Guest List--Invite and ENTIRE Church??

Uhmmm...just say no! Why in the world would you want to invite people to your wedding that you don't even know!

I'll say it again:

Weddings are NOT a spectator sport!

My advice, don't invite anyone that you don't really want to come. If you don't know them, why invite them? This is your wedding, not hers. Do you reallly have it in your budget to feed and entertain all these people if they show up? if so, then go for it. But chances are you have a limit on funds and space.

No way!! You need to know the exact number of people that will show up. You need to plan for these meals and pay for it. So if you don't know them, don't feel bad about saying "No." Unless she wants to pay for all of them, you shouldn't have to handle that burden.

If its people you don't know then I would put my foot down. Unless your aunt plans on helping you to pay for the extra people then say no. If she will be pay for the anything extra to accomodate the extra people then its up to you.

If you can't get the addresses yourself- then they should not recieve an invite. Tell her that you have limited space at the venue, a limited budget for food, and have to give an exact headcount to the caterer, etc. This is not a free for all party.

Have FH handle this, since it's his family. He needs names and addresses- and be clear that maybe not even all of those will even be invited... Also, they need a deadline to provide the addresses by. Since your invites will go out about May 1st, I'd give them no later than Friday, April 22nd. No address, no invite!

Not sure why people that you don't know would be invited to your wedding. I would say no way. How can you even play for food, favors, seating ,etc with and unknown number of random people coming? And TWO churches.... No way!

I have seen this before in my local churches. Many times they will place an announcement in the church bulletin. Not all members will accept it as an actual "invitation." However, your future aunt is not entitled to add to your guest list for your day. I would only send an announcement, (leave out the time or location, something vital) to the churches, and invitations to those on your guest list.

When an entire church is invited, it is typically announced in the church bulletin, and it is only to the ceremony, not the reception. You are, of course, free to say no. But saying yes would not increase your costs, provided that your ceremony venue has room for the extras.

The discussion amuses me, because we had people we didn't even know at our wedding. The synagogue's staff was so excited about our wedding, they asked if they could come to the ceremony. Even though ours was an intimate ceremony (only a dozen guests otherwise), we said they were welcome. They sat behind our regular guests. At the end, they helped us take down and pack up the ceremony decorations.

I would say no, especially since you and your FH don't even attend these churches. FH and I both attend one church and we're not doing that, we already told the pastor not to make any announcements either until the saturday before the wedding 'cause they usually announce that so and so is getting married like 3 times before the wedding and some people take it as an invite to the whole church

Usually church invites are sent to the people at the bride or groom's home church, when the ceremony is being held there. If there is any church reception, it is usually a dessert reception (cookies, brownies, punch) This is often provided for by the "church ladies", lol. This would be fine for an early (1:00p) wedding if you wanted to have your REAL reception later, like 6 or 7 pm. This would be open to only those that you send invitations. My sister did this, and had an informal reception at my home for family and OOT guests - catered luckily, since I was 8 months pregnant at the time!