How To: Keep Uninvited Wedding Guests Off the List

Today we welcome back Zoé Zeigler of Fabulously Ever After Wedding and Events in Southern California. She shares some sound advice on keeping your guest list on track and making sure that your guests aren’t bringing aunts, uncles, and the rest of their entourage to your wedding.

Imagine you’ve just sent out invitations for your summer wedding. As the RSVP cards roll in,you notice that an invited guest saw the invitation and, assuming their entire household was invited, RSVP’d for their whole family of five, instead of just the two adults the invite was intended for.

This scenario is a common concern for many brides and grooms; especially these days when wedding budgets are tight and only allow for a fixed number of guests. It’s not unheard of for someone to add a “plus one” to their RSVP when only one person was really invited in the first place. Nothing is worse than having to inform someone who RSVP’d for your wedding that they actually weren’t invited after all. So, as you prepare your invites, keep the following tips in mind to prevent this from happening.

The outer envelope of your invitation should make it very clear who the invitation isintended for and who is invited. So, for example, if you want to invite the whole Jones family, your invitation should be addressed to Mister and Misses Jones and Family. If only Mr. & Mrs. Jones are invited, the wording should simply say Mister and Misses Jones. It is always polite to give single guests the option of bringing a date. So, if your friend, let’s call her Ashley Smith, is welcome to bring the new guy she’s dating, the invitation should be addressed to “Miss Ashley Smith and Guest.” But, if only Ashley is invited because you want to use this opportunity to set her up with your spouse’s handsome cousin, simply address the envelope to Miss Ashley Smith. Regardless of the how the invitation envelope is addressed, you still may have some “not so savvy” wedding goers that think they can bring a date or their children. If you’re still concerned, you can also use the RSVP card to reinforce who is invited. Consider the following layouts:

We have reserved _2_ seat(s) in your honor.

M____________________________________

Accept with pleasure__

Decline with regret

OR

M_____________________________________

_of _2_ accept with pleasure

These recommendations should have you covered. However, in the off chance that someone you invited still RSVPs for an uninvited guest, this is where a wedding planner comes in handy. Your planner will respectfully and kindly call your guest to inform them that while the brideand groom would love to celebrate their day with the entire family, unfortunately, only blanknumber of seats have been reserved for them.

Fabulously Ever After is an emerging wedding and event planning company. With a keen eye for detail and exceptional organization skills, owner Zoé Zeigler specializes in coordinating and executing flawless weddings and events in the Southern California area.