Inviting people you've never met?

My parents invited 4 guests to my wedding that I've never met. I went along with it to keep them happy. It was maybe 200 dollars more to keep parents happy, so why not. But I did set limits though. They wanted to invite maybe 6 more guests that I said no to. So just set your boundary and stick with it. Sounds like you might be compromising a little bit too much in this instance..

Our guest list is lopsided because we split it by circles instead of numbers. In other words, when we were making the list, we had immediate family as the inner circle, then grandparents, then aunts and uncles, then cousins, then closest friends (talk at least monthly, have known each other for at least three years), then friends, then bosses, etc. We also gave each set of parents one table for their friends.

We ended up having to cut down our list due to Covid, and we are hoping for 100 (though it could easily be cut further). His extended family is much bigger than mine. He is inviting 9 friends, I am inviting 8, plus 8 significant others from that group. Out of the remaining 75, he has 47, I have 28. We will each have the people who are closest to us there, and I'm perfectly happy with this arrangement.

I think with our guest list being restricted, me demanding a 50-50 split would have caused a ton of problems. He would have been cutting first cousins, while I was inviting family friends or less close friends. It would have caused him huge problems with his family, and to me it would just look silly. His family is going to be my family, and I want them all there.

Just one perspective because I feel like the push to do 50-50 on this website is quite strong.

Edit: I know everyone has a different relationship with their extended families. He is very close to all of his cousins, much closer than I am with mine. We see each of them at least five times a year, and he talks to his cousins in a group chat nearly every day.

View Quoted Comment Did you tell them beforehand that your guest count would be 125 overall ?

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I don't recall if we gave a specific number, but we did say we didn't want it to be a large wedding!

View Quoted Comment Woah. 45 out of 125 is still generous! We would never give them so many . At least you and your fiance set a boundary on this. Some couples just give in to their parents and/or future in-laws and cut their close friends.