Church Wedding - How many guests?

Morning!

We have about 65/70 for the church and wedding breakfast and then probably about another 50-60 for the evening reception.

x

Good morning yeah it was pretty much the same for us we had 66 wedding breakfast guests that attended the church together with some friends and work colleagues that just attended the service then returned in the evening for the party! So another 80 people came in the evening from my recollection it was supposed to be more but some didn't turn up for whatever reason they varied (we got apologies off most)!

x

Hiya, we have 80 guests in the day and only 10 more in the evening, couldn't get the list any smaller for the day!

Im having 40-50 at the church and wedding breakfast and another 40-50 extra at the evening reception. We're limiting the wedding breakfast to close friends and family but I'm also letting the evening guests know that they are welcome to come to the church if they want to see the actual ceremony.

Actually thats a good idea!!

i may have to do that too coz otherwise it will spiral out of control i think and that way i wont be letting people down either!

just trying to figure how to word it now lol!! xx

You could use the good old 'due to number restrictions' excuse as the reason they can't come to the day reception.

Hmm...see i know with a few of my close friends i can just explain to them the problems i have with numbers and they will be fine and will hapilly go to the church then to the evening, i have a few friends that are coming down from the north that i feel obliged to invite all day coz its awful really to invite them all the way down to the evning only....im wondering if we can get them to the church and then the evening, means they will have about 4 hours to kill but they know people in my area...(its a group of about 10 of us that were up at college together in staffordshire, 6 from up north and 4 from down south)...that could work i spose hmm xxxx

To be honest if I was inviting people who had a long journey, I would feel obliged to invite them to the full day rather than have them waiting around in the middle. Even if they know people in the area they may feel uncomfortable hanging round for hours all dressed up for a wedding.

Sorry that doesn't help much!

Id do C....then they have the invite if they wish to be there...they travelling far?

i think with mine i may have a word with a few and see what they would like me to do, thee is one girl coming from birmingham who i know would be honest with me etc, she may like the idea of them all going out together after the church for a meal then coming for the reception!

xx

I think it all very much depends on where they are travelling from but if most are local not a problem. I invited all our cousins for all day - ceremony and meal but did not invite any of our cousins children (to those that had them) as it would just simply have been too expensive nor did we want lots of children there on our wedding day as it would have restricted the numbers for the evening for all our friends. Some of our cousins didn't come to either. What you have to remember is that its your wedding, your day and if they don't like it then they can choose to stay away - they'll be the ones missing out. If your only inviting immediate family to the church and sit down etc then go with C it's their choice then!

Hope you manage to make a decision. Its hard cos you don't want to upset anyone or cause offence! This part of planning is not so great but necessary and yes you have to be strict. Good luck. Just because you're getting married doesn't mean that there is a bottomless money pit available!

x

thanks for the advice on my part! - im defo trying to be strict but ill try harder! xx

Hi, we're having all our guests at he church! Around 120, this is mainly because we're getting married at 4 but also because we thought the actually marriage is the most important thing so we'd like everyone to be there! We're also only feeding them once with a BBQ in the evening. This is really cutting down costs for us!

We're inviting close family to the church & wedding breakfast (which will be about 50) but a few friends have asked if they can come to the church. we've got about another 70 coming for the evening do.

My cousins are local so it shoudltn be too much of a problem.

I run the idea through with my auntie who told me option A was rude and that i should just invite to the evening.

She said it was bolstering up numbers to look popular HELLO!! the ceremony surely is the most important thing?!! not the grub after?

i was so annoyed I was tempted to give her an evening only invite - still havent made up my mind!

We are having a late afternoon wedding ceremony, 3.30pm, so we can invite everyone all day.

My family and OH's are all in London & Essex and we now live in Kent and they make up over a 2/3 of the guests so couldnt invite some of them just to evening, altho with some of my family would of been quite happy not inviting them at all LOL. We are having a hot buffet tho not a formal sit down meal which means not having food twice as we will be eating about 6.00pm which will make difference to the running of the day as well.

We have a package for 60 people, day list currently up to 84 plus 13 children (!!!) - I need to check with the venue to see how many we can seat comfortably round a table and then start culling!!!

We are going to put a note in the evening invites for those that are local enough to say that they are more than welcome to come to the church service if they wish.

My issue is my cousins...

Cousin A - the one I am closest to lives the furthest away - plus wife and 2 kids - I want him to play the hang drum at the reception drinks!

Cousin B - Has been married 3 times, I was bridesmaid at the first, only evening do at the second and didn't even know about the third! Plus wife #3, new baby & 2 grown-up kids

Cousin C - Is also my Godfather, has been married twice, invited to both although both cheap buffet style dos - can't remember my birthday, owed me money for absolutely ages - plus wife and son who is a pain in the a**

Now - can I invite A to the day and not B&C, forfeit the hang drum and invite all to the evening only or do I have to keep them all???

This is annoying me already and I still have ages to go!!!

I think you could invite cousin A to the day and not the others. If the others complain, you can say he had to be there as he is providing entertainment (or you could just tell them to bog off cos its your wedding and you'll invite who you want?)

I agree with borokate, u can most cetainly invite A without B and C, if your closet to A then yes he/she should come first before the others your not so close to!

I'm glad you think like this... ! Thanks girls

We've done ours the oppisite way round to most in that we're having everyone to church- work people etc etc (up to about 200 at the moment) and then doing cake and bubbly directly after the service at the back of the church. Then the family and close friends are all going off for the main wedding breakfast.

It made more sense for us as the church is near to where most people live and the reception is further away.