2009 Wedding Trend Guests Decline Invites

The bad economy can be a good excuse for lots of things, according to this New York Times article.

Downsizing…Travel to family gatherings…Buying expensive gifts…Joining the gym…

All the things we feel obligated to do that we never wanted to do in the first place.  And that includes WEDDINGS.

An emerging 2009 wedding trend is more guests RSVP’ing “Regrets” because of the recession.

In 2008, one very popular wedding location (which shall remain nameless) reported that many couples had trouble meeting their minimum guest requirements.  It appears that guests are saying NO more often, and using the economic downturn as an excuse.

This means you can probably expect to receive more No’s from your guests than usual, especially if your guests are traveling from a distance.

But the Recession Excuse can also work in your favor.

I propose a new 2009 wedding trend…

Ditch all the “obligatory” wedding invites, the cross-eyed second cousins and geeks from work that you really didn’t want to invite in the first place.  And blame in on the Recession.

It’s the perfect time to plan the wedding you want, with the people you really want in attendance, and nobody else.

How can anyone blame you?  The up side of the down economy is that it’s given you a perfect get out of jail free card.  “I really wanted to invite everyone from the office, but with the recession we can only afford to invite our family…”  “I’d love to have all the kids at my wedding, but we’ve been forced to trim out guest list because of the recession…”

The truth is, you shouldn’t have to give an excuse not to invite someone to your wedding.  It’s your day.  You should invite the guests you want and no one else.  Period.

In a perfect world we would all speak our minds.  But in this etiquette obsessed world of over-sensitive mooches who only think of themselves…the recession is the Perfect Excuse.

How is the recession impacting your wedding plans?  Leave me a comment.