OMG - we've invited 700 people to the wedding

[TXYankee]

the bride and groom don't do that here.....they just make a quick turn around the tables when the entree is served to the guests.....the couple themselves eat in private right after the ceremony, while the guests are served the appetizer...then when the couple comes into the hall, there's usually about 30 to 40 minutes of non-stop dancing, followed by the main course......people usually aren't all that hungry until then, since they eat so much during the reception (tons and tons of food is served during the reception before the ceremony)...

we live in israel (i'm originally from michigan, DH is from Washington DC)...
for weddings here 600 - 700 is normal....
300 is considered small...
large is 1,000 and up...
for comparison, when we married (in detroit) we had 132 people...it seemed pretty average at the time...

had we picked a larger venue for my son's wedding i would have invited more people...
the place we picked can only hold 700 max.....
the reception and ceremony will be outside in the large garden area...
the dinner will be inside in the hall..

It sounds like a Great Party!

Can I come...whats one more? I'll sit with the "oddballs" that you don't know who to sit with. That will put you up to 701!!

 

[disneyholic family]

I was wondering where "around here" is myself?

I am trying not to sound too critical, but if you are the parent of the groom, why would you need to cut back on the 300 co-workers? Isn't it the bride and groom's day? Do they even know the people you are inviting? Why would they want your coworkers there? It seems really over the top. If you list includes most of the groom's family and his and his bride's list is only their friends, that number might make sense to me. But do you really need to have all those people there? How well do your 400+ people actually know the couple?

everyone i work with knows my kids...and i know their kids...
we go on company vacations every year together...
life here is extremely family oriented....when you do things, you do them together as a family, rarely as a couple...

also, we've lived in this neighborhood for 19 years....i know just about everyone who lives within a 10 block radius and lots of people beyond that within the city....our kids went to nursery school, elementary school, junior high and high school together...
everyone knows everyone..
and when someone is in need, everyone helps them out....meals, money, jobs, whatever...
it's a very supportive community...
so to try to figure out who to invite, and who to not invite becomes a real struggle...

and in a lot of cases, it's not just adults, but the children who are invited as well....
besides the couple's 120 friends, there are another 100 'children' invited....children of friends.....children who are like cousins of my kids....they're not related, but they all have come to consider themselves family.....how could they not be invited to the wedding?

in the past few months we unfortunately have attended several funerals...mostly of very young women - two aged 48, and 3 others aged 49, 50 and 51.....all from breast cancer.....the funerals were HUGE....hundreds, even thousands attended......and we all said to each other - 'everyone always manages to make it to the funerals, we have to remember to take the time and make the effort to get to the celebrations too....

life is short....opportunities to celebrate together with friends don't come around all that often.....when they do, it's important to me to make the most of it...

 

[kab407]

I don't think I know 700 people.

Good luck Beth!!! I can't wait to see the pictures.

 

[mla1977]

Thanks for clearing up the location. I know I am less opinionated about these things when they are not in my scope of knowledge. I'm still now sure I understand the need to have 300 coworkers there, but since this is not in an area that I've ever been with a culture that I've ever experienced, I'll keep my opinions limited.

for a lot of people, it is customary to invite parent's coworkers - especially if it's the parents paying for the wedding!
i've been told exactly that by my mother, which is EXACTLY why it will be a Disney "Wishes" wedding for me!! Even though i am a performer and i LOVEEE the stage, my wedding day will hopefully only include the people closest to me.

I know that is it customary to invite coworkers, but in this country (US), unless you are someone of the WAY upper class, 300 coworkers is unheard of. I totally agree that a Wishes wedding is the way to go. I have even considered that for myself just to cut back on the number of family members that I would need to invite (DBF isn't a crowds person, now if only he would get his act together and propose already....)

 

[disneyholic family]

It sounds like a Great Party!

Can I come...whats one more? I'll sit with the "oddballs" that you don't know who to sit with. That will put you up to 701!!

absolutely - if you make it to my side of the ocean, you're invited....i'll put you at the disney-crazed table - there are a few of us here

 

[hapandpam]

Wow! I thought my wedding was large with 300 people. DH is Polish, and his family viewed our wedding as a celebration, and felt everyone they knew should be invited. (They told me that in their homeland, the whole village would basically be included in the celebration.) My parents wanted a small reception. We compromised. His guest list was 250 and mine was 100. I had a wonderful time in spite of my anxiety and in spite of your stress, it sounds like something you and your family are looking foreward to. Best wishes. Enjoy!

 

[CamColt]

Hiya Katie!! i can't believe i'm not going to get to cruise with you again!!
it was going to be just me, my sister and my mom on the podcast cruise until the wedding got in the way....we've rescheduled to september.....

let's see...i can't remember if i met you on our first or second cruise.....probably the first one...so DS was 14 years old on that cruise...he just turned 22....yes yes, a babe in arms....waaaaaaaaaay too young to be getting married, if you ask me...but no one asked me.. ...
they're high school sweethearts....

Oh Wow! He was even younger than I thought. Yep it was 2002. Sorry that you wont be joining us, but Im sure you will be having a good time anyway.

 

[LilGMom]

Yowzers!!

That (i.e. crowd control) is one reason I am glad that my DH & I paid for our own wedding. If we were paying for it there was no inviting all of the co-workers of everyone in the wedding party/family, no need to invite third cousins five times removed that haven't spoken to anyone in ten years, etc.

Good luck and hope you are able to enjoy it despite the stress!

 

[M5ward]

I don't think I even know 700 people; certainly not 700 people who have shared in my kids lives. Wow! I hope this is at a really large reception hall. You'll have a wonderful time!! Congrats to the bride and groom.

 

[FireDancer]

Webcam...$200
ustream feed of wedding and reception...$0
not having 700 people at the wedding....priceless.

added bonus: All your DISboards friends can come too.

 

[Cyrano]

700

 

[*NikkiBell*]

I don't even KNOW 700 people! ROFL

 

[eeyorethegreat]

I don't even KNOW 700 people! ROFL

I'm right with you on that one and even if I did know 700 people I can't imagine inviting all of them to a wedding. We only had 50 at our wedding. This included spouses of guests and a few extended family. This also included the wedding party. We felt that weddings should be intimate events (this is our opinion and does not reflect what I think others should do since it is none of my business).

 

[IWISHFORDISNEY]

I don't even KNOW 700 people! ROFL

That is what I was thinking.

 

[ericafny]

Mazel Tov Beth! Hopefully I can catch the live feed if you can post a link.