It's understandable to be a little apprehensive about setting out your wedding guest list, but if you start off by anticipating that some compromises will be needed then it should be a little less of a surprise for you when the inevitable "shall-we, shan't-we invite...?" question comes up.
You should have an idea very early on what size wedding both sides want to have. This is important as usually you need to give an idea of numbers when you book your venue so the number of people you invite to the wedding ceremony will usually be dictated by the size of the venue or registry office or the size of the church or chapel you have chosen.
You may want to have everyone to the ceremony and then follow straight into the reception or a smaller number to the ceremony and have a larger celebration with everyone attending afterwards. Ask your registry office is there is any restriction on the number of people who can attend.
Start off by making a list of all of the people, family, friends and colleagues whom you want to come to your wedding, not everyone you have ever met will need to go on your list though!
Once you have made your wedding guest wish list, then leave it alone for a couple of days, don't try to try and sort it all out in one sitting, especially if some guest list invitations are a little complicated to decide on. Take another look at your guest list and make any necessary changes and clear up the compromises you may need to make with both families.
When you have completed your wedding guest list and everyone is happy with it then try not to change or add to it, especially when you have wedding invitations to order and table plans to make as it will only complicate things for you.
It may be helpful to use a wedding guest list template or planner especially if you have a large guest list to handle.
