Too many invited!

I would get out in front of this and talk to your venue to see if the limit includes babies/children and whether they have a larger space for your wedding.. If the venue truly cannot accommodate the extra people I would start looking at backup venues. I've heard the decline rate is closer to 10% but it really depends on so many factors. I think there is a decent chance you will have over 100 guests so I would start planning for that possibility.

I invited 133 and the venue holds 105! I ended up getting 103 yeses so it was perfect. Don’t worry, not everyone will be able to make it!

We're over inviting. I think we're at 20 people invited over capacity. But we'br been told 4 people are out for sure. And assume another 15 won't come due to distance.


We filled our familial obligations. Then invited the friends we didn't want to leave out.
It happens. Don't worry about it til it's an issue.

I agree with Meaghan, I would definitely start figuring out how to accommodate 123 in case you do get a 100% acceptance rate. We invited 77 and have only had 2 declines out of the 43 RSVP's we've gotten back so far. It isn't likely that everyone will attend, especially if your wedding really is July 4th (some people have holiday traditions they do every year), but better safe than sorry!

I agree with pp! Call the venue as soon as possible. I have about 2 more weeks until RSVPs are due. We invited 126 people and our venue can hold 200 but because it considered off season and they only allow 125 people. So far 93/126 people have confirmed their attendance. The guests that I assumed would decline were the first to accept. I would not worry too much about the babies as they will probably sit on their parents laps, but small children may take up a seat.

You should figure out a Plan B just in case because 23 extra guests is a lot. The 20% rule isn’t something I would bank on

You should start looking into a way to accommodate all of your guests.

Personally I’m not a believer in inviting more than you can accommodate. I would call the venue and prepare for the number you invited just in case.

I didn't invite over the amount but I did have 20% decline

It’s a pretty bad idea to do this lol but seeing as how you’ve done it already... I would definitely call the venue and ask what happens if youre over by a few people (also, do your vendors—like photographer or DJ—count in the 100 person maximum?)


Odds are though you’ll get at least 19 declines so I wouldn’t stress TOO much

I’ve got a lot of people I assumed wouldn’t attend that are attending. We invited 181 and have only had 11 declines so far.

I agree with others about contacting your venue ASAP to make sure you are clear on exactly what the 100 person cap includes/means (is it a venue cap related to a more comfortable room set up or is it the fire marshal limit?). If it's a fire marshal, they literally will not be able to allow 101 people into the space without risk of being shut down. Most places will count every person -- regardless of age. Also, what about your vendors? Does the venue include them in your count? Once you are clear on the absolute limits, then I'd explore what options you'll have at the venue if you have a larger number. Is there another space they can move you to? Is there the potential to set up differently and include any "overflow" space (sometimes guests could be split into two adjacent spaces, like a patio, not ideal but better than nothing). It is so hard to predict final numbers. I've seen more posts on this forum about nearly 100% acceptance rates than I'd have ever guessed. Also, you've sent your invites really early for a July wedding, which I'm going to ignore except to say that doing that often results in people not responding or responding late or changing their minds because it was just too early to know for sure when they first responded, so you might want to be prepared for your RSVP process to not be as smooth as you might hope for. That will likely leave you in limbo for a while regarding your final numbers. There have been posts from brides who ultimately had to contact people and uninvite them, because they just wouldn't have enough space.... Clearly, that's not something anyone wants to do, but it's happened. The more info you have, the better you can prepare for your potential contingencies. Good luck!

View Quoted Comment Hello all, many thanks for advise and support! The extra numbers were an accident (I’m surprised as I’m usually way more organized! Arg...) it’s helpful to have all your input here. I have all the info I need now, best wishes and many thanks again for taking the time!!

Don't assume people will not go, always assume everyone will attend, out of the 103 invitees we had 101 rsvp'd yes and 2 could not make it the day of. I offered the 2 people who could not make it to the wedding to bring someone else (2 spouses were called in to work last minute but I told both friends that they could bring someone else in their place so they would not travel alone.