All bridal party dresses delivered, check. Pre-marital counseling with the pastor, check. Wedding bands selected, check. Invitations in the mail…here lies the problem.

Composing the guest list has been the most difficult task of the wedding planning thus far. Since we are adamant about making our marriage more important than the wedding day and keeping the costs low, we had to make really tough choices. While under perfect circumstances we would have the finances to invite everyone we know and love, but that is simply not possible. Keeping our budget in mind while also being cognoscente of people’s feelings is shaping up to be more difficult than I anticipated.

The unsolicited invitation requests we have gotten once people found out we were getting married was something I hadn’t expected. On more than one occasion I have found myself in the very awkward position of explaining our desire to keep the wedding small, and the need to limit the attendance. I know a wedding is a joyous event and people want to share in it. We would never dream of intentionally offending anyone, but deep cuts were necessary.

I have sent correspondences to those we would love to share our day with but cannot, in and effort to explain the situation. I have been fortunate enough to have friends who understand our position. They assure me they get where we are coming from, but I can’t help but feel guilty. I guess there are worse problems we can have for our wedding day than people wanting to attend. I am just always left hoping we don’t hurt anyone’s feelings.

 Have any guest list tips for Jene? Share them in the comments below!