be our guest (or not)

Now that my favorite television shows are done for the season (boo to cliffhangers but yay to Kris Allen!), I have a little more time to concentrate on both the blog and my wedding planning. Lucky you!

So the Venetian told us we needed to have at least 215 guests attend our wedding. That's nice wedding vendor talk for we need to at least PAY for 215 guests. Whether or not they show up is no concern of the hall's. With that in mind, GF and I started attacking our guest list again, this time with a more judging eye.

Granted, Momzilla and Wedding Singer Dad are graciously paying for our reception but we still had to think: Does Aunt Sue REALLY need to be invited? Should cousin May be invited with a guest even though she hasn't dated anyone since the new millennium? Will co-workers be offended if they're not invited?

These were all questions we asked ourselves. So, my dear readers, how did we answer them?

1. Absolutely NO children under the age of 18 other than bridal party and IMMEDIATE family. That means first cousins. It's not that I don't want kids there. I actually think little kids are adorable at weddings. The problem I have is if you invite one, you have to invite them all. It's easier to just limit them to a specific group. Otherwise, you have a riot on your hands when little Joey gets invited but sweet Sally doesn't.
2. If you're single and you know it, clap your hands. No, wait, that's not what I meant to say. If you're single and you know lots of other single guests, you're invited alone. I am all about inviting single people with dates if I know they will otherwise be sitting in the corner by themselves while their engaged/married friends are slow dancing for the 5th time that night. I don't want to make anyone feel lonely and sad and suicidal. That's just not how I envision my wedding day. But, on the other hand, if we have a group of single friends who will keep each other company and challenge each other to another shot of Yaeger, then I will leave the "& Guest" off the envelope. Hey, who knows who will end up going home together? See, now THAT'S how I envision my wedding day - bringing people together!
3. My parents have a zillion friends. Just because they went to your son's uncle's wedding DOESN'T mean you have to come to mine. This isn't Revenge of the Wedding Envelopes, people! You should be invited to my wedding because my fiance and I want to share our day with you, NOT just because your son's uncle was crazy enough to want to share HIS day with Carol & Russ.
4. When I was a kid, I was told not to talk to strangers. The same will be applied for the guest list. If neither my fiance nor I know who you are, then you're not invited. I understand GF has family members whom I have never met and my mom has coworkers whom GF has never seen, but as long as at least ONE of us knows at least one half of each couple, then we're fine. I don't want to make new friends on my wedding day. I already have friends. 215 of them.
5. Of those 215 friends, some also serve as coworkers. Shoutouts to Meg, my workwife, Vik, my part-time chauffeur and to Mel and Mary, my fellow brides-to be! As a very social person, this guest list is extremely hard to create. Of course I won't be able to invite EVERYONE but I think my office is pretty understanding in that department. My company is small but when you start inviting dates and husbands, that number doubles. Gianfranco, on the other hand, doesn't plan on inviting his coworkers. I think a good "work" rule to follow is, if you are friends both inside and outside the office, then go ahead and invite. Otherwise, I don't think anyone would be offended.

I think I've covered the main groups but are there any other situations that I've ignored? Should I reevaluate my criteria for any of these? Brides, I need your help!