I am having a very small, intimate affair - Currently sitting at 20 people on the list. However, this number is at a standstill solely because of the venue we chose and the package it came with. The venue is a really nice hotel in Florida, where the ceremony will take place outside on a Lawn and the reception is indoors in a private restaurant that we've rented out. They made us a deal for an intimate package (Up to 20 people) that we just couldn't refuse, and we thought 20 would be more than enough. However... Once we started counting, we quickly realized to hit 20, we would be making plenty of sacrifices, and cutting out a lot of friends that we would want to invite if money wasn't an issue.
Here's the thing, I really want to invite maybe 4-8 more people. The venues we've selected are more than accomodating and could easily fit another 20 people, so that's not a concern. However, when you factor in $120+ per person for the food alone, I'm just having a hard time finding space in the budget.
My question is this, would it be rude to invite these people, but ask them to pay for themselves in order to come? I've vaguely heard of people doing this exact thing, but to me, it's always sounded rude - But now that I'm in the position of paying for my own wedding, I can see why people do it. Is there any advice? Is it rude or is it reasonable? And if it is reasonable, how would you word it or ask the guest without sounding greedy?
