{"id":6471,"date":"2023-02-02T14:13:31","date_gmt":"2023-02-02T20:13:31","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/pearlblogdev.wpengine.com\/?p=6471"},"modified":"2025-04-18T11:44:27","modified_gmt":"2025-04-18T15:44:27","slug":"how-many-people-should-i-invite-to-my-wedding","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/pearl.davidsbridal.com\/inspiration\/wedding-planning\/how-many-people-should-i-invite-to-my-wedding\/","title":{"rendered":"How Many People Should I Invite to My Wedding?"},"content":{"rendered":"

Narrowing the guest list is no one\u2019s favorite part of wedding planning, but this expert advice can help take the stress out of your decision. Part of what makes your wedding day so special is knowing that all your family and closest friends will be there to celebrate and share the big day with you. But sometimes defining \u201cclosest\u201d can be tough. At some point, every couple has to wonder, \u201cHow many people should I invite to my wedding?\u201d<\/p>\n

5 Tips For Nailing Down Your Guest List<\/h2>\n

Between budget concerns and etiquette, narrowing the guest list can be an exercise in frustration. Do you have to invite your groom-to-be\u2019s boss? And does that mean that you also have to invite all his co-workers? Do your second cousins twice removed count as extended family?<\/p>\n

Figuring out \u201cHow many people should I invite to my wedding\u201d is a dilemma that almost every bride faces,\u201d says Kiran Enns, director of operations for Bloom Acres, a wedding venue in Ontario, Canada.  As a professional who has worked with many couples in planning  their weddings, here are a few things she urges people to consider when determining their guest list.<\/p>\n

Here are some things to consider:<\/p>\n

1. How do you want to spend your big day?<\/strong><\/h3>\n

Before you can address the question, \u201cHow many people should I invite to my wedding?\u201d, it is important to consider how you want your big day to go. Initially, you may be excited to plan the biggest celebration your budget can handle (and who could blame you?) If you really think about it, though, having fewer guests means being able to spend more time with each of them. Your wedding day goes by fast, and brides don\u2019t always consider the amount of time spent talking to guests \u2014 and that means all of them. The more guests you have, the more talking you\u2019ll probably be doing, which means the less time you\u2019ll have to spend soaking in your day and enjoying moments with your new spouse. A smaller guest list means more meaningful time to spend with everyone.<\/p>\n

On the flip side, if you have a large extended family you are close to, it\u2019s understandable that you would want them all to be there on your wedding day, and maybe having individual time with each of them isn\u2019t as much of a priority on the big day. Or maybe you imagine your wedding day as an epic party, so the more the merrier. It really all depends on your vision for your day: small and intimate, or big and busy!<\/p>\n

2. Is there anyone you don\u2019t want to invite?<\/strong><\/h3>\n

Limiting the overall size of the wedding doesn\u2019t single anyone out for exclusion from your guest list. So it makes for an easy excuse when you have to break the news to your parents\u2019 friends that they aren\u2019t invited. \u201cSo sorry but we\u2019re only inviting our immediate family and closest friends.\u201d<\/p>\n

3. What is your budget?<\/strong><\/h3>\n

Budget is, of course, one of the major factors to take into account when you ask yourself, \u201cHow many people should I invite to my wedding?\u201d The average cost of a U.S. wedding in 2021 was $28,000, according to a survey of 15,000 Americans conducted by The Knot Research and Insights Team (2022), and the average guest list was 105 people. That works out to more than $250 a head.<\/p>\n

Obviously, your budget goes a lot farther when you\u2019re planning a wedding with only 100 guests versus one with 200. Similarly, if your wedding budget is closer to $10,000, inviting fewer guests can be one way to save money.<\/p>\n

When calculating your budget, keep in mind that experts estimate that between 15 and 30 percent of wedding invitees will send their regrets. So if you invite 100 people, only around 70 to 85 may actually attend.<\/p>\n

4. Do you have a venue in mind?<\/strong><\/h3>\n

Sometimes, couples don\u2019t realize that the number of people they invite to their wedding may depend on where it is held. Many inclusive venues will require you to have a minimum guest count of over 100 or more people. You\u2019ll usually find your per person price ends up around $150-200 USD, depending on the venue.<\/p>\n

On the other end of the size spectrum, a growing number of \u201cmicro wedding\u201d venues have been popping up. These tend to have limited capacity \u2014 some may only hold around 50 people \u2014 but offer a more couture setting. Micro weddings, which are defined as those that have anywhere from 20 to 50 guests, are a great idea if you still have a hefty budget and want something very fancy in an intimate setting. For $28,000 USD you could have a pretty extravagant wedding with 50 or fewer guests.<\/p>\n

5. Do you want a relaxed vibe or something more formal?<\/strong><\/h3>\n

Micro weddings tend to be much more relaxed compared to larger weddings. The more guests you have, the larger the event, and the stricter the schedule \u2014 otherwise you\u2019re risking a chaotic day! Often, this means hiring a wedding planner or coordinator. With fewer wedding guests, you\u2019re likely to have a more intimate celebration.<\/p>\n

Some brides opt for a simple ceremony and light cocktail reception, then take the party to a different place, like their own backyard, for a bit of a dance party and some drinks. \u201cThe brides who have had micro weddings with us have no regrets,\u201d says Enns. \u201cThey often say their wedding day was less stressful than they imagined and they spent quality time with the people they love while sticking to their budget.\u201d It\u2019s hard to imagine wanting more from your wedding day than that.<\/p>\n

Click here<\/a> to get everything you need to plan the perfect nuptials, from creating a vision board and wedding website to finding the perfect local wedding vendors! Check out Bloom Acres here<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n

References:<\/em><\/p>\n

    \n
  1. The Knot 2021 Real Weddings Study. The Knot Research and Insights Team, 2022 (https:\/\/www.theknot.com\/content\/wedding-data-insights\/real-weddings-study<\/a>)<\/em><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

    Narrowing the guest list is no one\u2019s favorite part of wedding planning, but this expert advice can help take the stress out of your decision. Part of what makes your wedding day so special is knowing that all your family and closest friends will be there to celebrate and share the big day with you. […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":22,"featured_media":6515,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_et_pb_use_builder":"","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"inline_featured_image":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"_uf_show_specific_survey":0,"_uf_disable_surveys":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1551],"tags":[1487,1489,1474,1488,1490,417],"dipi_cpt_category":[],"fb_article_type":[2],"class_list":["post-6471","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-wedding-planning","tag-how-many-people-should-i-invite-to-my-wedding","tag-wedding-budget","tag-wedding-budgeting-tips","tag-wedding-guestlist","tag-wedding-planning-101","tag-wedding-planning-tips","fb_article_type-blog"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nHow Many People Should I Invite to My Wedding? | Pearl<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Figuring out \u201cHow many people should I invite to my wedding\u201d is a dilemma that almost every bride faces. Read on for 5 tips!\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/pearl.davidsbridal.com\/inspiration\/wedding-planning\/how-many-people-should-i-invite-to-my-wedding\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"How Many People Should I Invite to My Wedding? | Pearl\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Figuring out \u201cHow many people should I invite to my wedding\u201d is a dilemma that almost every bride faces. Read on for 5 tips!\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/pearl.davidsbridal.com\/inspiration\/wedding-planning\/how-many-people-should-i-invite-to-my-wedding\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Pearl by David's\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2023-02-02T20:13:31+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2025-04-18T15:44:27+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/pearl.davidsbridal.com\/inspiration\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/02\/0E4A0226-1-scaled.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1707\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"2560\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Kiran Enns\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Kiran Enns\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"5 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/pearl.davidsbridal.com\/inspiration\/wedding-planning\/how-many-people-should-i-invite-to-my-wedding\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/pearl.davidsbridal.com\/inspiration\/wedding-planning\/how-many-people-should-i-invite-to-my-wedding\/\",\"name\":\"How Many People Should I Invite to My Wedding? | Pearl\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/pearl.davidsbridal.com\/inspiration\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/pearl.davidsbridal.com\/inspiration\/wedding-planning\/how-many-people-should-i-invite-to-my-wedding\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/pearl.davidsbridal.com\/inspiration\/wedding-planning\/how-many-people-should-i-invite-to-my-wedding\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/pearl.davidsbridal.com\/inspiration\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/02\/0E4A0226-1-scaled.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2023-02-02T20:13:31+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2025-04-18T15:44:27+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/pearl.davidsbridal.com\/inspiration\/#\/schema\/person\/f083076d317ab2c30f5fedffcd65ba7b\"},\"description\":\"Figuring out \u201cHow many people should I invite to my wedding\u201d is a dilemma that almost every bride faces. Read on for 5 tips!\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/pearl.davidsbridal.com\/inspiration\/wedding-planning\/how-many-people-should-i-invite-to-my-wedding\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/pearl.davidsbridal.com\/inspiration\/wedding-planning\/how-many-people-should-i-invite-to-my-wedding\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/pearl.davidsbridal.com\/inspiration\/wedding-planning\/how-many-people-should-i-invite-to-my-wedding\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/pearl.davidsbridal.com\/inspiration\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/02\/0E4A0226-1-scaled.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/pearl.davidsbridal.com\/inspiration\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/02\/0E4A0226-1-scaled.jpg\",\"width\":1707,\"height\":2560,\"caption\":\"bride and groom at bloom acres venue\"},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/pearl.davidsbridal.com\/inspiration\/wedding-planning\/how-many-people-should-i-invite-to-my-wedding\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/pearl.davidsbridal.com\/inspiration\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"How Many People Should I Invite to My Wedding?\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/pearl.davidsbridal.com\/inspiration\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/pearl.davidsbridal.com\/inspiration\/\",\"name\":\"Pearl by David's\",\"description\":\"\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/pearl.davidsbridal.com\/inspiration\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/pearl.davidsbridal.com\/inspiration\/#\/schema\/person\/f083076d317ab2c30f5fedffcd65ba7b\",\"name\":\"Kiran Enns\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/pearl.davidsbridal.com\/inspiration\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/pearl.davidsbridal.com\/inspiration\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/02\/028_Kiki-2-scaled.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/pearl.davidsbridal.com\/inspiration\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/02\/028_Kiki-2-scaled.jpg\",\"caption\":\"Kiran Enns\"},\"description\":\"Kiran is the Director of Bloom Acres, which is an outdoor forested wedding venue for forest-lovers in Southern Ontario. Website | Instagram\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"How Many People Should I Invite to My Wedding? | Pearl","description":"Figuring out \u201cHow many people should I invite to my wedding\u201d is a dilemma that almost every bride faces. Read on for 5 tips!","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/pearl.davidsbridal.com\/inspiration\/wedding-planning\/how-many-people-should-i-invite-to-my-wedding\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"How Many People Should I Invite to My Wedding? | Pearl","og_description":"Figuring out \u201cHow many people should I invite to my wedding\u201d is a dilemma that almost every bride faces. Read on for 5 tips!","og_url":"https:\/\/pearl.davidsbridal.com\/inspiration\/wedding-planning\/how-many-people-should-i-invite-to-my-wedding\/","og_site_name":"Pearl by David's","article_published_time":"2023-02-02T20:13:31+00:00","article_modified_time":"2025-04-18T15:44:27+00:00","og_image":[{"width":1707,"height":2560,"url":"https:\/\/pearl.davidsbridal.com\/inspiration\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/02\/0E4A0226-1-scaled.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"Kiran Enns","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Kiran Enns","Est. reading time":"5 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/pearl.davidsbridal.com\/inspiration\/wedding-planning\/how-many-people-should-i-invite-to-my-wedding\/","url":"https:\/\/pearl.davidsbridal.com\/inspiration\/wedding-planning\/how-many-people-should-i-invite-to-my-wedding\/","name":"How Many People Should I Invite to My Wedding? | Pearl","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/pearl.davidsbridal.com\/inspiration\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/pearl.davidsbridal.com\/inspiration\/wedding-planning\/how-many-people-should-i-invite-to-my-wedding\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/pearl.davidsbridal.com\/inspiration\/wedding-planning\/how-many-people-should-i-invite-to-my-wedding\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/pearl.davidsbridal.com\/inspiration\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/02\/0E4A0226-1-scaled.jpg","datePublished":"2023-02-02T20:13:31+00:00","dateModified":"2025-04-18T15:44:27+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/pearl.davidsbridal.com\/inspiration\/#\/schema\/person\/f083076d317ab2c30f5fedffcd65ba7b"},"description":"Figuring out \u201cHow many people should I invite to my wedding\u201d is a dilemma that almost every bride faces. Read on for 5 tips!","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/pearl.davidsbridal.com\/inspiration\/wedding-planning\/how-many-people-should-i-invite-to-my-wedding\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/pearl.davidsbridal.com\/inspiration\/wedding-planning\/how-many-people-should-i-invite-to-my-wedding\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/pearl.davidsbridal.com\/inspiration\/wedding-planning\/how-many-people-should-i-invite-to-my-wedding\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/pearl.davidsbridal.com\/inspiration\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/02\/0E4A0226-1-scaled.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/pearl.davidsbridal.com\/inspiration\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/02\/0E4A0226-1-scaled.jpg","width":1707,"height":2560,"caption":"bride and groom at bloom acres venue"},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/pearl.davidsbridal.com\/inspiration\/wedding-planning\/how-many-people-should-i-invite-to-my-wedding\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/pearl.davidsbridal.com\/inspiration\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"How Many People Should I Invite to My Wedding?"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/pearl.davidsbridal.com\/inspiration\/#website","url":"https:\/\/pearl.davidsbridal.com\/inspiration\/","name":"Pearl by David's","description":"","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/pearl.davidsbridal.com\/inspiration\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/pearl.davidsbridal.com\/inspiration\/#\/schema\/person\/f083076d317ab2c30f5fedffcd65ba7b","name":"Kiran Enns","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/pearl.davidsbridal.com\/inspiration\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/pearl.davidsbridal.com\/inspiration\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/02\/028_Kiki-2-scaled.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/pearl.davidsbridal.com\/inspiration\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/02\/028_Kiki-2-scaled.jpg","caption":"Kiran Enns"},"description":"Kiran is the Director of Bloom Acres, which is an outdoor forested wedding venue for forest-lovers in Southern Ontario. Website | Instagram"}]}},"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/pearl.davidsbridal.com\/inspiration\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/02\/0E4A0226-1-scaled.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/pearl.davidsbridal.com\/inspiration\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6471","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/pearl.davidsbridal.com\/inspiration\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/pearl.davidsbridal.com\/inspiration\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pearl.davidsbridal.com\/inspiration\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/22"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pearl.davidsbridal.com\/inspiration\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=6471"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/pearl.davidsbridal.com\/inspiration\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6471\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":11469,"href":"https:\/\/pearl.davidsbridal.com\/inspiration\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6471\/revisions\/11469"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pearl.davidsbridal.com\/inspiration\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/6515"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/pearl.davidsbridal.com\/inspiration\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=6471"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pearl.davidsbridal.com\/inspiration\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=6471"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pearl.davidsbridal.com\/inspiration\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=6471"},{"taxonomy":"dipi_cpt_category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pearl.davidsbridal.com\/inspiration\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/dipi_cpt_category?post=6471"},{"taxonomy":"fb_article_type","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pearl.davidsbridal.com\/inspiration\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/fb_article_type?post=6471"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}