Guest List Drama!

October 26, 2012

Are you a newly engaged couple with guest list drama? Do you have a future mother or father in-law insisting that all of their “close family, friends and business associates” be invited to your wedding? Recently, we have found this situation to be quite common amongst many of our couples, so it is important to know that you are NOT alone!

After a couple announces their engagement, it is very common for the bride and groom to-be to experience a phase of bliss and excitement. That phase can quickly boil over into an overwhelming feeling and within weeks your plate can be filled with a long list of “to-do’s”. For most brides, the wedding planning process typically begins a day or two after you get engaged and the bridal magazines start to cover your coffee table, you begin dreaming about floral arrangements and chargers and then the guest list starts forming soon after that.

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This is one of our lovely couples, Brittni & Steve, at their beautiful engagement photo session!

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(Photo credit: Carasco Photography)

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Whether it’s your future mother-in-law who wants to invite her second cousin Susan or your future partner who wants to invite his entire extended family (which could mean some of your closet friends would be bumped from the list) the key to a “great guest list” is compromise! No matter what, there will always be some sort of discrepancy between your future in-laws or partner when it comes to the guest list, so we always recommend sitting down with your future husband or wife (before the in-laws weigh in) and making a promise to one another to stay on the same page throughout the planning process.

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If the guest list does become bigger than you had hoped for (or can afford), we suggest splitting some of the major costs like the venue, caterer & photographer between your parents, your future in-laws and of course the two of you (if everyone is willing and able to) and each family can pay for “their” guests per-head expenses.

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If you do encounter some sort of guest list drama it is important to remember what your wedding is really about… celebrating your love and commitment to each other with the special people in your life!

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(Photo credit: Carasco Photography)

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To read more on this topic check out these two articles that our very own Michelle Durpetti wrote for Today’s Chicago Woman!

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“What to Do After He Pops the Question”

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“Negotiate with Parents While Wedding Planning”

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Also, we are SO excited to have one of our Spring 2012 weddings featured on Style Me Pretty this week and just had to share! To check out the article & some fabulous pictures from Jenn & Marks’s wedding click here.

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