Everyone that visits our scenic wedding venue near Knoxville immediately falls in love with the vintage facilities, breathtaking views, and gorgeous landscaping. It's an amazing place for a small wedding of 100 or fewer guests. Many brides and grooms get their hearts set on saying "I do" at Country Jewell, and sometimes that means making some cuts to the guest list.Don't let yourself feel guilty about limiting the guest list. This is your special day, and if you want to invite only your closest family and friends, you have every right to do that. Another bonus to keeping the guest list at a minimum is the fact that you'll be spending less money to entertain everyone.
We've put together a few tips to help you get started on cutting down an overwhelming guest list.
The First Draft
The best way to get started is to make 4 different lists: the brides, her parents, the groom's, and his parents. This first "fantasy draft" of guests will hopefully contain a lot of the same names once they are all four combined. After deleting duplicate names, it's time to start prioritizing. It might help to give each of your parents a number to keep their list limited to from the beginning.
Ask Some Questions
If you still have too many names on the list once duplicates are marked off, the following questions can help you decide where to make the first cuts. If the answer to any of them is "no" then those names are good candidates for being taken off the list.
- Have you talked to this person in the past year?
- Do you spend time together outside of work or work-related functions?
- Have they met your fiance? (Do they even know his/her name?)
- Do you know them personally? (Parents' friends you've never met or don't know well can be crossed off.)
- If they are distant family, do you speak to them on a regular basis?
- Would you be upset if they didn't invite you to their wedding?
- Will they make your wedding more fun?
Skip The "Plus One's"
You are not obligated to invite a stranger to your wedding just so your friend has a date for the night. If your friend isn't married, then their boyfriend/girlfriend doesn't have to be on your guest list. The exceptions to this are if they are engaged or have been in a serious relationship for an extended period of time.
Only Invite Adults
Another way to cut down on the number of people attending your wedding is to make it an "adults only" event. Let's face it, some children may have fun at a wedding, but if their attendance means there's less roof for grown-ups you'd like to spend your special day with, this is a good place to make a cut. If you have friends with adult children that you don't know well, it's okay to leave them off the list too.
Backup Plans
It is not uncommon to create an A-list of people that are invited to your wedding, and a B-list of people you'd like to invite if any of the A-listers cannot attend. (No one needs to know about this B-list except the two of you!) If you have a lot of names on that B-list that you're not thrilled about excluding, plan to have a casual get-together after the wedding day to celebrate with them.
No matter what you do, there are always critics. It might not be a bad idea to cultivate your "We've decided to keep it small because..." statement so you're not put too much on the spot if someone asks why they are not invited.
Once you get a look at the breathtaking beauty surrounding our rustic wedding venue near Knoxville, you'll realize that it is completely worth keeping your guest list under 100 so that you can get married here. We've even discussed the ways that small weddings offer big possibilities in past blogs. The benefits to hosting your wedding at Country Jewell are numerous, and it's the perfect place to spend a memorable day full of friends, family, fun, and love.
A delightfully quaint Knoxville wedding
& event venue.
6550 Hickory Valley Road
Heiskell, TN 37754
865-494-0552
Visit our website: www.CountryJewell.com
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