The Guest List

You may have missed me for a day or two, but more important things have begun to rear their heads – like the start of preparations for our youngest daughter’s wedding!

As with all weddings certain things need to be started in motion long before the “big day”, and one of the things we have been grappling with is the Guest List. This seems to consist of all the friends and relations on the Bride’s side and all the friends and relations on the Groom’s side who qualify to attend the Wedding and the Reception.

Now the word “qualify” is something of a loaded expression – do you qualify to be invited to the reception just because you are a relative? – do you qualify to be invited to the reception because you have known the family for x number of years? – do you qualify because you invited the Bride’s Parents to your children’s weddings?

If there is a large family, how far down the family tree do you go? If you invite cousins, do you invite cousin’s children? Can you imagine the feelings that would be aroused if you invited some cousins/some cousin’s children, but not others?

If both families are of roughly equal proportions then nothing would be simpler than to say OK we are having 100 guests so we split the invites 50/50, but what about the situation where one side of the family is large and the other relatively small. What proportion is a fair split?

Then what about friends of the Bride and Bridegroom? Which of those qualify to be invited to the reception? All – you need to be made of money to do that! Some – but how do you decide which? None – I’m sure that would go down like a led brick!

And the fun has only just begun. Somewhere along the proceedings comes the table plan. Who do you sit next to whom? If Uncle Fred is a raging atheist it might not be a good idea to sit him on the same table as the Vicar. Great Aunt Florrie will certainly not appreciate the near the knuckle jokes and humour of young Zack and his busty partner!

I think I'll just go and lie down with an ice pack on my fevered brow.........