Rsvp/booking

What kind of venue are you booking? Does your venue have a guest limit? Mine didn't have a guest limit per se, but had a cost minimum that we were responsible for.

I think 2019 is way too early to ask your guests to RSVP. Does your venue allow for cancellations? How much money do you get back if you do cancel?

No one is going to RSVP for a wedding NEXT YEAR. Create a draft guest list so you know approximately how big of a venue you need. Venues do not require an exact count to book, they will require a final count a few weeks before the actual wedding.

View Quoted Comment I have to put down $500 deposit my reception is inside if i cancel it is non refundable.

Most venues don't require an exact number for guests when you put a deposit down. If you want the venue book it and don't ask people to RSVP yet.

View Quoted Comment Ok i understand that they probably wont rsvp a year early my head count is 40 right now on draft list but again i dont want to wait last minute to book becuase i will be out of a venue

You don’t need to know the exact number. Make a draft guest list and give them an approximation. Your final payment isn’t due until a few days before the wedding and your final guest count is due usually a few weeks before.

Dont ask people to RSVP now as you won’t get an accurate count. Lots can change in a year.

View Quoted Comment I would make sure the max capacity is less than the number of people you want to invite and then you wait until 6-8wks before the wedding usually to send invites and get RSVPs. If the venues need numbers before that time frame you can make adjustments that way.

View Quoted Comment You can book the venue now without knowing the exact number of guests. Just make sure the venue can accommodate your 40 guests, maybe more to be on the safe side if you add more people.

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Ah I see. I agree with the previous posters. Make sure your venue comfortably accommodates the maximum amount of people you would invite and if they can, book it.

This isn't really how it works. You book a venue that can hold the maximum number of guests that will be attending (your 40 person guest list plus some wiggle room for people that start seeing someone/anyone you might add between now and then), then you give the venue the final count after you get your RSVP's back (usually a few weeks before the event).

You don't get RSVPs before booking a venue. You book a venue and give an estimate of the number of people. Your guests will RSVP a month before and then 2-4 weeks before the wedding your venue will require you to pay for the number of people that are attending.

Here's how it's going for us, the venue my fiance and I chose requires a minimum amount of people. Our minimum is 110, so we're definitely paying for that amount of people. We are inviting 134 guests. The venue holds 250 so we don't have to worry about capacity and if some how all 134 guests are able to come we can still afford to pay for them. We sent save the dates 11 months before the wedding and will be sending invitations 3 months before with the RSVP date being one month before. After the RSVPs are in, we meet with our venue to discuss how many tables, chairs and amount of food and then we officially pay for the amount of guests that will be attending.

Ok that's so not how it works. You can't ask guests to RSVP before you even have a venue booked.

You have to look at the number of people you have on your list, and then pick a venue with a minimum headcount that's below that number. Then, you simply hope for the best, as far as attendance goes. But you don't send invitations until about 8 weeks before the wedding.

No one books a venue with a definite guest list. It just doesn't work like that.

How, exactly, did you ask people to RSVP? Did you send out invites already?

View Quoted Comment No i made a wedding wire website in here where they can rsvp then ill be sending out the invites. Im.probably doing it way diff than alot of you lol

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OK. Well as others have said, no one is going to be 100% sure they'll attend a wedding over a year from now. Someone could die, someone could get married, get a new job, move, have a baby due the day before your wedding... You're expecting way too much out of people. You can only count on the RSVPs you receive after sending out the invitations about 8 weeks before your wedding.

Wait, I have never heard of something like this. I had to guarantee at least 160 people for my room which was fine. I had to make two deposits and the rest due the week before. The deposits cover as long as I have at least 160 which I will. So I guess I am just lost how you would loose?

View Quoted Comment As PPs have stated, when you book a venue, the venue just wants to know how many people you plan to invite. This way, both you and the venue are prepared for the maximum number of people that might attend. You adjust the numbers sometime the month before the venue or caterer requires your final numbers. Final numbers are the number of guests who actually RSVP'd yes after you send out invitations. Invitations are sent 6-8 weeks before your wedding. Our final numbers were due 1 week before our wedding, so we set our RSVP deadline 3 weeks before our wedding so we would have 2 weeks to contact anyone who forgot to RSVP to ask if they are coming. We sent our invitations out 8 weeks before our wedding, so guests had 5 weeks to RSVP. This is a typical timeline and what most people who receive invites to weddings are used to.

It's unreasonable to expect guests to know whether they will attend a wedding next year. They likely don't know their availability for next year, yet, or whether they can get the time off. Also, a lot of things can change or come up in a year. That's enough time for people to get sick or have a loved one get sick, find out they're expecting a baby, move away, or get a new job (resulting in new PTO policies or restricted PTO for the first several months at their new job) or get fired. All of these things could affect a person's ability to actually come to a wedding. Your guests won't know whether they can attend until much closer to your wedding date, so they can't commit by RSVPing this early.

It's also unreasonable to ask people to commit to coming to an event before all of the details are solidified and can be provided to your guests. If you don't have a venue booked, then you don't have a set date, you don't have a time of day, and you don't have an exact city or town to tell them that the wedding will be taking place. You may have a date in mind, but it's subject to change if you wait to book your venue and your desired date is no longer available. If your date isn't available at any other venues in your location, you'll be forced to look at alternate dates or look at venues in another city or town. Then you will have guests committed to attending a wedding on date #1, but the wedding will actually be occuring on a different date. Your guests might not be available on the new date. Or you find a venue in another city so you can keep your desired date, but not all of the guests can go if it's in a different city. In addition to all of this, if you don't have a specific venue and start time booked, guests may have trouble determining if they can go. What if someone has another event or activity taking place on the same day? They would need to know the start time and exact location of your wedding before being able to decide if they will be able to make it there in time for your wedding or not.

View Quoted Comment Ok got it! Thank you. This makes a lot of sense i have my mom helping me and she was trying to tell to get invitations out now. Which i will not shes making me freak lol

You generally book the venue to fit the amount of people you plan to invite (pay for). People may be unsure they can attend a wedding 13 months out. You generally do not ask people to RSVP this much in advance you check with your VIP guest and see if the date works and you pick a venue that fits your space. Your adjusted cost will be paid in the end once everyone has RSVP'd 6-8 weeks prior to you needing your final count. If your venue has a minimum of 100 people, then you make sure you can pay for 100 people. Sometimes even if 100 people do not attend you can make up the cost in adding in additional food and beverage. This is generally for venues who provide catering included. If your just booking a venue and catering is separate you will just need to make sure you have venue space and the caterer gets your final count.