Limited seating

I think it’s always better to invite literally the amount you have room for. The chances of all of them saying yes are slim but it’s just a better precaution that way.

It sounds taboo, but we had a list of people that we wanted to come and did not have the budget for. As soon as people declined we sent them invites. I wouldn't invite people you can't accommodate. And cutting plus ones seems to have a lot of lash back.

If your venue only holds 60, I would only invite 60.

You should never invite more people than you can host.

I would only invite 60. If more people RSVP then you won't be able to host all of them and that will open up another can of worms.

View Quoted Comment Okay, so do I cut plus ones? Everyone on our list is aunts, uncles, and cousins. The plus ones are what make our guest count go over 60. Do I only include plus ones for people that have been dating for a while? We have 11 in town guests on our list that aren’t dating anyone, but have written down a plus one just to see a total count.

I agree with the others, only invite what you can hold. We invited 56 people and 54 came.

View Quoted Comment Couples are social units, so anyone in a relationship should be invited together. Plus ones for single guests aren’t a necessity.

No, you should definitely shave down your list. Just when you think "oh, not everyone will come..." is when you get all "yes" responses! AAAHHHH!!!! Now what?

Better to only invite the number of guests your venue can comfortably (as well as legally) hold. The capacities set by these venues are usually a result of safety and fire codes, so they need to be strictly adhered to.

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Anyone in a relationship is not considered a "plus one," but rather a social unit that should be invited as a couple.

Plus ones are for truly single people, and can be given or not at your discretion. I would eliminate any plus ones for your single guests and see where your numbers are at that point.

Okay, so on the invite would I just do something like __ number of seats have been reserved in your honor? That way they know just that person is invited?

It's not unrealistic to think everyone will rsvp yes. I would never invite more people than my venue could hold.

It’s better to cut it down and only invite what you can hold. You never want everyone to say yes and then turn around and tell them no. It’s beyond rude. You can invite maybe 65 and hope a few won’t show but 15 people over is too many. We had to cut big on our guest list and it’s the worst thing ever to choose who is more important but it’s necessary unless you get a bigger venue

We have limited seating (120) and invited exactly 120 people. We didn’t give any single guests a plus one. We also didn’t give plus ones to guests who were “kinda dating someone short term” but not in an official relationship. We actually have had a bunch of our initial guests decline, enough so that we’re now going back and giving plus ones to everyone who didn’t get one originally.


The response has been 100% positive! There was no complaining from single guests when they got an invitation addressed just to them. And then when we called them all up and said “to be clear you can bring a guest” no one made it awkward. It probably helped that we waited until we had enough declines that everyone could get a plus one, because if you start giving some single folks plus ones but not others, there could be jealousy.

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That is what I am planning to do as well. now if I can just get the last 20 to RSVP so I can send out those invites. Still makes me nervous to do it prior to them declining. ugh

View Quoted Comment I think totally getting rid of all +1’s for people that aren’t in serious relationships is what we’ll do. It was really my mom that said “you have to give people plus ones”, but I’ll just have to put my foot down and flat out say no. Honestly, the majority of them probably don’t have anyone to bring anyway and I’d feel awkward having a bunch of people at our wedding that we’ve never met. We chose such an intimate venue for this reason...because we wanted it to be JUST our closest friends and family.

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Just call them! thats what i ended up doing. I forgot to put a rsvp by date.

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I did put a date but I am fairly certain I will still have to call them

I would invite less people. I've seen plenty of brides comment on here about only having a few "no" RSVPs so that would be bad if everyone said they could come and you didn't have enough seating.

We invited 10% over capacity. With the blessing of our venue. We knew people would get sitters, not be able to travel, so we didn't have a problem doing so. But we were getting a little nervous when all the yeses kept rolling in.
We will be under capacity.