Hi everyone! Looking for some honest opinions/experiences here because I’m a little torn.
My fiancé and I are planning a destination wedding and we completely fell in love with a venue/boutique hotel that honestly is our dream spot. The catch is that it only accommodates around ~45–50 guests total, so we’re really leaning into having a super intimate wedding weekend (and very excited about it!)
Because of the limited capacity, we’re trying to be really intentional with our guest list. All spouses are absolutely invited (and we’re lucky that we know all of our friends’ spouses really well). Where it gets tricky is that some of our friends are in relationships (around 6 months to 2 years), but we’ve never actually met their partners. With such a small guest count, it’s hard to include people we don’t know when we’re trying to keep it to our 50 closest people.
I know destination weddings are already a big ask (travel, time off, cost, etc.), and we genuinely understand if people can’t come for any reason at all—no hard feelings whatsoever. We just want the people who are able and excited to be there.
That said, I’m worried about whether this approach comes across as rude or inconsiderate. I don’t want anyone to feel uncomfortable or like they can’t attend because their partner isn’t invited.
Has anyone been in a similar situation—either as a couple planning or as a guest? How did you handle plus-ones for a very small destination wedding? Would you understand this if you were invited, or would it bother you?
I’d really appreciate honest feedback—trying to balance being considerate of our guests while also staying true to the intimate vibe we’re going for