How many out of town guests will attend?

dalegayle

We have an invitation list of 200 people with about half from out of town.  Most of these people are the groom's family and college friends that we are still in contact with on a regular basis.  Many of them have verbally told us they are coming but......  Our save the dates went out last month and it appears that 7 rooms have been booked.  Our wedding is in July and we have wonderful hotel room rates.

My mother is concerned that we will not meet our minimum -- roughly 150 people.  What do you think? 

Aeb74

I hated waiting!  And a few left us hanging until the last possible minute too.  For those people, money to travel was an issue, but we waited for these people because they were VIPs!   (By waited, I mean extended the RSVP date.)  We were pleasantly surprised to find more than we thought attended.  It's such a unique destination and everyone made a weekend out of it.  Try to be as patient as you can be!  I can totally relate to how you feel though! 

ZeroOrchestra

This is different for everyone. 98% of our guest list was OOT, and we had 70 guests out of 160 attend. Of course, we knew off the bat that my FIL's family would not go, and that was around 30 or 40 people right there. We also didn't invite kids so that was a factor for some.

We also had people we didn't think would attend. Nola is a great destination and many people will make it in to a vacation for themselves.

It's still early for people to be thinking about hotels. They may be looking at VRBO or airbnb as well. We had some friends do that and all chip in together and it was much cheaper. Just because you block the rooms doesn't mean that your guests must use that hotel.
Some peome may not be able to put in for time off work yet. Some peoe will likely wait til they book flights. There's so many things that go into plannig a trip.

dalegayle

Thanks!  I know it is early - just anxious!  I will have to sit tight and see what happens.

504mel

For a New Orleans destination wedding, the average is a 75-80% show. This is higher than other cities and for good reasons ! 

edenisle

I agree with what everyone else is say...though not from experience-I'm in the same boat as you!  However, I have been told numerous times that because it is a New Orleans wedding, more guests will usually show up.  I've started to have people that I was sure would decline due to their individuals situations telling me verbally that they will be there after receiving our save the dates.  Don't get me wrong- I'm so happy they are going to make it!  But I am a still in awe of the appeal that this city has on most people!  Love it!

Agree though---sooo hard waiting!

Dot825

If you can find it, I posted about this earlier and got a lot of great responses!  We invited over 200 and are having about 100 attend.  We're getting married on a non-holiday Sunday though! 

littledarlingnikki

My wedding in on the 25th and I am STILL having problems with people committing and changing their minds.  I was trying to be accommodating by giving ample time and allowing people to update their decision, but this is ridiculous!  At first it was people declining because it was too far/expensive but now that it's getting closer everyone wants to come!  Which is sooo nice but eeeek. I went from around 36 to now almost 50!!  My advice.... set a definitive cut-off date (not what I did).  It will save you a LOT of headaches.

edenisle

Oh, wow!  That change in amount can really affect your budget/overall feel for the day!  Yikes!  Good luck, @littledarlingnikki !

dalegayle

Thanks for the feedback.  We are sending out our invitations 7-8 weeks before the wedding with a reply deadline a month before.  Hopefully this will give everyone enough time to decide and give us enough time to make any necessary changes.

Knottie59783736

I just polled everyone and I will have 80% coming, almost 100.  That means a couple of hotels.  I have a family friend who owns hotels in the Quarter, thence we will get rooms.  But we have to commit early anyway.