50 people for Ceremony and Reception?

For my family, that's extremely small. But for other families, it may be big. It depends on your perspective.

That's what I would consider intimate. Honestly I'd rather have closer to that number, but our families are so large that it's not possible.

I would call that intimate as well-- if you didn't want an intimate wedding and your budget allows it invite more people. With our 2 families we are at like 100 people

Fifty guests is small, but not intimate. Small weddings can be amazing because you can really host your guests well without spending a fortune. A smaller number also opens up so many more options for venues - private rooms at restaurants for example. I was a BM in a wedding with about this number of guests and it was one of the best weddings I've ever attended.

View Quoted Comment See my fiancé’s family is bigger but we were just going to say that we have a number that we are not wanting to go over. It’s kinda gotten to the point where everyone is wanting the wedding their way. My fiancé’s family is paying for the honeymoon and then my parents offered to send us to a different location for a second honeymoon after the first. I personally think the second honeymoon is worth it when starting off a marriage...

Wouldn't a second honeymoon just be considered a vacation?

My wedding count is only 60. I'm super excited, because I know that I won't spend the majority of my wedding day greeting people, and running around to make sure each person gets acknowledged and thanked. I'll have time to dance, relax, eat and spend good quality time with each person that came.

A smaller number also allowed me to put more of my money into other things, better favors, photobooth, etc.

View Quoted Comment Me and my fiancé are distant right now. So we think two honeymoons would be fun to just make up for the distance. We’ve never taken a “vacation” together in three years. We are keeping it pure until we are married

My FH and myself both want a small wedding and are only inviting 50-60 guests. We both come from large families so it was a little difficult to narrow down the list, but was doable.

I would consider 50 people small but not intimate. To me, I to mate would be closer to 20 people. I think 50 is a good number though. We had 39 people attend our wedding. I'm so glad we didn't have the original 150-200 we were thinking. It was nice to be able to see everyone and spend more time with them. We had a DW so it was a little different. Looking back though, even if we had done it closer to home, I wouldn't want a big crowd. It just fits us better to have a smaller group.
If you only want 50 people then only invite that many. If the money from your families is tied to them getting to invite people or be involved in other decisions, you will have to make a choice about whether that money is worth the compromises you will make. It is completely fine to talk to the parebts, explain that you don't want that many people and turn down their offer if it works for what you want.

View Quoted Comment See we were going to do a DW but then the people we wanted to come which was like 15 people couldn’t come because of prices

I had 52 guests at my wedding.

I would consider what we had to be a small wedding, but like others have said, not necessarily intimate.

View Quoted Comment That is the trade off with a DW. Inwas really hard for me to agree to it atbfirst because there we so many people that I had to have at my wedding. After a little while, I realized that I was stressing myself out for a wedding that I didn't really want. I talked with my husband and we decided that and a would be the better option for us. He had suggested it when we first started planning. But, I had to prepare myself for people to not be able to attend. I decided that as long as our parents and siblings were there, that's all I needed. We were very lucky that several aunts, uncles, grandparents and friends were also able to make the trip. But I know that is not always the case.
I would sit down with your FH and have a conversation about what you both wanted you wedding. Do you really want that DW or something closer to home? A smaller guest list or large guest list? Outdoor ceremony, religious ceremony, indoor ballroom? What elements are most important to you guys and which are you ok skipping of keeping simple? Is it worth making possible compromises to accept the money from both sets of parents or would it be better to respectfully decline the gift if compromises are expected? Once you know what you guys want, talk to your parents and let them know what you have decided and how you want your wedding day to be. Hopefully they will be supportive along with the rest of your family and friends. But remember that your wedding day is about you and your FH making a lifelong commitment to eachother. The day should reflect what is important to you guys.

View Quoted Comment We both have huge families, our siblings with their spouses alone is like thirty people, and we're inviting first cousins too, because honestly we're closer to some of them then some of our siblings. Plus our friends, but we're only inviting about ten close friends between the two of us, though most of them are in relationships or married, so that doubles that number too.

We're inviting 65 people. For us that's pretty small, but I wouldn't call it intimate. I think it's a great number. Big enough it still feels like a party and we can involve all of our closest family and friends. Small enough we won't spend the whole time greeting people and introducing each other to distant cousins lol

My sister had about 40 guests for her wedding. I thought that size was great because they got to spend a good amount of time with each guest and were able to dance the night away. They were also able to spend more money per person on the food, which was super yummy.

This is totally a personal decision. We never would have been able to get down to that, but I’ve been to weddings with fewer people also.

We ended up with 58 guests total and I loved every second of the night because we were able to talk to everyone and I think I danced for four hours straight as well.

We are planning on roughly 50 people. I am excited. All of my favorite weddings I have attended have been smaller and more intimate, and overall just more fun and relaxed. Plus, I want to be able to afford to spoil my guests. That being said, there is always ways to cut a list. I am one of 10 SIBLINGS lolol. My siblings have kids, some of their kids have kids. Not to mention my mother is super close to her posse of sisters, and they all have kids (cousins), and they have kids. My family is gigantic. My FH, there are only about 5 of them (they didn't reproduce like rabbits like my family). So, I gave my family VIP invites to those I am closest with and they understand. There are siblings, and nieces and nephews weddings I didn't attend because they wanted small weddings, and just couldn't afford to host our enormous family. So yes, 50 is a great number.

View Quoted Comment I would love to talk to you more about this, as far as advice and tips!