And You Will Marry

Probably no other part of wedding planning causes as much frustration and ill-will as the guest list. Just who will be present to bear witness to the big event is something that no family has ever been able to totally agree on. Sure there are those fairy-tale weddings where money is no object, but even those weddings have their limits. More often than not, it is the case that some of the prospective guests never actually make it onto the final guest list. And you know what? As devastating as it may seem at the time, it really isn’t the end of the world for those who don’t get invited.

When should the couple put together the guest list? Although it doesn’t have to be set in stone, a fairly approximate head count is needed early on in the wedding planning stage. The number of guests invited to your wedding will have a considerable impact on your wedding budget. Remember, they’re your guests and you’ll need to accommodate each and every one of them! You’ll need a venue large enough to hold all your guests comfortably, you’ll have to feed them, they’ll need invitations, and if they’re coming from out of town, they’ll likely need overnight accommodations. With an average cost of $25 per guest for food, every 4 guests will cost approximately $100 just to feed!

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Wedding invitations do more than tell who, what, where and when. Wedding invitations set the overall tone of the event. From the way the invitation is addressed on the outside to the font used for the text inside, a wedding invitation says whether the event will be formal, casual, grand, intimate, themed, traditional, or something entirely different. Who could have imagined that an invitation to a wedding could say so much?

While many of the ‘rules’ dictating a wedding are often broken by today’s couples-to-be, don’t even consider going against generally-accepted etiquette when sending your wedding invitations. In addition to providing the details and setting the tone, a wedding invitation should also convey what is and is not allowed. And as tempting as it may be to put your guest’s names and addresses into a database, select a script font and print out a sheet of stick-on labels, don’t do it! If you’re having a casual affair, it may be okay, but anything else requires handwriting. If your handwriting is not up to par, hire someone for this task. Many couples hire calligraphers, which is a great option if your budget allows.

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