I spoke with my mother last night about decreasing the number of people and she had a huge problem with it. Is there anyway I could do something to calm her down?

Hosting a wedding can be a stressful time for everyone involved, particularly those who do most of the planning work. If your mother is paying for the wedding and reception, then she should be aware of the cost of each additional guest. If you are paying, then you have the final say on how many people you can afford. The number of guests you can invite may also be determined by the reception site (the size of the room & seating capacity). There are generally more people you would like to invite than are feasible to actually invite. Making A and B lists may help. As the A list of people RSVP "no" you can add more of the B list. A list people are those who you absolutely want to come - close relatives and close friends and the B list are those who it would be nice to invite, but realistically you can't invite everyone. They could be business associates, neighbors, distant relatives, etc. Maybe by adding your guest list to EZ Wedding Planner, you and your mother (and the groom's side) can come to an agreement on who should be invited. Having just gone through three weddings of our children, we understand this is a hard issue to deal with. Bottom line, it's your wedding and you should have the final say on who is invited (but if your mom is paying, let her add people, room permitting).