The guest list to any wedding could be as long as a phone book and unless you wish to have something that ends up feeling informal or a wedding that costs far more than you might wish, then you have to know exactly who to invite. Not only does cost have to be considered but also atmosphere, and just because your uncle Phil might be a close relative, if he has a habit of causing problems and making people feel uneasy, then you have every reason to strike him off the list.
On the flip side of this, if you are not close to a relative, but leaving them off the list is likely to cause a great many problems, it might be wise to extend them an invite, so long as they are not going to cause as many problems at the wedding than they would by being overlooked.
If you were invited to another person’s wedding, they might well deserve an invite, but don’t invite people simply due to a feeling of obligation. Friends should only be invited if you genuinely want them there, no matter how regularly you see them or how much they might want to get in on some free food.
Once you have made your list, it is important to consider how to invite your list. Email wedding invites or save the date e cards are by far the best way these days since it you can easily keep track of all your responses and at the same time save a great deal of money. Not only this, but email wedding invites also make it far easier for guests to respond to the invitation meaning you are likely to get all your RSVPs far faster than by normal means.
It may seem a hard job to exclude certain people from getting save the date e cards for your wedding, but after all, this is your big day, so you really only want to share it with those who are closest to you.