Inviting guests with plus ones to your wedding can be a tricky task, but with a few guidelines and considerations, you can ensure that your guests feel comfortable and welcomed on your big day.

If you’re new around here, we’re Well-Dressed Events, New Jersey’s premier stylecentric wedding, party and event planning company. We specialize in high-end, unique events for modern, bold, standout clients and we pride ourselves on cutting-edge, creative design, styling and event management. We regularly help our clients with questions/issues just like this! So, in this blog post, we’ll go over the dos and don’ts of inviting plus ones to your wedding so you can navigate this process with ease.

Understand your budget.

One of the first things you need to consider when inviting plus ones is your budget. Each additional guest you invite will have an impact on your budget, so it’s important to have a clear understanding of your financial constraints before you start inviting guests with plus ones. If you have a limited budget, consider limiting the number of plus ones you invite or offering plus ones only to married or engaged guests.

Consider the relationship.

Another important factor to consider when inviting plus ones is the relationship between the guest and their plus one. If the guest is in a serious relationship, it’s likely that they will want to bring their partner as their plus one. On the other hand, if the guest is casually dating someone, they may not expect to bring a plus one to your wedding. When in doubt, reach out to the guest directly and ask if they would like to bring a plus one.

Be consistent.

When it comes to inviting plus ones, it’s important to be consistent. If you’re inviting one guest with a plus one, you should invite all guests with a similar relationship status and relationship length with a plus one. If you’re not inviting one guest with a plus one, it’s important to extend the same policy to all other guests with a similar relationship status and length. Being consistent will help avoid any confusion or hurt feelings among your guests.

Make it clear on the invitation.

When you’re sending out your wedding invitations, it’s important to make it clear whether or not plus ones are included. If you’re inviting all guests with a plus one, you can simply write “and guest” after the guest’s name. If you’re not inviting all guests with a plus one, it’s important to specify this on the RSVP card by writing something like “We have reserved 1 seat for you, please let us know if you’ll be attending below!”

Be considerate of single guests.

While it’s important to consider the relationships of your guests, it’s also important to be considerate of single guests who may not have a plus one to bring. If the guest in question is part of a larger friend group or group of coworkers and will have plenty of people to talk to and dance with, it might be okay to forgo the plus one. But if they don’t know anyone else at the wedding or are traveling a long way to be part of your day, we feel it’s polite to offer them a plus so they feel comfortable. Again, the best thing to do in this situation is just ask the person.

Be respectful of cultural differences.

When inviting plus ones, it’s important to be respectful of cultural differences. In some cultures, it may be common for guests to bring a plus one, while in others it may not be. Do your research and try to understand the cultural norms and expectations of your guests so that you can make an informed decision about inviting plus ones.

To put a bow on it…

We at Well-Dressed Events think its better to offer the plus one and let the guest make the decision, but we also understand there are different family and friend dynamics to take into consideration with each wedding. At the end of the day, you as the couple need to decide what is most important to you when it comes to plus ones. Is it sticking to your budget? Is it making sure everyone is comfortable? Is it simply just not wanting to deal with the potential backlash of not inviting someone with a plus one? Each of these feelings and reasons are completely OKAY and deserve to be honored.

Well-Dressed Events is here to provide etiquette support throughout the planning process whether it be navigating plus ones, allowing children at the wedding (we’ve got a blog post coming up on that one too!), or anything in between.Contact us today to find out how we can help you with your New Jersey Wedding!