No show %?

TexanTreasure08

Hey Ladies!

For those of you who have already gotten married, can you tell me an approximate percentage for how many guests you invited vs. how many actually showed up?

My venue holds about 150 people, but I already have about 220 people on my guest list. I've read that you can expect about 70% of people to show up which would put me right at my needed number. Also, my sister got married in 2007 and she invited 150 people and she said only 50-75 actually showed up, if that. Our family isn't real big into these types of things, but the fiance's family is. So if I go by my sister's numbers I might get 50%.

What have been y'alls experiences? Would I be ok inviting more? 

This brings up another question: Does anyone have a good website to figure out how to arrange the reception room? I had found one and I could fit a large dance floor, all the extra tables & (20) 5" round tables so if I needed to, according to that, I could sit 10 at a table and have seating for 200. I was planning on just 8 to a table but I would have back up space if needed. My only thing with the website that I had used I couldn't tell if I was putting the tables too close together. My venue hasn't done very many weddings so they're not a lot of help. Any suggestions or tips?

Thanks guys!!

bsn1752

I've always read that you should expect the number of guests that you invite...  What if 75% of your guests show up? 

It's better to be safe than sorry!

danielle16_17

I like martha stewarts web site for setting up a room and seating chart

TexanTreasure08

Thanks! I went to martha stewart to look at it and at the bottom it says "powered by wedding wire" which is the one I used earlier. How do I tell how much space to leave between tables?

bsn: That's true but I'd hate to have a half empty room too! And I would still have to pay for all 150 guests.

danielle16_17

when I went to my venue I measured table lengths apart to make sure people could sit comfortable and then I used the grid lines- I made sure there was about 3 to 4 gridlines between them- I also used my correct venue measurements

TexanTreasure08

So I guess this is too close, huh?

It's hard to do it right because my venue is not a perfect square, it's narrower at one end and wider near the lobby, that's why there's more on the right side. I had to kind of average the width.

Here is the diagram I got from the venue. I added 10" to the length at the right because we can use the lobby area as well, it's tiled. I don't know the actual dimensions for the lobby, though.

shortgirltx

We invited close to 200 and had about 30% show up.

mandaroo7

I spoke with my venue lady yesterday, she asked how many we have on the list and said that about 25% won't show up.  I have 175 currently and she said about 140 will show up prob.  I've always said about 15-20% less the than the total.  Good luck!

NMac2010

In Response to <a href="http://forums.theknot.com/Sites/theknot/Pages/Main.aspx/local-wedding-boards_texas-dallas-ft-worth_show-1?plckFindPostKey=Cat:Local Wedding BoardsForum:102Discussion:3ffd26ee-038f-461a-a405-6bb667c165e0Post:0c634179-ee76-4602-9535-c60d2ba02794">Re: No show %?</a>:
[QUOTE]We invited close to 200 and had about 30% show up.
Posted by shortgirltx[/QUOTE]


Holy crap....out of 200 people you only had about 60 show up? Wow. If we have only 30% of our guest list show up, we'll have one empty looking room.

stephl3055

Most people don't recommend inviting more people than your venue can hold, even if you only think X% will show up.  What if they all show up, or they all think your wedding is a great way to get everyone together?  You would be really screwed. 

We invited about 175 and around 160 showed, which is a lot more than the 70% you quoted.  We originally only wanted 150, but my ILs swore up and down that so-and-so wouldn't come, so we should invite them, which is why our numbers went up to 175.  Well, so-and-so showed up anyway. 

shortgirltx

In Response to <a href="http://forums.theknot.com/Sites/theknot/Pages/Main.aspx/local-wedding-boards_texas-dallas-ft-worth_show-1?plckFindPostKey=Cat:Local%20Wedding%20BoardsForum:102Discussion:3ffd26ee-038f-461a-a405-6bb667c165e0Post:d137e418-0b31-45a6-a4c8-17cd6a4be5da">Re: No show %?</a>:
[QUOTE]In Response to Re: No show %? : Holy crap....out of 200 people you only had about 60 show up? Wow. If we have only 30% of our guest list show up, we'll have one empty looking room.
Posted by NMac2010[/QUOTE]

Yep.  I was a little saddened because we had to go with such a large place because of these people we <em>had  </em>to invite, which didn't leave us many options with our budget when we could have done something a lot nicer with a smaller place.  Eh you live and learn.  I would have handled this differently though if there was a rewind feature in life, LOL.

NMac2010

In Response to <a href="http://forums.theknot.com/Sites/theknot/Pages/Main.aspx/local-wedding-boards_texas-dallas-ft-worth_show-1?plckFindPostKey=Cat:Local Wedding BoardsForum:102Discussion:3ffd26ee-038f-461a-a405-6bb667c165e0Post:1a888284-bac1-40bd-abba-9a3393a3176a">Re: No show %?</a>:
[QUOTE]We originally only wanted 150, but my ILs swore up and down that so-and-so wouldn't come, so we should invite them, which is why our numbers went up to 175.  Well, so-and-so showed up anyway. 
Posted by steph13055[/QUOTE]

Yep, that's what we are afraid of.

NMac2010

In Response to <a href="http://forums.theknot.com/Sites/theknot/Pages/Main.aspx/local-wedding-boards_texas-dallas-ft-worth_show-1?plckFindPostKey=Cat:Local Wedding BoardsForum:102Discussion:3ffd26ee-038f-461a-a405-6bb667c165e0Post:9f1d2c29-4aec-4542-ba22-0e15425e2088">Re: No show %?</a>:
[QUOTE]In Response to Re: No show %? : Yep.  I was a little saddened because we had to go with such a large place because of these people we had  to invite, which didn't leave us many options with our budget when we could have done something a lot nicer with a smaller place.  Eh you live and learn.  I would have handled this differently though if there was a rewind feature in life, LOL.
Posted by shortgirltx[/QUOTE]


Wow! I think I'd be a little ticked if we paid for food, and a room, and all the other stuff, for 200 people and only 60 showed up. Yikes. Oh well though, what can ya do.

Mariah09202008

In Response to <a href="http://forums.theknot.com/Sites/theknot/Pages/Main.aspx/local-wedding-boards_texas-dallas-ft-worth_show-1?plckFindPostKey=Cat:Local Wedding BoardsForum:102Discussion:3ffd26ee-038f-461a-a405-6bb667c165e0Post:1a888284-bac1-40bd-abba-9a3393a3176a">Re: No show %?</a>:
[QUOTE]Most people don't recommend inviting more people than your venue can hold, even if you only think X% will show up.  What if they all show up, or they all think your wedding is a great way to get everyone together?  You would be really screwed.  We invited about 175 and around 160 showed, which is a lot more than the 70% you quoted.  We originally only wanted 150, but my ILs swore up and down that so-and-so wouldn't come, so we should invite them, which is why our numbers went up to 175.  Well, so-and-so showed up anyway. 
Posted by steph13055[/QUOTE]  Same thing happened with  me.  My mom gave me a few names of people that she assumed wouldn't come and they ended up coming.  I was trying to stay at 100, invited around 130 and a little over 100 people showed up to the wedding.  I think it depends on how many OOT guests you're inviting and whether or not your 100% positive they're not going to come.

fallbride1109

We invited 182 expecting around 140 (the absolute maximum for our ceremony space).  We had a lot of last minute cancellations and ended up around 110.  Which ended up being perfect--I realized at my wedding that my venue was much better suited to around 120 than the 180 they claimed.

I will say we were sweating it out at the end.  If you can only hold 150, I don't think I'd invite more than 200.  There's no magic formula.

TexanTreasure08

Thanks for all of your help!

Stephiehall: I tried to PM you yesterday, but it wasn't working.

BanannaP

Of course it's going to vary based on the group and other factors. However, we have about 180 on the guest list, and all three coordinators we interviewed said we could expect between 120-130, which is what I had been budgeting for before the guest list exploded. Hopefully they're right!

fallbride1109

Hey you can email me at stephiehall @ yahoo . com.

Buttercup509

We invited 175, and were expecting 155. We had 133 show up. Our guest list kinda exploded, so we were hoping for "no" every time we got an rsvp back. Our venue would only hold 150 comfortably. It worked out perfectly in the end, except that we paid for almost 20 people that didn't show.

donnamarie02

This is reassuring ladies. So even though I paid for 100 @ the modern and we will invite 130 maybe I won't end up paying for very many over 100 anyway.