Speaking of rehearsal dinners...

[zoebartlett]

I didn''t want to threadjack So_Happy''s thread so I thought I''d start my own. Quick question: how many guests typically are invited? I know this can vary greatly but here''s what I''m trying to figure out:

My OOT (extended) family is quite large -- cousins, cousins'' kids, aunts, and uncles. My FI isn''t inviting any of his cousins, aunts, or uncles to the wedding, so that''s not a consideration for him. What IS though, is that he has four brothers and sisters, several nephews and nieces, and a great-nephew (or is it grand-nephew?). I''d like to also invite a couple of friends who''d be traveling from PA but I don''t have to.

The way it looks now, our RD invite list is at 54. Insane, right? Most of it is due to my side, and while I COULD keep it at aunts and uncles, I''d really like to invite my cousins too (and they''d be bringing their kids as well).

We''re thinking of having the RD at a state park on the ocean or at a restaurant (maybe a very casual seafood joint or something less formal than our traditional sit- down wedding reception).

Also, my FI is trying to design a wedding web page. Is RD info. usually included there? I don''t want everyone who visits the site to think they''re invited to the RD if they see info. talking bout it.

And while this may seem ridiculously early to be talking about this, considering our wedding''s not ''til next July, on the coast of Maine, things fill up quickly. The more I can do ahead of time, the better.

Okay, so this ended up being way longer than I thought it would be. Sorry!

 

[labbielove]

zoe,
your rd sounds great, and i don''t think there is a standard # of invitees.
ours is going to be 35, and that is just our immediate families, the officiant and his family (because they are close family friends) and 2 gms and their wives (my bms are my sisters so phew, no extras there!)
we may end up with up to 50 if all of FI''s friends from CA make the trip here (we''re in western NYS)

my feeling with the CA folks is that they may not want to come, depending on when their flight gets in Friday.
Plus, FI can meet up with them at the hotel (he''s staying there fri night) after the RD (which is about 15mins from the hotel)

but- we just want to extend the invite, since it''s been years since he''s seen them,etc.

 

[So_happy]

We are inviting all BMs and thier dates (7), all GMs and thier dates (, moms and thier dates (4), dad and date (2), sisters and thier dates (3), and, well me and MY date (2) for a grand total of 26. My coordinator is running the rehearsal but can''t stay for the lunch and my officiant isn''t doing the rehearsal at all so he won''t be there. I also don''t have any children in my wedding. I feel like I''m missing a few; I thought I had 30 earlier.

Hmm......

So there''s my core crew. No adt''l friends or aunts etc

And my entire guest list is 103 so 30 is a third. I thought that was alot for my wedidng, too lol.

I hear that the folks I''m inviting are the absolute minimum that should be invited.

 

[akw94]

Hi Zoe,
From what I''ve heard, the typical guest list includes the bridal party, those that rehearsed w/you at your rehearsal. We are inviting a few others though, practically our whole guest list since it''s a pretty small guest list. We''re inviting all bridal party, all family and all out of towners. Since most of our family is out of town and we''re inviting few friends, that leaves just a few friends that are in town that aren''t being invited.

 

[cara]

Zoe- I think your list is fine! Just make sure you are fair and consistent about who to include and all. I wouldn''t put rehersal information on the website if all the guests aren''t invited. Unless its in a special section or something for the bridal party.