My sister told me that doing the invite list would be the hardest thing about the whole wedding process. It pains me to say she was right, but the girl is bang on. To all those engaged: The list is brutal. Beware the list.
One argument continues to rage in my household: If a friend wants to bring a plus one, but you haven’t met them, do you HAVE to invite them?
Here’s the thing – I’m no Meghan Markle. I’m not choosing which tiara to wear and looking at a guest list of hundreds. I’d like to NOT be in debt for the first five years of my marriage because I’ve invited every man and their dog to this day. I’d love to celebrate with family and friends… and strangers don’t really make the cut.
If we haven’t met them, we don’t have a relationship with them. I can’t have a random take the place of a friend or a family member.
So, my decision was: Sorry, no plus ones if we haven’t met.
Not going to lie, this has caused some major tension between my fiancé and I. He reminds me, constantly, that the first real date we went on was to his best friend’s wedding – who, at the time, was a stranger to me. Years later, he will be the best man at my wedding.
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Needless to say, he thinks I’m the wicked witch of the west and says not inviting a ‘plus one’ for friends is outright rude. It’s something others have offered to us in the past and we’ve attended. He wants everyone to feel included and comfortable on the day. Which is lovely. But I’m just looking at the budget. We can’t afford EVERYBODY!