Quote:
Originally Posted by KSUViolet06
That IS a zoo. I don't think I've ever been to a wedding with more than maybe 200 guests, and I thought that was big enough. I mean, once you have that many guests, the couple sometimes doesn't even get the chance to get around to all the tables and "visit."
And really, once you get to 200+ guests, how many of those people do you actually know (and consider to be your friends?) I think you start to get into inviting acquaintences (and like 3rd cousins) at that point.
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I did have 200 guests at my wedding, and I think part of that had to do with when I got married.
I was 30 years old, and so many of our guests were married or also in very serious relationships. Therefore, 200 "guests" equates to just a smidge over 100 couples.
My husband and I are from different states, attended different undergraduate colleges, different graduates schools and had jobs at two different hospitals. That is a lot of places where we each made close, sustaining friendships. Throw in sorority sisters and a similar type organization for him (sort of "eating club" type thing at his school) and it adds up fast.
We were also very active in our church and had many friends there. Take that 100 couples above, and that is approx 50 couples for each of us. Oh, and note that I haven't included any family yet, or friends of either set of parents. (my family is big, and they travel en masse for events such as this. My in-laws have a giant social circle, but most did not travel as they lived in a different state. If they had, we would have been closer to 250
)
It was important to me to greet each guest at the reception, and I can to this day remember many of the conversations. I have been married almost 6 years and people continue to tell me that the wedding was a blast, mostly because my friends and family are fun people and we made it such.
Therefore, in some cases, I do think it is possible to have a large wedding and just include the people that have had special places in your lives at different stages, and it can still have that "smaller wedding" feel. We didn't invite any "randoms," or people that we were not in continued contact with. However, I do agree that there are people who do invite everyone that they have had 2 conversations with in an effort for a gift shakedown.