Hi fellow brides to be ( and grooms - to - be too)
I'm experiencing the most stressful problem and I need some help.
My H2B and I got engaged in December, by February we had our guest list baked and invites were ordered and sent in the post in May for our Wedding this Christmas. We have a tight budget, we initially wanted a small, intimate wedding with just immediate family and close friends. However family intervened and as excitement grew, so did our guest list. We chose a reception venue that could hold 62 guests for the Wedding Breakfast and at the time it was perfect. It could hold more for dancing and drinking in the evening so we knew when we wanted to let our hair down with Friends we could invite them all for the fun part.
Fast forward to now and we've had to change reception venues to accommodate 80 guests, spend an additional £3k and I'm losing it. It started with my uncle, who I haven't spoken with in 10 years, who hasn't even congratulated me or H2B on our engagement, calling my mother insisting his kids, their partners and their kids be invited to the wedding. So theres an additional 8 people we don't know, don't care about and yet somehow they are invited. Then theres the usual RSVP from people who hadn't been invited with a plus one with "Both myself and <insert bf/gf name of 1month here> would love to attend" But my latest gripe is that an Aunt has reached out asking whether her teenage children could have dates join the party for the evening reception. "Sure- I'd be delighted" except now she's asking if they can come to the ceremony too .... so does this mean if I say yes to the ceremony that I will need to set them a place at the wedding breakfast? Or can I expect people to go to the church ceremony, doss around the city for 5 hours and then come to the evening reception?
Then a family friend of mine has decided he and his family are coming to the ceremony- but I hadnt invited them and so would I need to account for them at the reception? I had planned to invite them to the evening reception as they are friends of my parents and not particularly close to me or H2B. The evening reception is really just a big party, lots of booze, dancing and I am totally fine with people I don't know joining in at that point, I'm not expecting a gift or anything from guests, I just want to have some fun with my friends.
So, I ask- somebody, anybody, please help!! I don't know how best to face these situations without seeming impolite. I've checked the internet for the etiquette and rules around this and nothing is really helping.
