Many brides have a huge amount of relative and friends, and sometimes sorting out the guest list can turn into a huge headache. But with our top five tips, any bride can easily sort out the guest list with as little stress as possible and stop the wedding from turning into an event that could only be held on a football field

1. Categorize your guests (just don’t tell them!)
Every wedding guest is different. Some will be people that you cannot imagine not being there. If you would actually consider changing the date to make sure they can be there, they fall into this group. Some will be people that you definitely want there. Others, well you might not notice whether they were there or not.

That first group of people? You invite, with no questions. The second group – no questions for them as well. But the last? It’s time to look at each name on that list. It might be a friend you’ve grown apart from or a family member you’re not particularly close to. It’s up to you to decide if you actually want them there or if you’re inviting them out of obligation. If it’s the latter, then perhaps sending them an invite isn’t the right thing to do.

Another trick that can help is to stagger out your invitations. Send the most important ones first and use the RVSPs to determine the numbers. This may allow you to invite more people in the second or even third group without blowing your budget.

2. Would You Call Them in a Crisis?
When you’re planning a wedding, it’s easy to assume you’re close with everybody and they all have to be at your wedding. Not to mention, the pressure to invite certain people may be enough that you start to move away from what you actually want on your wedding day.

We’ve got an easy solution for this! Your first question: do you have their phone number in your phone? If so, would you call them in a crisis? Use this as a simple way to gauge your relationship.

If you don’t want to be thinking about worse case scenarios in the lead up to your wedding (we don’t blame you!) just ask yourself this. When was the last time you saw them? If you haven’t gone for dinner with them in the last year or if they haven’t even met your fiancé then perhaps reconsider their invitation.

3. The Plus Ones
This is the easiest way to cut the numbers at your wedding (obviously.) The general rule of thumb is to grant plus ones to the following people

• The Bridal Party
• Any engaged or married couples
• Anyone who has been dating their current partner for over a year
• Any people attending who (for whatever reason) would not know anyone else at the wedding.

That said, the choice of conditions is completely up to you and you should create your own guidelines. If the above ones work for you, that’s fantastic and use them to start culling your guest list.

If many of your guests are married or in long-term relationships, you might need to get a little more creative. In this case, one thing to consider is who the plus one would be. If both you and your partner have never met them, it may not be necessary to extend an invitation. If you both know them well, it is a little harder to not invite them.

4. Consider the Children
If you’re having a glamorous evening affair, you’ve got an instant advantage here! Some weddings are children friendly and some are not. And some weddings, for the sake of guest list size can be made unfriendly.

If you make the decision not to invite children, we recommend including this on your invitations. It will save any confusion.

5. Co-workers
Now if you work at Wedded Wonderland, you have no choice but to invite all your co-workers to every wedding related event. If you don’t? You may find there is no need to invite the people you see during the week or you may be able to simply invite the people you’re closest to.

Just because you spend a lot of your time with them doesn’t score them a spot. When it comes to your co-workers, think about your relationship. Would you make an effort to stay in touch if you left your current job or is it just proximity that helps you get along? Your answer will reveal what you need to do.

If you are inviting only a few co-workers, be subtle about this to avoid any hurt feelings. You do need to see them every day after all!

And our final bonus tip for you? If you’re unsure about whether or not to invite someone, then perhaps the simple solution is to not invite them.