Cutting guest list due to Covid

I think the best way to go about this is to maybe offer streaming service so people can still see you get married ? Like an another option ? Did you buy favors already ? I would mail the people you don’t invite with the favor a nice note and a way to view (tons of free options for viewing online) I would make the letter explain the new rules and regulations and that you kept it to your imitate family etc etc

View Quoted Comment Weve thought about streaming. We might do that.
We arent doing favors so no issue there.
We definitely will send a letter, just want it to be clear and not hurt anyones feelings. We also decided we will be cutting kids off the list so we have a few other new rules we have to include

Just be honest. Cite CDC and local health officials guidelines, stress how this is only to protect your loved ones, and express regrets.

Everyone should understand - and if they don't, it says far more about them than about you.

I'm sorry you have to do this!

Good luck!

I’m 10/24! We invited a little over 100 guests but if Philadelphia is in the “yellow phase” of reopening (gatherings of 25 or less guests permitted) by the end of September then we’re going to have to cut our guest list by 75%. It’s terrible and really sad, but my fiancé and I already postponed once before so postponing again isn’t an option for us.


For now we’re going to send out invites as normal. But if we have to make cuts due to state regulations we will send letters. I think just being honest and citing the CDC and state guidelines is what we’ll end up doing is this unfortunate situation. If we can offer some kind of streaming service we’ll include that in the letter.

This is similar wording I found in another discussion here and what we used to notify our uninvited guests. Everyone was completely understanding of everything. We posted it on our Facebook pages & website, and turned off RSVPs on the website. We reached out to our families and asked them to just text us their RSVPs since it was a much smaller amount of people and easier to manage. (We went from 300 to 100.)

I also stated we are looking into livestream and will do that if possible and they were excited about that. (We just found out a couple days ago that we are going to be able to live-stream..so yay!)

View Quoted Comment Thanks so much for sharing! I think that is worded really well and I’m glad to hear everyone was supportive and understanding.

View Quoted Comment

Agreed with this 100%. People will understand, and if they don't, they aren't people who should be at your wedding anyway.

Maybe use the wording of who can come. Like "due to size restrictions we have to limit our event to immediate family"

Follow up question... when deciding who to cut from your list what factors r u basing off of. in my situation my parents are paying for the wedding in its entirety and if we have to cut the list down i would think the grooms side should be most affected. is that wrong?

View Quoted Comment I dont find that wrong at all. If his parents arent paying anything then i dont think they should get a say in who you invite or uninvite. If your FH is okay cutting more people on his guest list then i would start there.
Personally we are doing are parents, siblings ans their spouses, grandparents, aunts uncles, 1st cousins and great aunts or uncles, god parents and also our wedding party.
If we had to do 50 we are cutting all children and young adults, our parents friends, co workers, and some family who are out of state.I mean if you have to cut your list, take a look at it and just make a list of the people you absolutely need to have at your wedding