Guest List Struggles

I would only send Save the Dates to the people you absolutely HAVE to invite. A lot can happen between now and invite time. We cut out coworkers for the most part (small wedding, never seen them outside of work). There are a few friends on our guest list that I don't think I'll send a Save the Date, just to see how things change if they do. We hardly see them now, so who knows 5-6 months from now. Hope this helps!

We started cutting plus ones. Anyone who wasn't in a serious relationship (that we are aware of) will not get a guest. Most of these people are family, so I'm not worried about them not having people to talk to. The next round we cut family that our parents wanted invited, but we didn't know all to well. This was mostly my mom's cousins whose names I can't match with a face. Then we cut the friends we don't see hardly anymore. I'll suck not having them there, but we have a hard number we don't want to surpass.

Definitely limit your plus ones and people you haven't been talking to in years to keep it current

We had to make cuts to our guest list too. We started with coworkers. As much as I like those people, I don't see any of them outside of work, so they were the first cuts. They'll see the pictures. Then we cut any friends we hadn't seen in a year or more. Then we cut distant family. Most of those were on the list only because FILs suggested them. But if you haven't seen Uncle John since you were 4 years old, I think he won't miss the invite! lol

It's not easy making the cuts. But our budget would only allow us to host a certain number, so we had to do it.

Also, no plus ones for anyone. Hardly any of our guests are truly single anyway. But the ones who are, will know others (family) at the wedding, so they'll be fine.

We cut children from the list when we went over the number of people we wanted to invite. My other suggestion would be to make a list of absolutely must invite and once you have done that see who is left on the list and determine which ones you want to cut, but definitely do not invite more than you can afford and/or the venue can hold. I would say if you invited co-workers are people I would eliminate unless you are friends with them outside of work. Also, plus ones for people that are single. Good luck!

One method I've seen used here is to go in circles and cut those on the outer circles once you hit your number.
Immediate family,
Closest friends
Extended family
Other friends
Coworkers
Etc

Send them to the people who are currently active in your guys' lives and immediate family. If any of them say they can't make it slowly start inviting other people until you reach your limit

For the STDs, don't offer any plus ones and only address them with your single friend's name. STDs are an informal heads up and you can make the decision about who gets a plus one later when it's time to send the formal invites in a few months. By then, you'll hear through the grapevine the guests who definitely can't make it. Like so-and-so baby's due and she can't travel, so-and-so has another wedding and can't make yours, etc. (these people would still get a mailed invite as a gesture, of course). And then you'll have a better idea of the wiggle room you have available for plus ones.