Planning a bridal shower is an exciting duty that generally falls to the bride’s close friends or family members. Much thought must go into planning a bridal shower. Most showers include games, snacks and cakes. Brides generally receive a variety of gifts at their showers, making them a joyful and fruitful pre-wedding experience. However, it can be difficult to decide who will receive bridal shower invitations.

Many bridal showers must be kept to a certain size due to cost or space restrictions. When choosing who makes the cut and who doesn’t, it’s important to keep a number of factors in mind. Use the following pointers as a guide when choosing bridal shower attendees. Remember to use common sense and courtesy to avoid any hurt feelings during this joyous time.

Basic Etiquette & Invitation Considerations

Before making any big decisions about who will be invited to the bridal shower, you’ll need to calculate some basic costs. Keep in mind how much money you have to spend per person on food. Think of the spaces available for the party. If you are unable to throw the party at a private residence or church, you may need to rent a space. Be sure that you only invite as many people as can comfortably fit into the home or venue where you will have the bridal shower.

It is traditional to invite all members of the bridal party to the bridal shower. It is also good etiquette to invite the bride’s future mother-in-law and sisters-in-law. If you are able to invite a very limited number of people, it’s a good idea to stick to sending invitations only to the close friends and family members of the bride. Be sure to collect RSVPs so that you have a solid idea of exactly how many people will be coming to the bridal shower.

Handling Sticky Invitation Situations

In some situations, it is possible to invite every female who has been invited to the wedding to the bridal shower too. While this can certainly be fun, you may not have the budget or space to invite all female wedding attendees to the shower. Remember that you can trim the list by inviting only a bride’s close family and friends.

You’ll need to avoid any sticky situations when sending out bridal shower invitations. Make sure that everyone who is invited to the shower has also been invited to the wedding. Inviting someone to a shower who wasn’t invited to the wedding is a big no-no. If your budget allows, you may wish to send courtesy invitations to close friends and family members who live too far away to attend the bridal shower.

When picking bridal shower invitees, it’s important to take group dynamics into account. If a bride works with a large group of women, it is in poor taste to invite only one or two of those women. The same is true of inviting distant relatives and women who are members of any social, community or church groups.

A bridal shower should be a pleasant event for both the bride and her invitees. Using basic common sense when deciding who to invite is crucial. Remember to ask the bride if there is anyone in particular that she wants to invite to the shower. Meeting the bride’s needs should be your first priority.

Stephen Craig is an inbound marketer who guest blogs for a variety of online publications. Follow him @SCraigSEO.