at this event. We are sending out 200 announcements for this, although we only expect about 125-150 people to attend.

In putting together our invitations, this many guest lists has been a nightmare. We have two wedding websites, and two versions of the invitation that must be sent out. I don’t want to send out an invitation stuffed with information about the weekend in Seattle and realize that it went to the wrong person!

Creating a guest list means making sacrifices (and a few headaches). What sacrifices did you have to make?