As the big day approaches, you might find yourself consumed with the details of making sure that your special day is perfect. Before you lock down your decorations and pick out your wedding favors, you have to tackle the biggest chore of them all – the wedding invitations.
It’s easy to pick the guests who simply must be there. Your best friends, your parents, and your most treasured relatives – you know that these are the folks you can’t do without.
It gets tricky, though, when you have to decide who not to put on your wedding guest list. We’ve helped you do the hard part and narrowed down it to seven types of “just say nope” guests.
1. Friends who drifted away
It happens. As we sail through life, some people join us on our journey while others slowly drift away. With crazy work schedules and divergent social lives, people who were precious to you five, ten, or even fifteen years ago have gradually disappeared from your lives. They haven’t called, reached out, or dm’d you on Instagram.
For those that haven’t been around for awhile, not getting an invitation to your wedding won’t matter to them and it shouldn’t matter to you. You should surround yourself only with the people who are around today – the ones who truly value you as a significant part of their lives.
2. Family members who haven’t talked to you in years
It may sound harsh but it’s your wedding, not a family reunion. Limit the family members you invite to those who have been a significant part of your life. If you haven’t talked to them in more than six months, it’s likely they won’t be missed at the reception.
3. Work Friends
We all have work friends who share the biggest parts of our day, fellow warriors in the business world, and some of them we know even better than members of our own family. So, it makes sense to invite them to your wedding, right?
Not necessarily. Inviting one or two of your more familiar colleagues can backfire when the rest of them wonder why they weren’t include. Avoid unnecessary work drama by striking off all of your coworker’s names from the guest list.
If one of your closest friends also happens to be a coworker, keep their wedding invite on the down-lo to avoid unnecessary drama.
4. Reciprocity Guests
Just because someone invited you to their wedding some years ago, does not mean you are required to invite them to your wedding. If you’re no longer close and they aren’t a significant part of your life anymore, it’s better to save those precious spots on the guest list for someone who truly matters.
If you invite a bunch of people simply for the sake of reciprocity, you may end up needing to exclude others that truly matter. At the end of the day, it’s your wedding and everyone who joins you to share that memory should be someone whose presence means something to you.
5. Children
Unless you have a specific vision of adorable flower girls strolling down the aisle alongside a tiny dapper ring bearer, an adults-only wedding is often ideal. We’ve all attended weddings where the shenanigans created by bored kids of the guests have created drama, broken china, and worse.
Even if you have friends or family members pressuring you to let them bring their children, remember that at the end of the day your vision for the big day is all that matters.
6. Problem Friends
This one is the toughest ones, which is why we saved it for last. You know who we are talking about when we say “problem friends” – those friends who always act out, throw dramatic fits, draw attention to themselves, or even get kicked out of bars for fighting.
This is your day, and you deserve to have it as worry-free and relaxing as possible. Your problem friends are great to watch a game with in a rowdy bar, but they have no business getting wedding invitations from you.
If you need help writing your invitations, our blog has great wedding invitation resources for etiquette, wording, and more!
Remember, your wedding day is a special occasion, a place for you to shine in the dress you picked out yourself, to be glamorous and joyful, upbeat and perfect. Don’t let anyone ruin it for you, even if they may be someone you consider a friend.
Save the precious spots on your guest list by only inviting those who mean the most to you. Through thick and thin, the people who can always be counted upon to help you when times are tough and celebrate with you when times are joyous.
Pass hard on the poseurs, the almost-friends, and the jealous types that smile to your face but never really mean it.
Got any more ideas of people you’d rather not have at your wedding? Let us know in the comments! Also, don’t forget to check out the fantastic ideas and pictures on our Facebook and Pinterest pages for more wedding inspiration.
