How to Handle Mother-in-Law Inviting Guests to the Wedding

This is a difficult situation to find yourself in. When your mother-in-law starts inviting guests to the wedding without asking you first, what do you do? It’s not uncommon for an overreaching mother-in-law to get in the way during wedding planning. You are not alone!

So how do you handle a mother-in-law inviting guests to the wedding? The first thing you should do is communicate. Make sure your mother-in-law knows the boundaries. Depending on how many guests were invited, you can decide if you need to call and “uninvite” them. Or you may allow them to attend but let your mother-in-law know that she cannot invite any more.

It’s important to let your mother-in-lawn know that every guest costs money and you intentionally invited who you invited. It is not her place, nor her duty, to select who should be able to attend YOUR wedding.

As an alterative, you could choose to give your future in laws and parents a specified number of guest that they are allowed to invite. This allows them to chose some of their close friends to invite without going outside what you can afford.

However, if your mother in law goes behind your back and invites people without your knowing, then it is a very difficult position to be in. You’ll need to find out who she invited and if you can live with them attending the wedding. You can ask her to call the guests who you do not want to attend to let them know that they cannot attend.

Just remember that this is YOUR wedding day and YOU should get to choose who will be in attendance.