May 2013 bride needing yur advice.!

shano06

First congrats to everybody who is already married and good luck to those of yu who are upcoming. Now..my question. I'm trying to get an estimate if my final cost from my caterer. As everyone knows they charge per person. How many of your guests that were invited ddnt show or declined the invite.?? I know its too soon for me to get the final guest list but so far we invited exactly 100 and are expecting about 90 to accept the invite. Is that about right.?? Thanks on advance.!

shano06

I meant we are planning to invite exactly 100..haven't sent out invites yet..too early.!

LindzMarie19

if you invited 100 and you are expecting 90... that might be expecting a little high, unless they all live close to where you are getting married. I actually have about a 85% acceptance rate, which is VERY high. My wedding planner told me to expect 60% acceptance. However, at three days out, we have had about 10 people to go from " Im def coming" to " i dunno, i'm gonna try" and a few to say "sorry can't make it after all" and there are a few other that we have high doubts about. My advice, have money budgeted out to feed your max number of invites. But wait, if you can, til about 1 week before to give you FINAL head count. This will ensure you don't waste too much money on no shows.

Teep

We had a 95% acceptance, and only 1 no show. But almost all of our guests were local. It really depends, but I think assuming 90% is pretty safe. Good luck!

Teep

We had a 95% acceptance rate and only 1 no show. Almost all of our guests were local though. I think assuming a 90% acceptance rate is pretty safe. Good luck!

kipnus

At this point you should be planning under the assumption that all of your guests will come. When your RSVPs are all in, then you can potentially save money by cutting tables and meals for the guests who declined.

The number of declines really depends on where your guests are coming from. We invited about 150 to our wedding, and only 65 are coming because it's a long trip for most people. We're having a second reception in the city where we live for another 60 people, most of whom couldn't make it to the wedding.

kelsey+brandon

Our final acceptance percentage was 73% and we were expecting at least 85%. People have things come up or the date just doesn't work for them, they can't travel, etc. I would never suggest inviting more than you can afford or that your venue can handle, but it's very rare that you get a 90% acceptance rate.

[Deleted User]

We invited 244 & 200 said yes.  I only had 12 people that could not attend on my side & 4 of the couples are from out of town - so great ratio on my side.  Unfortunately my FI had a lot of nos & alot of them are from our area. 

SoSaysTara

You need to BUDGET for 100% acceptance, but prepare emotionally for a lot less than that.  Does that make sense?  You don't want to put yourself in a place where you can't afford it if everyone shows up!  You want YES RSVPs to be a happy thing, not something that's causing you stress because you're not sure if you can afford to host all of your guests.

peachykeen26

As PP's have said.
You should budget for 100% and expect less than that.
We invited 104 and as you can see, only 63 are coming including the WP.

Also, you should probably budget higher. You never know what will change over the next year. You will meet new friends and invite more people.
I honestly, would budget for like 120-150. Even though you may not have that many come, it sure will be nice to redistribute that money for something else like flowers or lighting from your DJ, or to save it towards a down payment on a house, OR excursions on your HM.
This is what FI and I did and we have ended up with a lot more money for the HM than we thought we would and some left over probably for less strain for rent.

Just my two cents.

Danidawn20

At this point, expect all of your guest to come, and aleays budget higher, you may never know who your parents may want to invite. 

MiksChick23

Agree with PP, budget and book a venue that will accomodate 100%. We had 57% acceptance....we were expecting a lot more, but it saved us money so I'm over it. Your acceptance rate will really depend on the closeness of your friends & families, both relationship and distance wise.