Wedding Guest List Craziness, Locking a Venue Down...

So James has a huge family. He claims his ESSENTIAL guest list includes 72 family members. To be honest, I'm not even sure he included his friends in his count. I am going to try to get him to whittle that number down. My essential guest list includes 19 people! It doesn't include friends. If I add friends, the number could jump up to 25 or 30. But Essential family members topped out at 19.
I have been the one to do most of the venue research. I found a quaint and charming garden venue near my house that has a very low fee but includes EVERYTHING from linens, and DJ booth to bar and card cage. I mean they provide everything for you. Only issue for us is the guest list. The venue only hosts 50 people or less, including the bride and groom. The place is called Glen Gardens, and is perfect for a small wedding. Check the site out.

I was hoping to not have to spend so much money on the venue, but if James has his way, we will be spending a whole lot. I envisioned this ceremony to be short, sweet and simple. But I think it will end up kind of complicated. I can't believe that he HAS to invite a minimum of 72 people. I know when he was married the first time, he didn't invite many people at all. He said many of his family were not invited because it was planned last minute and they had it on a boat, and the boat could not hold very many people. So, this time around, he wants to invite everyone! (sigh)

I'm getting frustrated with this. Partly because James is dragging his feet on finding venues AND he isn't keeping to our original idea of a SMALL ceremony and BIG afterparty. I asked him to find a venue, but he hasn't been looking. And he has the nerve to want a whole lot of people there, yet he isn't helping to find a wedding ceremony venue. As of yesterday, I have a spot locked for the reception/party. It's perfect and inexpensive. My idea is to have a themed party where people can dress up. You already know for the ceremony, I plan to have a simple cocktail hour after taking photos. I had planned for the ceremony to be small, but the party would be huge, so everyone who was not invited to the nuptials would still be able to hang with us on our special day. Looks like that plan isn't happening, although I thought James and I agreed on it. And it isn't as though I have something against a big audience for the ceremony. I was just trying to save money.
We have got to sit down and talk. AGAIN. LOL

Wedding planning is not easy. He asked me not to turn into a Bridezilla, but if I don't get more action and or compromise from him, the claws will come out!

See?