Family, Friends & Guests Etiquette

Question:: I am keeping track of the guest replies, and it's totally out of control! For example, we invited three people, with their names written on the inside envelope, and we got a response of seven attending! How can we deal with these additional guests without offending anyone or throwing our budget completely out of whack?

Answer:: Inviting an extra guest or two (or four!) to someone else's wedding is nothing less than rude, so don't lose sleep over offending these people. Call up the original invitees and tell them how happy you are that they're coming, but, unfortunately, you just can't accommodate any more than the three people you invited. If they offer to pay for the extra dinners (and many do), hold your ground. Cite maximum occupancy laws or your fears of a too-large wedding cake toppling onto the dance floor. Or, tell the truth: you've invited only your very nearest and dearest and you'd like their help in keeping it to that. If they can't attend without their entourage, they'll have to regret. And at this point, you shouldn't have any regrets of your own.

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