Planning of any sort can be exhausting and quite understandable when it is dreaded but when it comes to planning your wedding, creating your guest list is one of the first things you have to do. I know most people will just prefer to climb a mountain top and yell ‘I am getting married tomorrow and you are all invited!’ but you cannot do that except you are a billionaire and have too much to spare. 

 Have it in mind that even billionaires make guest lists so you do not have an excuse. If you are wondering how to go about it, here are five things to consider when making your guest list:

•  Blueprint: I am sure you have always had the picture of your dream wedding in mind and I am sure you never imagined your wedding looking like a mall or a carnival but if you do then this is not for you. For those that dreamt of a beautiful and less rowdy wedding then you should draw out the plan by writing or typing it out and then work with or around it. 

•  Budget: Take a long look at your financial strength after paying for your wedding dress, suit, jewellery, hotel reservations, venue etc. How much do you have left and how many guests can you cater for or how much are you looking to spend on each guest? 

• Teamwork: It is not something you should do alone except you are getting married to yourself. You and your partner and every other person involved should work as a team. This is the point where you and your partner have to compromise on who will be attending your wedding. Your parents and in-laws will have their guest so you do not have to be angry but instead come to an agreement with them. You and your partner can own 60% of the guest list while the parents will have 40%.

• Venue: This is crucial if the venue you have in mind can only take 400 guests why would you need to invite 600 guests and have 200 people standing and regretting their attendance? It is crucial to keep the venue capacity in mind when making your list.

• Avoid last-minute addition: I know sometimes you might feel guilty about not inviting some people but I do not think you should because it is your wedding and inviting people is not a blood covenant or debt you have to pay. That is why it is important to have your Plan A list which consists of immediate family, distant family, friends, colleagues, family friends and also the plan B list which is not so compulsory but should be kept in case some people from the first list cannot make it to the wedding. Be mentally and physically prepared to cut people off the list by going through it again and asking yourself if the world will end when you do not invite some people.