Room capacity

Do not invite above your guest capacity.

Definitely invite under 160 people. You have to count you and FS and vendors as well.

Definitely check with your venue to see if that is a firm max or the max that can be comfortably accommodated. If it is a firm max, do not go over it. You really don't want to risk having to uninvite someone because you physically do not have space.If it is just what is comfortable, you could choose to risk it by going over a bit (but only a little). It is impossible to predict how many declines you will get.

Thanks everyone!

First I would clarify with your venue if the room holds 160 with or without a dance floor. Then I would ask to see the room set up at Max capicity if possible. Oftentimes what a venue thinks it can hold is too crowded IMO. Once you have the answers, do NOT invite more than the max. You also still need to include vendors in the final count as well as leave room for extras you might want such as a photo booth.

To piggyback off of Wed18, make sure you find out if that is fire code capacity and vendors must be included in that 160 or if it is seating capacity for 160 guests. We had a venue originally that was weird like that.

Don't over-invite. Way too much stress waiting for RSVPs to come in to find out if you're under or not. If you have less than 160 people, there will be plenty of room and you won't feel cramped in your space.

Our max's in each of our ballrooms is the max guest count. We also have a maximum with the dancefloor. For example one room the max is 225 with a dance floor, once over that number you dance in the Garden room which is connected to the ballroom. (Also where the bar is). I would not invite over the max for the room.

Do not over-invite. What would you do if everyone shows up?

Agree with PPs. Don't overinvite, leave room for band and vendors. Also, you may find that some of your guests get engaged or married before wedding, and you now have to invite them.

For safety reasons keep your list at 150.

Don't over invite thinking some might show.

We only had 9 rsvp they would not be at our wedding.

Only invite 160 people. You can't count on people not attending.

It's going to be uncomfortably tight even if you invite max capacity... please do not go over that limit. Although you may have some people decline, you cannot predict #s and need to treat it as if everyone were to come.

Don't do it! safety issues aside, keep in mind the capacity number is also linked to what your venue and their staff are able to accommodate when it comes to hosting, catering, wait staff getting to tables in good time, etc--we were under but still close to our venue's capacity and while they were awesome, they told us later that it was one of the larger weddings they had done and that it was challenging for them on the back end.