How many guests should I expect/plan for?

I would say go through your guest list and see if you can guess if that person will attend or not and you can reserve for that many people...you can tell your caterer that you can confirm your number of guests two weeks prior your date.

Good luck!

Hi I am going through the same thing ..with trying to estimate. Usually its normal to expect that 15-20% of your guest list will not be able to make it. In the same breath your caterer should not be requesting a final count until about 2-3 weeks before the wedding although they can ask you to garauntee a specific amount of people/plates that you will be responsible for no matter what.

Hi. The rule of thumb we go by generally is that 75% of your guests will show up. You can expect more guests if your wedding is around a holiday where they can make a long weekend of it.

We sat down and divided our guest list into 3 categories: people we knew would be definitely YES, those that would be maybe, or most likely NO. That gave us a pretty good idea of a general estimate to go by.

I was told to estimate about 2/3 thirds of your invited guests will show. With my wedding though, it was closer to half due to a lot of people out of state and seriously ill and such. I think it depends on your guest list. I am sure every wedding is different.

One of the things you need to look at is the number of guests that are out of state. The rule has changed because the economy has changed. Guests that have to travel will be considering the costs involved. Divide your list into the close family and friends that live close and these will be the "will attend" and then your next list will be the ones that need to travel but they are still more than likely to attend. This should give you a good idea of the number of guests to expect. Your caterer just needs a general idea for now but will need a more accurate account as the date gets close. Hope this helps.

Shaw Productions Las Vegas

I agree with Laura. Thats kind of what we did and so far it has given us a pretty good estimate. When I was writing my original invite list there were some people I was like they wont show but we have to invite. how

You are looking at anywhere from 50 to 75 percent of your guest showing up. We would like to take care of your guest responses and meal counts. For more information, feel free to visit our website at www.alloccasionrsvp.com.

As I was told by my reception venue, aim high for the estimates. They will need a final number 4-6 weeks before the actual reception. The estimate is more for them to figure out pricing. You are not locked into that number by any means. I estimate about 150, and I have a feeling that it will be more like 100 when all is said and done. The caterer just wants to have an idea of what to expect. Should they expect a 500 person reception or a 50 person reception. That will mean a different staffing arrangement and ordering process for them. I hope that this helps!

A word of advice. Do the contract on the low side. Lets say you expect 200 and contract for that, now you are expected to pay for the equivalent of 200 heads. You can always add more later but you can't subtract (usually).

We looked at the estimate that 25% won't come but we didn't really believe it. Instead we looked at our list, we gave a guest to everyone who was single even though we knew half of them wouldn't bring a guest (like my Grandmother) and tried to whittle it down from there. We knew some out of staters wouldn't come, etc. and thought while we invited 110 we'd have about 100 people.

We've now gotten half of our RSVP's back, and we're actually shocked at how close that 75% number is, people we really thought were going to come aren't coming because of business trips, other weddings, due dates, surgeries, etc. It's looking like we're going to be much closer to 80 people than 110, which is kind of shocking to us.

We gave our caterer an estimate of 115, but we have until two weeks before the wedding to give a final count, and final payment isn't due until a week prior. I'm also glad I didn't pay the full total on our rentals yet, or they'd have to refund us!

I find the 75% really hard to believe too! If there are any post-wedding brides out there that can comment on what the percentage actually was for you, that would be great.

Like Lauren10, I would love to hear from brides that have already been married and what they have come up with?

We have 180 guests on our list. The reception place we booked holds 120... yipes. But 129 of our invited guests are out of state, so I am really hoping this will work out OK! I think a lot of people replying on this thread are now married... so if you are still around, can you help with examples?

Keep in mind, 100% of our guests came to our wedding. Not one person said no to the rsvp. Many factors come into play.