It never fails. You write your guest list, consider your budget, and begin making cuts. Then someone you didn't plan on inviting to your wedding starts talking about how they can't wait to attend the event.

When planning our wedding, I actually had a coworker tell me she couldn't wait to come and wanted to know if she could bring a guest. First off, she wasn't dating anyone. So this guest would be just some random she would have picked up at a bar. Second, I wasn't planning on inviting her anyways because I did not know her very well at the time. (She had just started to work with me a few months before the wedding.)

In such circumstances, the best course of action is not to have bad manners in return. Most of these people do not realize they are being rude, and do not consider the cost of adding more people to the guest list (and often have not planned a wedding themselves to know the pressure and stress you are under!)

Instead, try to stay gracious and tactful. Let them know you can only invite enough people that your budget will allow, which may only be your family and closest friends. End with it is unfortunate because there are many people you would like to invite but will not be able to.

This simple statement can help you dodge this awkward situation, and hopefully avoid inflating you guest list - and your budget.