Plus ones for intimate ceremony?

True plus ones for single guests? No. Including the significant others of your guests who are in relationships? Yes.

I say married/very serious couples only

You don't have to extend the invitation for single guests to bring another person. You do need to invite the partner of anyone who is in a relationship.

Not to single guests, but I'd include anyone that has a significant other.

I'm of the mindset that etiquette is up for debate when it comes to this sort of thing. If you know that you want a very small cap on guests, stick to it! Those close to you will understand!

Single guests don’t need a plus one. Guests in a relationship need to have their significant other invited.

I'm finding this thread heartbreaking. Given the size, I would recommend speaking directly to your chosen guests about your dilemma. It is not equal to automatically provide a plus one to "serious" relationships and not for those who are single or in new relationships. If you want your guests to feel comfortable, it would be normal to expect someone preferring to share the experience with company they feel great with, and some partners may not want to attend. It is also unfair to assume singles will feel more comfortable or be entertained by one another, or that they must get along. I do not recommend placing all singles together away from all couples, for example.

Apologies if this comes through duplicate, as my login is having issues.

I'm also having a very small wedding. I know people will say invite, but i'm not even giving a plus one to single people. For one thing, we are only inviting family. Everyone knows each other. If it was a big party, i would add a plus one so they won't feel lonely.. But since yours is only 20, personally i wouldn't worry about it.

I agree with what everyone wrote. Only plus ones to married couples or those in relationships. We had a small wedding as well and did not allow single people to bring a date. We only invited family and close friends so the single people were not exactly singled out because they knew the other guests.

We wanted a very small wedding and it turned into 50 people, because we did allow people to bring a guest with them. (One of my cousins is very shy so she's allowed to bring whomever she wants.) Ours is still a very intimate wedding, it just ballooned a little.

Each of my bridesmaids has 1 - 2 kids plus an S.O. and each groomsman has 2 kids plus an S.O. so that made 14 people right there. Add in our folks and you have 18. Plus us was 20. Now add in our closest friends, siblings, and 2 close cousins plus all their S.O.'s or dates and children, and it turned into 50. We had to put a cap on it after that and just not invite anyone else, even though we wanted to. This was with leaving other cousins and people in town out.

It's such a bummer, but I really didn't want to limit the people who were coming by telling them, "You're not married or in a committed relationship so come alone and then I'm going to force you to socialize and have a good time with your family on a Saturday night even though you wish you were out with that girl you've been seeing but haven't made things official with yet or whatever". LOL. I want the people who are coming to be comfy and to enjoy themselves and to have at least one person there they want to talk to.

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First let me say thank you to all of you for your input.

I must say though, even after careful consideration of all suggestions, for the life of me, I still can't understand why people need a plus one if the purpose of them coming is simply to see me and my fiance get married, not to party. Its not as though we are having a big reception AND everyone knows each other.

This may be selfish, but I just feel like this is the one day where I deserve to be.

I should also add that a majority of the invitees are single.

View Quoted Comment The reason is you are asking people to celebrate your relationship. To then disrespect their own relationship is very poor behaviour. It is an insult to only invite one half of a social unit.

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Understood.

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So you want them to honor your relationship but don't want to honor theirs?

View Quoted Comment I guess I should state again that majority of the invitees are single.

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Single people don't need guests, but you do need to invite the significant others of those in relationships.