Friday, July 25, 2008

Making Your Guest List

One of the most important but probably least fun aspects of wedding planning is completing your guest list. Believe it or not, this list will be used in a multitude of ways...more than you would expect!

My best advice is to create your list in Microsoft Excel. Most people have computers that use Excel, or a compatible program. It is quite easy when a shower hostess calls you for names & addresses of guests to copy & paste out of this list into a fresh document for her. Also, you can print labels or anything that you need an address for quickly via Excel.

Be sure to make each column a separate item. Here are some we suggest:
Title
First Name
Last Name
Suffix (Like Jr. or Sr., for example)
Adress
City
State
Zip Code
Country
Phone Number (If they don't RSVP your wedding coordinator will need to call them.)
Email Address
A List or B List (in case you have to narrow down later)
Guest Of (Bride, Groom, Bride's Parents)
Out of Town (Yes or No)
Child (Yes or No)
Notes (Vegetarian, Do not seat near Grandpa, etc...)

Getting started in this direction will make your planning process much easier. If your wedding team uses wedding software like we do, this information will aid you in planning seating arrangements, maintaining RSVP's, getting welcome bags out, and even help group guests based on their flight information. Yes, that is out there!

From your mother to your shower hostess, your MIL-to-be to your wedding planner, but most importantly you, keeping your guest list thorough and organized will keep everyone happy!

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