I did a bunch of spreadsheets:
Tab 1 - The dream list, with all 500 people you'd like to invite, including everyone from your family, everyone from his, everyone from your hall, everyone from his, all your friends, all his friends. Keep a column that lists how many people are in each family or couple (ie, rather than listing separately: "Uncle John Smith, Aunt Jane Smith, Cousin Joe Smith", list "Smith Family" and the number "3" in the next column. This will help you when writing invitations out later.
Tab 2 - Starting to narrow it down. I like to use the different highlight colors in excel and create categories, like "who absolutely must come" "who we want to come" "who our parents want", etc. Then talk about each category with the group that wants those people to come, and see who you can eliminate.
Tab 3 - More narrowing down. After the first elimination, get realistic. Keep track of how many you want total, and how many you've got on your list so far. We had to think about friends that invited us to their wedding, people we hadn't spoken to in over a year, etc.
Tab 4 - Real invitations. I kept a column for the family/couple name, the number of people invited, then the number of people that RSVP's that they could attend.
Don't forget about excel's autosum feature to make your life easier. Once you write it all out, it'll seem less daunting. You can do it!
This sounds like a lot of fun! I love making tables.
I can also email you a copy of my spreadsheets if you can't envision what I'm talking about.
i think she can envision it. we have a spreadsheet. the problem is the sheer number of people, and who gets cut (or "relocated"). we don't need any more spreadsheets, thankfully.
I think that was Don's and my biggest disagreement. Just think, "would it really make me happier to see this person at my wedding?" If you're indifferent about him/her, then you can make a cut.