Co-worker Invites

In my opinion, I think that if anyone invited is married/in a committed relationship, they need to be given a plus one, including coworkers. I think that not being invited due to COVID restrictions would feel less weird than being invited but not being allowed to bring your spouse.

This could vary by region and culture, though - just my two cents!

I would include their s/o's in the invite - but the simpler solution is to not invite your coworkers at all. I'm only inviting coworkers I have a relationship with outside of work.

You have to invite their significant others or only invite the ones you’re closest with and their SOs. Or don’t invite any of them.

This would not only be weird, but very rude. My advice would be to only invite a few co-workers who you're close with so that you're able to include their SOs.

I agree with everyone else; invite couples as couples. This doesn't change just because it's coworkers. It's much more polite to just not invite your coworkers if you can't afford to host their significant others, too. Your coworkers will understand not being invited to your wedding.

Only invite coworkers you socialize with outside of work, along with their significant others.


It is always rude to invite one half of a couple. But if someone is single, you do not need to invite a random stranger date for them.

I agree with the others. Invite the spouses.

Yeah I think that's weird. I think no matter who they are they should def be invited with their significant other.

All guests should be invited along with their SOs, since couples are a package deal. Either cut your list to only a few co-workers, or don't invite co-workers at all. The worst thing to do would be to exclude SOs

Some people do this, thinking that all of the same group people can just hang with one another, but think about how much you would enjoy an event that is all about love and romance without having your SO there. There are a lot of events I can have fun at with friends and without my husband, but an event that is completed centered around romantic relationships is probably not one of them. You should include significant others. You do not need to give plus ones to single guests.

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Thanks everyone. I'm thinking of 86ing my coworkers all together to save time.

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I've def gone to a wedding where my friend didn't know my now fiance well enough to give me a plus one. It wasn't a big deal for either of us, but I can see how some may take offense.

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While it may not have been offensive to you, some people will find it insulting. And if you and your now fiance were in a relationship, he wouldn't have been a plus one (a plus one is a random date, not a significant other). There is another recent post by a woman who was invited to a wedding without her will-be-then husband and its clear from her post and the responses that the solo invite is uncomfortable at the very least. Couples are considered a social unit, and it's generally considered rude and poor etiquette to not include significant others (hence all of the responses here saying you should include SOs). If I was invited to a wedding without my husband by a couple that had never met my husband, I don't think I would be offended, but I probably wouldn't go. If they had met my husband before, I would probably find it at least a little offensive, and it might tarnish my relationship with them. My general rule of thumb is that if the couple was established at the time the Save the Dates would typically go out (about 6 months prior to your event, 4 months prior to invites) then the SO should be included in the invite. I don't feel that you need to include the SOs of newly formed relationships, or for couples that are just casually dating and not mutually exclusive.

I totally understand wanting to keep the numbers in control and that inviting people you haven't met or barely know isn't high on the priority list, but including your guests SOs is a sign of respect. I invited four of my coworkers (all of whom I am pretty close to and have spent time with outside of work) and their partners, each of whom I've met in passing not more than a handful of times. I know my coworkers will enjoy our event much more if their SOs are with them.

I'm inviting a lot of coworkers but from varying departments and definitely want them to have plus ones (and of course their significant others are specifically invited!). Since they all may not spend time together, I want everyone to have someone with them.

We don't have large families (other than my brother and his 30+ descendants but that's a whole other story....) but both have professional contacts with a few decades of history so it's sort of a colleague/friends category.

I would invite their significant others and let them choose whether they want to bring them or not. For one of my coworker's weddings, there were 4 of us invited, but we decided to go as a girl group and leave the significant others at home. We had a BLAST. But I still liked the option of being able to bring my significant other if I wanted to.

View Quoted Comment This!!!! I agree.

You should invite them with their spouses/SO's or don't invite them at all. Either is fine, but inviting only half of a couple is not cool.

I would either invite their SOs or skip inviting co-workers.

Iʻm inviting the coworkers Iʻm closest to + their SOʻs