Destination Wedding - Guest Count Help

Have you sent out invitations this early or just STD's ? If they have only received STD's no one owes you a yes or no, until they receive an invitations. You book your venue to handle the number of people you invite.

Nobody is going to be able to give you a solid yes/no a year in advance. You need a plan that's more flexible.

We are having a DW this August in Puerto Rico, we went on the lower end as we were told if we don't meet our number we cannot get reimbursed, but would be able to put the money into a better alcohol package or more appetizers for cocktail hour. We only had to add 8 to our original count. We went with 35 adults and 5 kids under 13 originally. We have a head count of 46 total, including the 2 kids, photographer & DJ. That was including our maybe people from when we sent the STD. Ask your venue if they can reimburse/add extras if numbers aren't where you need them, or when the very last date to add guests, which is normally around the time of your final payment. Our final payment is due July 7th. I sent my final numbers in last week to so they can give me my total due for my final payment as I know it will be a bit more than my other 3 payments.

Good luck!

It's too far in advance to ask people for a definite answer. I would find a venuenthst can accommodate everyone invited. And plan your budget with the assumption that everyone will attend. It's unlikely that everyone will attend, but that way you will be prepared to host everyone that does attend.

Thank you! No STDs, just intermediate family and extremely close friends were asked in person. I know it's far in advance for a definite yes or no. I'm confused on how to handle certain planning then. Sounds like the venues I'm choosing are not as flexible as others have mentioned here.

For example, one venue can only hold 30. If my 15 maybes drop then I would go with the smaller venue. On the other end, the other venue holds 45 but if people drop out then the cost per person will increase and I think that's rude to do as well.

It sounds like people plan for 45 and find a flexible venue for the possibility of people dropping out.

Destination Planning is difficult especially when venues aren't willing to be flexible. We tried our hardest to get people to respond sooner rather than later but we ended up deciding on an amount we were comfortable spending and just went with it. We had about 20 ppl drop out of our final count and we got stuck paying for them anyways but at the end of it, our budget could handle it if later on those ppl decided to show up. It's annoying and I would love to not have spent that money but that was the unfortunate drawback of our venue.

I think you should consider save the dates for a DW.

I actually am inviting ~75 people and only expected under 50 people. My venue has a 50 minimum. We knew it might be close so we went for it. The closer we are, the more people we are hearing planning to come that we did not expect. It is turning out to be closer to 60 people that will most likely attend. I am thankful that we are not going to pay for people that will not be there.

It's rude of you to ask for a commitment one year in advance. Also, be prepared for many yeses to turn to nos when it comes time to actually take the time off work and book the flight.

Thank you everyone! I have a clearer viewpoint now, plan for the 45 invited. I understand there may be costs associated with people dropping out, but now I can ask about reimbursements! Thank you again!

We faced the same struggle with DW venues. We are expecting 30-50 guests and several of the places we looked at had limitations (25 here or 40 there) that made it hard to pick. We ended up going with the small church in the mix that could hold up to 200. Gave us the flexibility on guest count...and kept things indoors so weather will not be much of a factor. We're now under the 90 day mark and I'm still finding it hard to force commitments. We have about 32 solid yes that have made reservations, and quite a few more that are still working out the details. I'll push a little more when final counts are getting close, but otherwise, it's not one of my stresses.