Crafting the ideal guest list for your Las Vegas wedding can be both thrilling and demanding. The process extends beyond simply jotting down names though; it involves selecting an exclusive gathering of people set to join you on one of the most significant days of your life. Recognizing the importance of this task, Always & Forever is dedicated to helping you put together the perfect guest list for your Las Vegas ceremony and reception. With our tips and suggestions, we know you will be able to thoughtfully piece together a final guest list that you will be excited about. With this goal in mind, let’s dive into the information below!
Tips for Putting Together a Guest List for Your Las Vegas Ceremony & Reception
When it comes to creating a great list, there’s more to it than meets the eye. It involves not just figuring out who you want to invite to your wedding, but also balancing relationships and budget, evaluating your venue, prioritizing people who truly matter, and so on. This means that creating your Las Vegas wedding guest list requires careful thought, precise planning, and a touch of finesse. If you’re not sure how to make it all happen, don’t worry, Always & Forever Weddings and Receptions can put you on the right path to having a wedding that has the guests that you would like to be included in your special day.
Create Your Budget So You Know How Many Guests You Can Afford to Invite
Creating a wedding budget prior to putting your guest list together is crucial because it sets the stage for what you can and can’t afford on your big day, and this includes the number of guests. It serves as a roadmap to guide your spending, helping you to ensure that your wedding expenses don’t spiral out of control. Without a defined budget, you can easily get carried away by the excitement of planning a wedding and spend too much on elements that may not be necessary, leading to potential financial strain. But most importantly, creating a budget before your guest list can help you determine how many guests you can realistically afford to host.
The number of guests greatly impacts the cost of your wedding – more guests means a more expensive reception, a larger venue, and increased costs, so you have to be sure that your guest count lines up with your budget. By having a clear budget in mind, you can keep your guest list in check, ensuring a celebration that is both memorable and financially affordable. While we’re on the topic of budgets, head over to our Wedding Specials page to see Always & Forever’s affordable package pricing.
Find Out What the Capacity is at Your Preferred Las Vegas Wedding Venue
If you already have your heart set on a specific Las Vegas wedding venue, before you begin envisioning a grand gathering of friends and family at this location, it’s critical to consider one key aspect, which is the venue capacity. Every wedding venue has a capacity number, and knowing this is essential to determine how many guests you can invite.
Too many guests can lead to overcrowding and discomfort, while a venue that’s too large for your gathering might feel empty and lifeless. And in a worse case scenario, you will be unable to reserve your venue of choice if you’re over their capacity limit. So, be sure to have your guest count in line with the ceremony and reception venue that you will be utilizing.
Once you have a clear idea of how many guests your venue can comfortably accommodate, you can start crafting your list. Or, if you don’t have a venue in mind, you can always start your venue search after your guest list is completed. Always & Forever can accommodate ceremonies and receptions of various sizes and you can view our venue capacities below:
Las Vegas Ceremony Venues
- Swan Garden Ceremony Venue: 100-Person Capacity
- Grand Garden Ceremony Venue: 130-Person Capacity
- Heritage Garden Ceremony Venue: 200-Person Capacity
- Waterfall Garden Ceremony & Reception Venue: 60-Person Capacity
- Lakeview Chapel Ceremony Venue: 100-Person Capacity
Las Vegas Reception Venues
Start with Your Must-Have Guests You Know You’ll Invite
When starting to draft your wedding list, it’s important to begin by prioritizing your “must-have guests”. These are the individuals who hold a special place in your heart and who, without them, your big day just wouldn’t be as special. They are the non-negotiable attendees, consisting of your closest family members, cherished friends, and those who have stood by your side and supported you throughout your lives. This would typically include your parents, siblings, grandparents, possibly aunts and uncles, close nieces and nephews, and so on. It’s those people whose presence on your wedding day will not only bring joy but also allow you to create unforgettable memories that you and your family will hold on to for years to come.
Prioritize Your Parents’ Wishes for Your Final Wedding List
Taking into account your parents’ wishes during your wedding guest list creation can be essential in some cases. There may be people that the parents feel held a significant role in the bride or groom’s life that make the parents feel it’s crucial that they be invited. Additionally, considering their wishes represents a gesture of respect. Remember, it’s an important occasion not only for the couple, but also for both the families involved. And let’s face it, some parents pay for the entire wedding so you might wan to return the favor by including some of their “must-invites”. With that in mind, you may want to take a look at our post on the topic of who pays for what.
In the end, even if you want to keep your parents happy, it’s crucial to find a balance. Prioritizing your parents’ wishes doesn’t mean disregarding your preferences. Communication is key in these situations, so be sure to discuss the number of guests each side can invite, considering both the budget and venue capacity. This way, you can create a wedding guest list that respects your parents’ wishes while remaining true to your vision of your big day.
Create Categories of Guests to Help Make Sense of it All
Creating categories of guests when assembling your final wedding list can greatly streamline the process. By classifying your potential guests into groups such as immediate family, extended family, close friends, and colleagues, you’re able to get a clearer perspective on who should be invited. Also, this can help you and your partner ensure a balanced representation of both sides of the family, as well as your shared and individual friendships.
A categorized list also enables you to assign importance to each category based on your preference, budget, venue capacity or other considerations. For instance, immediate family and closest friends would typically be in the top-tier category, followed by extended family and casual friends, then maybe childhood friends you haven’t kept in touch with much, but they’re important to you, as well as neighbors, and so on. Creating categories when trying to figure out who you should invite to your Las Vegas wedding can also help you with tough decisions when you need to cut down the list due to constraints. Additionally, a categorized list can help you organize seating charts, determine plus-ones, and the like.
Don’t Feel Obligated to Invite Everyone to Your Las Vegas Wedding
It’s important to remember that a wedding is a celebration of the love between two people, not an obligation to entertain or please everyone you know. If the idea of hosting a large crowd fills you with anxiety instead of joy, it’s totally ok to have a smaller wedding. You have to prioritize your happiness on a day that is supposed to be all about you and the one you love, and this is especially important to keep in mind when you’re on a tight budget.
The feeling that you have to invite everyone comes from a fear of offending or disappointing others. But remember that those who truly care about you will understand and respect your decision. You can gracefully handle this by communicating honestly and openly, explaining that you’ve opted for a smaller wedding and you hope they understand. Additionally, keep in mind that a smaller guest list can allow you to have more time to interact with each of your guests, creating memories that you can cherish forever. So, don’t feel obligated to invite everyone; instead, focus on creating a wedding day that both you and your partner will enjoy.
If you’re one of those couples who would like to cut your guest list down for your up-and-coming Las Vegas wedding, know that Always & Forever has several smaller wedding packages that are budget-friendly and filled with fabulous ceremony and reception inclusions – let’s take a look at a few:
Ceremony Only Packages for Smaller Weddings
- Heritage Garden Marina Ceremony Only Package – Up to 10 Guests
- Heritage Garden Laguna Ceremony Only Package – Up to 30 Guests
- Lakeview Chapel Hope Ceremony Only Package – Up to 10 Guests
- Lakeview Chapel Wish Ceremony Only Package – Up to 30 Guests
No matter what size wedding you would like to have – small, medium, or large, we can accommodate your guest count. So, make sure to check out our main Ceremony Only Packages page to view all our package sizes and see what you can look forward to, like having a romantic gazebo wedding, or possibly an unforgettable sunset ceremony.
All Inclusive Packages for Smaller Weddings
- Waterfall Garden Shimmer All Inclusive Package – Up to 20 Guests
- Swan Garden Bronze All Inclusive Package – Up to 30 Guests
- Grand Garden Bronze All Inclusive Package – Up to 30 Guests
- Heritage Garden Bronze All Inclusive Package – Up to 30 Guests
You can also visit our All Inclusive Packages page to see our packages that feature different guest count sizes. You may also want to check out our post on the benefits of an all inclusive wedding.
Sending Invitations to Those on Your Final Guest List – Timing is Key
Once your wedding guest list is finalized, it’s time to get “save the date” cards in the mail. “Save the date” cards are typically sent out six to eight months before the wedding. This allows your guests enough time to arrange their schedules and make travel plans to Las Vegas if your wedding location isn’t local for them. It’s especially crucial when planning a destination wedding or a wedding that takes place during a holiday.
In regards to the formal invitations, tradition states they should be mailed out six to eight weeks before the wedding. This provides your guests enough time to respond and you enough time to get a final headcount to the wedding venue and finalize your seating chart. And for those who will have many guests traveling from out of town, which may be the case when having a Las Vegas wedding ceremony and reception, sending the invitations ten to twelve weeks before the event is helpful.
Always & Forever Frequently Asked Questions
As you’ve read, there is a lot to consider when putting a guest list together for your Las Vegas wedding, which can cause some confusion in the process. Because of this, we are more than happy to help out the couples who are getting married at Always & Forever. This can be done by sharing our wealth of knowledge of the wedding industry by answering your ceremony, reception, and wedding planning questions. With that in mind, below we have included a few questions and answers on the topic:
Do venues accommodate a guest list of zero, where only the bride and groom attend?
Absolutely, Las Vegas wedding venues are known for their flexibility in catering to ceremonies of all sizes, especially Always & Forever Weddings and Receptions. We cater to large weddings, as well as the most intimate ceremonies with only the bride and groom present. So, whether you envision an enchanting ceremony in a wedding chapel for two, or an elegant outdoor wedding that features a lakeside ceremony altar, with only you and your spouse-to-be, our wedding venue offers packages that can perfectly meet your unique needs.
For couples who will have no guests, we offer stunning ceremony venues, as well as wedding packages that cater to every aspect of your big day – from licensed and experienced officiants to a talented wedding photographer who will beautifully capture every precious moment. We also include wedding flowers, ceremony music, and more. If you think you might have a wedding for two, then be sure to take a look at these posts that are related to the topic:
- Las Vegas Wedding for Two – Venues & Packages
- Advantages of Eloping in Las Vegas for Your Wedding Ceremony
Is it ok to not have a “plus-one” on your wedding invitations?
When creating the guest list for your Las Vegas wedding, one challenging aspect can be whether to allow guests to bring a “plus-one”. There’s no hard and fast rule for this; it largely depends on your budget, venue space, and personal preference. If your budget allows for extra guests, then including a “plus-one” may just make a lot of guests happy, especially those in serious relationships or those who might not know many other guests.
On the other hand, it’s also important to remember that it’s your day, so if you decide not to include “plus-ones”, that’s perfectly fine. It’s worth mentioning that some couples consider exceptions for guests who are married, engaged, or living together. But in the end, the decision should be something that aligns with your comfort level, budget, and the vision you have for your ceremony and reception.
Resources for Couples Saying their “I DOs” Near the Vegas Strip
If you’re getting married in Las Vegas, Always & Forever can provide you with many resources to kick-start your wedding planning, which includes information related to ceremonies and receptions. For instance, you will find details on wedding day transportation, as well as wedding traditions you may want to consider, maid of honor speech details, tips on choosing your bridesmaids, and color schemes, recommendations for planning a wedding reception, and so on. See our list below for more resources that we know will be of interest.
- Be sure to read over our main Marriage License page for important details.
- Don’t forget to schedule your Las Vegas bridal hair & makeup appointment.
- Find out which is best for you on your wedding day – a DJ or live music.
- Many brides sport a beautiful updo on their big day – read more if you’re thinking of doing the same.
- Need some tips on planning a Las Vegas wedding ceremony? This post will help.
- We have a main Wedding Flowers page that may be of interest to you.
- Learn how to have a romantic Las Vegas wedding with a gazebo package.
- Find out what the benefits are of having an evening wedding near the Vegas Strip.
- Need some information on wedding cakes? This page has it all.
- Read about the advantages and disadvantages of an open bar at a Las Vegas reception.
- If you would like a reception only package, this page has what you’re looking for.
- See details about how a photographer is included in our wedding venue packages.
- Head over to this page for important information on Las Vegas ceremonies and receptions.
Our Las Vegas Wedding Venue Can Accommodate Your Guest Count!
Always & Forever provides venue spaces specifically designed to host weddings of all sizes, ensuring we can accommodate your guest count. From intimate gatherings with your closest loved ones to grand celebrations that include everyone you know, our venue offers what you will need for your wedding to be all that you’re hoping for. In addition to this, our experienced staff is here to make your day a complete success. If all this has sparked your interest, then be sure to contact us so we can make your Las Vegas wedding dreams come true – we look forward to meeting you, as well as your guests!