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Well you should plan as though everyone will show up, but I think on average, 15% of the people you invite will RSVP "NO."
@atalante: Yes I will be doing RSVPs. But I am afraid people will either RSVP and not show up. Or not RSVP and end up showing up.
@mcj040916: Ah, ok. So yeah, like @RunsWithBears said, I think you can probably expect 15-20% to RSVP no. That percentage is usually higher for OOT guests. There are calculators out there that can help you estimate. I'm planning to call and chase down non-RSVPers. They'll have plenty of time, there's no reason for no-answers.
As for no-shows... I feel your pain on this. And I'm not sure. I've been to a wedding where my date and I were the only ones who showed in a table for 10 (awkward... and that place was not cheap). I know my mom told me she had 12 family no-shows at her own wedding.
But I'm not sure there's any way around that risk, especially if you're not regularly in touch with all of your guest list. :(
For all intents and purposes--plan for everyone you invite to show up. Set the RSVP deadline for 2 weeks ahead of when you really need the numbers. Then spend that 2 weeks calling all of those loafers who don't reply. Doing it any other way is going to be a mess.
It totally varies - some people have an incredible high percentage of RSVPs, whereas others have a much higher decline rate. There's a lot of factors to consider (travel involved for guests invited, business of your wedding weekend, etc.), and I think you should bank on most/all of them RSVP-ing yes because they all could!
We invited about 115 and had about 90 people. We could accommodate all 115, but we weren't surirpsed when about 25 had to decline - a lot would have had to travel quite a bit to attend the wedding.
Thank you all! Whats annoying is that I have to assume everyone is going to show up and therefore have to rent chairs for everyone on the guestlist, get more favors, buy extra linens, etc. So its kind of dumb that I am spending money expecting everyone is showing up to have them NOT show up lol.
@mcj040916: That's why there are usually final headcount days--so when you rent chairs--you have a deadline to change that order. You reserve the max amount and then a few weeks before, you give them a final headcount number so that they don't bring 250 chairs for 200 guests. Caterers also do this.
I didn't have anyone RSVP no and then show up anyways, and no extra guests either much to my relief. But we did have 4 no shows - all at the same table and it was a table of 8, because DH's cousin RSVPed with her kids and then didn't bring them. $240 out the door, only two people sitting at that one table, and though I didn't keep much track of gifts it definitely only added more agravvation that they gave us $20. I was freaking annoyed.
We invited 150 people to the wedding and I think we had 132 attend. One friend's wife was sick and could not attend...that was the only "no-show".
The rule of thumb in catering for weddings and showers, etc.---expect half of what you invite and not more than 75%.
For my daughter's wedding in June, we had a head count of about 725 of invited guests, including those we knew were invited out of courtesy but would probably not attend.
We had about 450 actually attend.
I stressed long and hard about how many to plan for. It is not customary to do RSVPs here, unless it is a seated dinner and limited space.
My number of preparation had always been 400--a little more than half, but don't go crazy. Worked out perfectly!
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Hi there! We currently have 260 people on our guestlist. Should I assume all of them will show up? If not, is there a rough estimate on how many will be no-shows?