How to Handle Co-Workers While Wedding Planning

Things To Do When Planning a Wedding

Image Source: Pixabay

Wedding Planning Etiquette in the Workplace

You’ve set the date and are busy making plans for the big event. However, when people in your office hear that you’re getting married, they will expect an invitation. What if there are some people you don’t want to invite? You’re not really fond of them or you don’t really get along. Or maybe you would like to invite all of your co-workers but can’t due to budget limitations? Read on for a few suggestions on how to handle this problem. You can also check out some of our other posts for wedding planning tips like this one.


How do you go about planning a wedding around people who may not be invited to the ceremony? Wedding planning takes up a lot of your time and energy and dealing with co-workers on top of that can be very stressful. How do you decide who to invite? Then there is the awkwardness of having to tell some people they are not invited. Having to make big decisions like this is a part of growing as an adult and there are tactful ways of handling this type of situation. Here are a few ideas to help you get through this stage of the process.


Co-workers Who Offer to Help

When colleagues find out you’re getting married they have all kinds of suggestions for where you should have the reception, what kind of food to serve, and where to have your registry. They mean well, of course, but the way to handle this is to say something like “ Thank you, those are great suggestions. But we have wedding planning services that are taking care of that for us.


Deciding Who to Invite...or Not Invite?

This is a bit trickier because you’re dealing with people’s feelings here and you have to be mindful of the fact that they consider you as a friend and will expect to be invited. If your budget allows, you could pick a few of your closest friends and invite them privately and tell them not to let anyone else know because you don’t want anyone to feel rejected.


When it comes to inviting co-workers, the rule of thumb is to examine your relationship with that person. Are you close? Do you meet outside of work and hang out? If so they are probably already on your guest list if you have a close relationship.


What If You Don’t Want to Invite Anyone?

There are some instances when you might not want to invite anyone from work. Or maybe you would like to but your budget is tight and won’t allow for any extra guests. How do you let them down gently without hurting their feelings?


The best way to handle that is simply to tell everyone that you and your partner are having a small wedding limited to just family and a few close friends. You’d like to invite everyone but simply can’t because you have a small budget and are paying for wedding planning services out of your savings. Most people can understand not having the financial ability to do something and won’t hold it against you.

Have a Pre-Wedding Office Lunch

Photo Source: Josplaceonline

If you’re that person who wants to invite people but can’t, here is an idea. Everyone likes to feel included, so what you could do in this situation is to have a little office get-together before the big day. It doesn’t need to be expensive, you could pick up a cake and some frozen lasagna to make at home the night before. At lunchtime, invite everyone to grab some food and join you. This will give them a chance to wish you well and see that, although you can’t invite them to your wedding, you do appreciate their friendship. 

Follow along on IG and Pinterest for more wedding tips and inspirations! You can also subscribe to our email list so that you can get this and more in your inbox!