150 Wedding Guests Equals A Happier Marriage

You might think planning a big wedding leads to months of packed lunches and a tiny bit of resentment at your ancestors for procreating so much – but according to a recent study, the longer that guest list, the happier the ensuing marriage. The University of Virginia’s National Marriage Project found couples who hosted more than 150 guests at their ceremony were content in their marriages 47% of the time. Couples who opted for small and intimate celebrations of fewer than 50 attendees were only happy in their sacred unions 31% of the time.

Cheryl only had four guests at her recent wedding.

Quartz credit the gap to a ?witness factor?. The more people who see you commit to your partner in public, the more likely you are to be incentivised to commit to the till-death-do-us-part vow. Another factor for the results is the so-called ?My Big Fat Greek Wedding? effect – the 2002 smash-hit romantic comedy told the story of an initially mismatched couple navigating the whole marriage minefield while a thousand relatives orbited their every move. Apparently all that micro-managing is an amazing support system for a couple gunning for that everlasting love.

What do you think – go big and go for broke?

Jeanne Sutton @jeannedesutun