The wedding day is without doubt the best of all for the bride to be (except the cases when she’s forced to step into a marriage by who knows what reasons).
My dear bride, it may be your best day, but do you think your guest share your feelings? Wedding guests fall into three big categories:

Family: most of them will come from pure pleasure to see you happy. Maybe some cousins or further relatives may wish you haven’t invited them, but generally speaking, the family is happy to assist you.

Friends: they will come because they love you and cherish you, and want to see you happy, and because they want to be part of the special moments of your life (and weddings are special). Some of them might have to skip it because they don’t have the necessary budget to buy clothes and bring you the wedding gift.

Colleagues: these are people who might try to find excuses for not attending your wedding. Some of them may not like you, some others may tolerate you around, but none of your colleagues really loves you. However, you’d like to see them there, in your wedding day, just because you are happy, and also because you’ll have spent so much with the ceremony that every guest who comes and gives you a financial present actually matters.

Tricks for making sure most of your invitees will attend the wedding:

Make transportation available for them. Rent a bus (or more), pick everybody up from the church and bring them to the ceremony location. Be sure to specify this in the wedding invitations. Your guests will be happy that they won’t be forced to drive (and not drink during the party) and they won’t have to pay a lot of money for a taxi to return home. For better impression, you can make your own wedding invitations.

Make accommodation available for wedding guests. Some of your relatives may not live in the same city with you. If they attend, they’ll have to pay for at least one night accommodation in a hotel. Estimate the number of people from outside the city and book some hotel rooms for them nearby the wedding location.

Don’t make your wedding guests spend a fortune on clothes they’ll never wear again. If you decide to go for a theme wedding, do it, but don’t force your guests to dress up like a bunch of hobbits if you want a “hobbit” wedding.

Filed under: Wedding Financials