Guidelines for single people bringing wedding 'dates'

Reggiec Posted: Jul 12, 2011 03:44 PM

Guidelines for single people bringing wedding 'dates'

We are in the process of addressing invites for the wedding, and I have a dilemma regarding how to decide who to invite with a date (or not). Most of my friends are already married, or are in long-term relationships, but I do have a few girlfriends who are single, and 'not keeping company with anyone: as my 94 year old grandma would say.

I asked my best friend, who is not in a relationship, and is one of my bridesmaids, and she already told me not to invite with her anyone, since a) she doesn't like anyone enough to bring them to the wedding, and b) they would be bored and by themselves most of the time since she is part of the bridal party. That said. I don't know if I should ask each of these girls (there are 3 others) individually if they want to bring a date? I know for a fact that none of them are 'keeping company' with anyone.

I also don't want them to feel the pressure of having to bring a date just because they were invited with one. To be honest, I'd rather not have strange, random people at my wedding.

Any opinions or helpful experience would be appreciated!!

chilly313 Posted: Jul 12, 2011 03:59 PM

Re: Guidelines for single people bringing wedding 'dates'

We are only invitingthe significant others of people in serious relationships or married. Our invite list is alrady so much longer than we originally planned. And, (sorry if this sounds harsh), but I really don't want to have to pay for someone who is just a 'random' date that we'll probably never see again. Plus, all of the single people that we are inviting have plenty of friends that will be there - there aren't any single people who will be there and not know anyone.

SMDC2012 Posted: Jul 12, 2011 04:00 PM

Re: Guidelines for single people bringing wedding 'dates'

Id say invite them with guest and let them decide if they want to bring a date or not. Remember just because a person gets invited with a guest doesnt mean they have to bring one.

S

bride2be2012 Posted: Jul 12, 2011 04:02 PM

Re: Guidelines for single people bringing wedding 'dates'

Posted by SMDC2012

Id say invite them with guest and let them decide if they want to bring a date or not. Remember just because a person gets invited with a guest doesnt mean they have to bring one.

S

This - it could be pricy, but we think it's the best way. We did this for our engagement party and we were happy with the response - only our friends who were actually in a relationship brought someone. We think our friends will be respectful enough to not bring a stranger to the wedding just for the sake of being invited with a guest.

pjc92980 Posted: Jul 12, 2011 04:56 PM

Re: Guidelines for single people bringing wedding 'dates'

if you have the budget to allow them to bring someone then i say it is a nice gesture and leave it to them. unfortunately we were very tight with money so we did not invite people with dates

Reggiec Posted: Jul 12, 2011 05:38 PM

Re: Guidelines for single people bringing wedding 'dates'

I tend to agree with you on this one. Thanks for the insight. I thought we were only going to invite about 160 people, and our guest list is now over 200, which is more than we had originally anticipated.

Luckily, we are getting financial help with the reception from both of our sets of parents, but still, as you mentioned, I think it is a waste of space and money to invite someone with a guest when they will probably feel pressured to bring someone, and it will be a random person that I will probably (and maybe even they) will never see again! The 3 single girls I am inviting are all former co-workers of mine, so they all know each other, and it's not as though they don't know anyone else and will have to sit there by themselves.

Nicole101412 Posted: Jul 12, 2011 05:50 PM

Re: Guidelines for single people bringing wedding 'dates'

hmmmm.....I would say invite with a guest and let them decide! Most people will respond with 1 if they arent serious about anyone...

mybabylovesmoi Posted: Jul 12, 2011 05:51 PM

Re: Guidelines for single people bringing wedding 'dates'

we didn't like the idea of randoms, especially since we were already planning an intimate wedding but we gave everyone a plus 1. our guest list wasnt crazy anyway and in the end, it was less headache for me.

I was very proud of my friends actually, the people not in serious relationships didn't bring a date! I was amazed and thankful...

i like people who 'get it'