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"Years before I was engaged, I told my mom I wanted a big wedding. &amp;amp;#8220;At least 300 guests,&amp;amp;#8221; I said. The idea of that many people celebrating your marriage seemed very cool. Did I still feel that way when I made my real guest list? Absolutely not. And, small as my budget was, my reason for wanting a shorter guest list wasn&amp;amp;#8217;t just about costs. I really wanted to know everyone at my wedding, and know them well. Paul and I were dating for more than 12 years by the time we got married. If someone on my side hadn&amp;amp;#8217;t met him and someone on his side hadn&amp;amp;#8217;t met me in that long time period then I didn&amp;amp;#8217;t think they were close enough to get an invite (mind you: Paul and I grew up five minutes away from each other and nearly everyone in our families lives in the NY metro area, too). Though I&amp;amp;#8217;d promise to love Paul forever in front of whoever wanted to listen, it&amp;amp;#8217;s pretty intense up at the altar when you&amp;amp;#8217;re exchanging vows, and I still think only people who are near and dear to you should get to witness those intimate moments. Not that I got the intimate wedding I was hoping for. We invited 208 guests! Since then, I&amp;amp;#8217;ve been to a few 100-people-and-less weddings, and I&amp;amp;#8217;ve got to say, I&amp;amp;#8217;ve had more fun at the bigger parties. Maybe it&amp;amp;#8217;s because I knew more people at the larger weddings, but I think smaller weddings generally (not always, of course) tend to be more low-key (read: less music and dancing). If I could do it all over again and have complete control over the list, I would have treated about 85 people to a fabulously fun wedding with tons of food and nonstop party music. Which size wedding do you want to have: big or small? What about for other people&amp;amp;#8217;s weddings--do you like going to the big ones or the small ones better? How many guests is too many? How few guests is too few? More from the Wedding Guests&amp;amp;#8217; Perspective Would You Decline a Wedding Invite Because You Have Too Many Weddings to Attend That Season? The Outdoor Wedding Checklist for Guests What Your Wedding Seating Spot Says About You as a Guest More Ways to Get Glamour Visit Shopglamour.com for cute stuff starting at just $10! Enter the latest Glamour sweepstakes! Follow us on Twitter Add us to your iGoogle homepage Photo: Gail Chatelain"^^<http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#string>
<http://www.glamour.com/weddings/blogs/save-the-date/2010/08/do-you-prefer-small-weddings-o>