The Economy of Cutting Back

-by Lisa B. Nelson
Elegant Event Design

I received an email question a few weeks ago that I would like to share with everyone. It was a great question that I think everyone would benefit from. Here is the question…

“Have you encountered brides that needed to reduce their guest list after invitations have been sent out and RSVP’s has been received? If so how do you suggest they handle that? Especially with the current economy status”.

I think everyone knows how bad the economy is – people are losing their jobs every day. If you, your fiancé, or one of your parents looses their jobs, it’s absolutely devastating on the budget. This also holds true in other situations. In my personal experience, I have seen my couples’ budgets impacted by a variety of crises such as; car and home repair bills.

Unfortunately – sometimes- life does happen – it’s inevitable – and also, in many cases, something that you cannot control. What you can control are your reactions once it happens.

So…you lose your job or your car breaks down and now you do not have enough money for the wedding in your budget, but you still want to have a wedding. It’s perfectly okay to trim the guest list, assuming that you have not already sent out Save the Dates. You can trim and add to the guest list all you want. Once you invite someone to your wedding, you can never rescind an invitation.


What are the solutions? Since the reception site is typically the largest portion, I would start there. Work with the site (or your caterer) to design a menu which will fit into your new budget. This might involve choosing different types of foods (crab cakes are more expensive than salmon), or choosing an alternative food service. If this doesn’t get you where you want to be, start thinking about your priorities. Maybe flowers are not as important, and you can change the type of flowers used, or cut down on the number of arrangements (as long as you are making these changes more than 2-3 weeks prior to the wedding). Maybe you want a videographer for only the ceremony. Go back to your contracts and review the policies on making changes and cancellations.