reducing your list by 20/30 people will cut that much off the bill OMG
my sit down meal for 70 people comes to lest than that !!!!
how much is your food costing

it does sound silly that we need to reduce the cost by 2k but i have cut the budget else where as we need to reduce our wedding by 5k simply because we have to buy a house next year 3 months before the wedding.

our wedding is already saved we have had the money in the bank for some time i had an inhertiance off an uncle and my h2b has had money from when his dad died when he was a kid which has sat in the bank gaining intrest and put it away for the future plus both parents are contributing too but now we need to buy a house to we need some for the deposit (as our house is being sold)

our catering is £85 per person but that includes a 3 course meal canapes and 3 drinks at reception, a bottle of wine for each guest and bottle of water for each guest at the meal, evening food, and 4 drinks at the evening reception, so not bad when you look at what we actually get,

Reduce the drinks package- most of that won't be drunk. Seriously.

So they know most of it won't get drunk then.

Seven drinks and a bottle of wine? Even Pidge would be on the floor!!

If i got a STD card then did not get an invite - i would be pretty miffed TBH - unless you are inviting them to your evening reception instead of the full day?

If you have to cut your guest list then you have to do it.

Are the cousins adults? Do you see them often? If not, and you haven't specifically said they are invited, keep them on a reserve list.

I think it's fine not to invite plus 1's if they are attending with family who will also be there without partners. I would also say it's fine if you have never met their plus 1.

That said, it can cause a bit of tension so good luck :-)

xx