As anyone who’s gotten married will tell you, figuring out who to invite and who to not invite is one of the most difficult parts of wedding planning. Most brides and grooms want to invite just about everyone they’re related to, been friends with or worked with. We get it. This is your big day we’re talking about, so why wouldn’t you want everybody you know to be there and share the special moment with you?
Unfortunately, every wedding has a budget, and every single person added to the guest list counts as money against that budget. It’s a harsh way to look at things, but it’s reality. What this ultimately means is you need to make some cuts, and the place to start is with +1’s. Unless you’re part of the Windsor royal family, you’re just not going to be able to give everyone a +1. Here’s how you should decide where to start cutting guests.
Your Wedding Party
If someone is in your wedding party, then they’re likely one of the most important people in your life after the person you’re about to say “I do” to and your parents. This means that you need to offer everyone in the wedding party a +1, but you shouldn’t make them feel pressured to use it. They’re going to go through a lot for you, dedicating massive amounts of time and money to your wedding and bachelor or bachelorette parties. Give them the courtesy of a +1, but let them make the choice of whether or not to use it.
Casual Dates
Does someone on your guest list seem to change significant others as often as the seasons change? Then you don’t need to give them a +1 for their latest girlfriend/boyfriend. Immediately start by putting these in the “not essential” category. If you ultimately find you can fit them in, that’s a great gesture on your part to add them, but leave anyone like this off until everyone else is accounted for.
VIP Guests Who Don’t Know Anyone Else
Your best childhood friend is flying in from across the country to attend your wedding and doesn’t know much of anyone else going except for you and your immediate family. Oh, and he or she is single. If you don’t give your VIP a guest, he or she is going to be miserable at your wedding, and that’s the last thing you want. Give them a +1 and don’t think twice about it.
Single Guests You’re Not Particularly Close To
Distant cousins, friends of friends and otherwise estranged relatives and peripheral friends don’t need +1’s unless they’re married or in serious relationships. Not everyone will like this, but you can overcome it some by sitting them next to people whom you’re confident they know very well and/or will get along with.
Anyone Who’s Married, Engaged or Living with Their Significant Other
If a couple has been living together or is engaged or married and doesn’t fall into one of the categories we’ve explicitly said don’t need +1’s, give them one. And while you don’t have to give a guest spot to everyone who’s been dating someone for more than a year but not living with them, you should consider it and use your best judgement.
Coworkers
Even before you consider the issue of whether or not to give them +1’s, coworkers are a tricky lot to figure out when it comes to wedding invites. Do you invite everyone in your department? Everyone you like in your department? Everyone you like in every department? Do they all get to bring guests? Only some of them? You can avoid all the headache by just not inviting any coworkers at all, so no one feels like anyone was more important to you than anyone else. But if there are a few coworkers whom you’re particularly close to, go ahead and invite them and give them plus +1’s. If you’re on a small team, though, then you’re best off inviting the whole team rather than just one or two of them. And if you’re going to give any of them +1’s, then you have to give all of them +1’s.
Cubic Zirconia Jewelry
Sometimes you have to give a +1 to someone you don’t want to, but you don’t have to pay +1 dollar more for your engagement ring than you should. Birkat Elyon cubic zirconia jewelry is as affordable as it is beautiful, and its beauty is second to none. Unlike lower-quality cubic zirconia, Russian Formula cubic zirconia jewelry captures the light as beautifully as real diamonds – and still costs a fraction of the price of comparable diamonds.