I made the mistake. Our guest list is too big for the venue.

The only people you would consider cutting have already received an invitation? Ouch. That's a first. Don't over-invite, and don't start a B-list. If your venue holds 110, invite 110.

Cut the guest list...and then cut the STDs to a bare minimum. Remember, weddings have gone on seamlessly for decades without STDs. I know the world has changed, but the only people who really need them are guests who will need to factor in travel/accommodation costs. Your cousin who lives an hour away doesn't need an STD. Your co-worker doesn't need an STD. Your aunt and uncle who live in another county don't need an STD. Those guests require a standard invitation. In fact, sending STDs to all guests will box you into a final list months before you really have to submit it to the venue/caterer. I know...brides and grooms are psyched about the idea of having their photos attached to an actual statement of their upcoming wedding, but STD photoshoots and postage will cost you money you can save, and they are not a necessity.

Everyone else? They get an invitation when the actual wedding invitations go out, which in your case will be the late summer.

Yay glad it all worked out for you Katie!

I feel you! I was super careful when I did our list and pestered DH and his mom for their list before I even started calling venues, and after we were booked, bam! DH and his mom let me know that of course they have to invite like 15 more people from their town because otherwise society would end as we know it. I was so mad. Lucky for them, we had a near-70% decline rate for all abroad guests, so we were well below the 150 venue limit. But we only had like 5 cancellations among the locals/semi-locals.

Yayy saw your update! Glad it worked out

I'd cut the 5 +1s regardless, honestly, and be at 113, which will *probably* put you around 100 in actuality. You can always add them closer to the date if you end up under numbers, but you're committing to people whose presence probably won't mean anything to you over 6 months out!

Sunni makes a great point - our venue's max capacity was 150, we had 110 guests, and still it felt a bit too crowded for the tables near the end of the hall. Fingers crossed for a 10-20% decline rate!

I would really recommend still cutting a few people, especially if you haven't send official STDs or invites yet. There is always the chance that everyone will come. 70% of our guest list is OOT and I have had way more "Omg they're actually coming?!" moments than declines. Better safe than sorry

Yes. Have you ever been to an "at capacity" wedding? I have. It was cramped and awful.

3/4 of your invited list will come. You will be fine. Just don't let your single friends bring a guest.

@The Centerpiece Flowers FH verbally invited some of his coworkers because he found out at work that we got the venue we wanted. There was another couple that looked at it the same weekend for the same date as us and we weren't for sure we got our deposit in on time. He was at work when he received the call and he was excited and basically told some members of his dept they were invited. It was a slip up but we tried to the right thing by still including them in the guest list.

I do realize where I went wrong on our numbers. One of my excel columns that included kids and plus ones didn't get added into the total

Glad you're going to be able to get the extra seating from your venue!

Make some cuts...maybe you will get declines after you send the std's then add others as you can..

Time for cuts