Q. My sister is getting married in Oct. We are having an outdoor wedding and therefore having to rent tables and chairs. We have RSVP with the invitations, but we know there are lots of people who do not fill those out. Or will just fill it out and then decide not to come. We don’t want to pay for 200 chairs if only 150 people show up. Not to mention food. This can get expensive. What is the most tactful way of letting people know that RSVP is mandatory and if you RSVP please come?
A. This one is rather tricky, you’re not alone, many of our brides struggle with this situation. Using the term mandatory on a response card can be offensive to some guests there is no right way to go about this so here is my suggestion.
First of all although it’s an additional cost its well worth buying stamps for the RSVP cards that way your making it as easy as possible for them to return to you in a timely manner. My second suggestion is giving them less time to respond the further away the respond date the more likely it will get put to one side for later, this will also give you more time to chase people by phone if they don’t respond. If you still think that you will struggle to get the responses and as a last resort, I would suggest wording such as all or “the favor of a reply is necessary for attendance” or “this response card will also be used as your escort card for the day of the wedding, it is essential it is returned to us to confirm your attendance.”
There’s no easy way around this, make it as easy for your guests as possible and the key is to leave yourself with plenty of time to chase them. Always give them the benefit of the doubt in case it has been lost in the mail.
Faye Valentine~Conlin
Professional Wedding Planner & Designer
Faye@coordinatingdreams.com
336-473-2944
A. I would first say to create an excel spreadsheet for the guest list and gather all your bridesmaid’s together. Start calling to confirm if they are attending the event. In that phone call I would explain the need of this information to help determine the exact numbers for catering and rentals. Sometimes spreading the word through family will help.
