Weddingbee Blog

Image © IN Photography

Back in November 2007, we signed the contract for our venue. At that time, gas was inching toward $3 a gallon, and the Feds were still in recession denial. But how could we predict that in the next eleven months the global economy would go from bad to worse? Although, Mr. Cookie and I have yet to feel the pinch of the credit crisis (fingers-crossed), the economic downturn had a hand in slicing and dicing our guest list.

Mr. Cookie and I wanted an intimate wedding – our maximum limit was 100 but expecting no less then 75. I thought with over a 150 invitees, and figuring in an already 40% rejection because for most of our guests this would be a destination wedding, I was almost positive our guest count would no be less than 75. Boy was I mistaken.

As the RSVPs started rolling in around mid-July, we received a steady stream of “declines with regret.” At first Mr. Cookie and I tried to make light of the situation –especially since the declines were from relatives we hadn’t seen in years. However, when some of our “unless the economy was in a crisis, wouldn’t miss your wedding for the world” guests started to decline I knew it was something more than people not liking us or thinking we smelled bad.

My assumption about the economy playing a part in our guest count was confirmed when I called our florist. When I gave her a centerpiece count that was well below my estimated number she simply said, “Don’t’ worry. You are not the only bride that is experiencing a decline in her guest count.”

At first Mr. Cookie and I were devastated not only emotionally, but because of the monetary impact. Our venue, Ten Mile Station, has a food and beverage minimum – which included set-up, wait staff, linens, china, tables, chairs, etc. With 75-100 guest, the price of the minimum for the whole shebang was not cheap, but wasn’t expensive either. Around the middle of August with our guest list hovering around 55, we had to beef up our meal to four courses to even touch our minimum. To this day, I am still struggling with the per person cost, because as a nonprofit event planner, I know we could have done our wedding for so much cheaper.

I was talking to my MOH one day about our guest count, and she put it into perspective, “With the majority of your guests being from out-of-town, the average American vacation time being two weeks, high gas, airline, and food prices, how can we ask those that our struggling to come to a wedding?” And she was right, how could I ask those that are trying to make ends meet spend an ever depleting disposable income and vacation time on attending our wedding? It seemed selfish.

In the end, we got our very intimate wedding with a final guest count of 63. To be honest, that number was perfect for us. The love that surrounded us on our wedding day was infectious, and during the ceremony there wasn’t a dry eye among the congregation. Between the pig roast, wedding, and brunch, we got to really talk to and spend quality time with all our guests and especially those who had traveled from afar to witness our nuptials. No matter if our guest count was lower than I expected, our wedding was still magical.

How has the economy impacted your wedding? Is/was your guest count lower than expected?