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If you are a maid-of-honor or other bridal party member, struggling to decide who to invite to the bachelorette party, we have some great news for you: you don’t decide.  Coming up with the list of invitees is the bride’s job.  Now, as the party planner, you can give the bride some parameters, such as the number of guests that the party can accommodate, but the bride is the one responsible for creating the actual guest list.  This may take a lot of pressure off of you, but it will put pressure on the bride.  She is going to wonder who she is obligated to invite and who will make the party feel weird.  That is where you can step in and give her some helpful tips about who should be on the bachelorette party guest list and who should be left off of that list.

Who to Invite

Brides, the rule of thumb about who to invite to the bachelorette party is to picture the group of women with whom you would be most comfortable carrying out the planned activities and invite those women.  This means a few things.  You are not obligated to invite relatives, yours or the groom’s, to the bachelorette party, like you would be with a shower.  You can also invite guests that might not be invited to the wedding itself to the bachelorette party, though such invites are taboo to the shower.  Of course, this only counts when your wedding is tiny or is far away; if you are having a big blow-out, if a person is close enough to be at your bachelorette party, she should be at your shower.  Your friend who thinks that you’re too good for the groom?  Leave her off the list.   This is a night for celebrating, not for worrying about handling other people’s feelings.  Plus, leave off anyone who will judge the activities for the night.  Have a great friend who does not approve of drinking and debauchery?  Plan a brunch with her, but leave her off of the invite list to strip club.

Conclusion

Clearly, who to invite to the bachelorette party is situationally dependent.  Some brides may be best friends with their future in-laws and insist they get included, while others may want to avoid all family members.  As the maid-of-honor or other party planner, your job is to follow the bride’s instincts and put together the party of her dreams.

Once you decided on the lucky list of attendees, make sure you pick out the perfect bachelorette party invitation to send out.