How to cut down your wedding guest list to save money

Many wedding costs, such as meals, invitations and favors, are based on your headcount.

The average cost of a wedding ceremony and reception in 2023 was $35,000, according to The Knot 2023 Real Weddings Study. The total cost is a $5,000 increase from 2022.

“The No. 1 way to save money on your wedding is to cut the guest count,” Shane McMurray, CEO and co-founder of The Wedding Report, recently told CNBC.

When the Covid-19 pandemic hit, engaged couples pivoted from large-scale events to smaller, intimate weddings, said Lauren Miller, owner of Tiny Wedding Collective, a wedding planning agency in Washington, D.C., and in Baltimore, Maryland.

While the average guest count at weddings has been declining since 2006 — when the average was about 184 people — the lowest average count was in 2020, when it hovered at 107 people due to pandemic restrictions, according to The Wedding Report.

Miller noted a surprising upside to the pandemic.

“What we saw was that the pandemic gave people permission to have a tiny wedding,” Miller said. “Now, you don’t need a pandemic to have a tiny wedding.”

In 2023, the average guest list was 134, The Wedding Report found.

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Narrowing down the guest list can be difficult.

“Planning a wedding with your partner is the first big group project the two of you tackle together,” said Jessica Bishop, founder and CEO of The Budget Savvy Bride.

“The key to not hurt people’s feelings is creating a rule and sticking with it for every guest that’s invited,” said Miller.

Here are ways experts suggest reducing your wedding guest list without cutting ties with family and friends in the process:

“You have to start thinking, ‘Would you buy that person a $200 dinner?’ Because that’s what you’re doing at your wedding,” said Shannon Tarrant, co-founder of the Wedding Venue Map, an online marketplace of wedding venues across central Florida.

Experts recommend engaged couples to categorize their guests into two to three lists in order of priority:

• A-List: These “are people who you would actually notice on your wedding day if they aren’t there,” said Tarrant. “That’s like your most important, VIP people.” 
• B-List: The people you would love to come, but you would be fine if they declined the RSVP, said Tarrant. Miller added that the B-List could consist of “co-workers that are close to you or maybe some extended family members.”
• List C: Think of this as an extension of the B list, said Bishop. Ask yourself when the last time was that you saw a person “and had meaningful one-on-one time with them,” she said.

Being on a lower-priority list “doesn’t mean we’re not inviting them at this point,” said…