Guest List feature on The Knot

julesrachele6

Hello All!

I'm starting to compile a guest list here on the knot..using the "Guest List" feature. Doing this on a website really freaks me out! What if it doesn't save or the whole site goes down??? Upheaval !! Chaos!! I can't trust any ONE site!

What are you other girls doing for your guestlist? I feel I need mega redundancy with something as important as a guest list. I also kind of feel I want it on an actual sheet of paper! Analog baby!

Please let em know the best way to go about this horrid piece of the puzzle.

Thanks!

SSaltzman87

Spreadsheets are your friend. I know a lot of brides use Excel for their guest lists to keep track of who's RSVPed and whatnot.

I've fiddled around with the TK Guest List feature just for the heck of it. Most large sites like this have HUGE servers that they are automatically backed up on, so even if TK does go down- all your stuff should be saved.

julesrachele6

I was thinking I'd make another spreadsheet in Excel. I have a really crappy one right now with only names on it. I just really hate that program. I could while away a lifetime trying to figure out formulas.

Thanks for the help!

bemistobe

I'm using Google Doc's via my gmail account -- that way I can access it from anywhere. I just created a spreadsheet in Google Doc's and made it public and shared it with my parents and FI's parents. That way, everyone can go in and see whose on the guest list -- and add or delete people (with my permission of course) if needed. I love it.

tpender13

Xcel would probably work best. That's what we did, and we ended up adding columns for addresses, meal choices, RSVPs, etc. You could eventually add columns for gifts, whether you've sent a thank you, stuff like that too.

PoliceWife104

In Response to <a href="http://forums.theknot.com/Sites/theknot/Pages/Main.aspx/local-wedding-boards_minnesota-minneapolis-st-paul_guest-list-feature-knot?plckFindPostKey=Cat:Local Wedding BoardsForum:81Discussion:15571509-4f8e-4bbc-bd28-50754c3e1771Post:b8d29957-41dc-4531-8b96-5cd7a249f7a2">Re: Guest List feature on The Knot</a>:
[QUOTE]Spreadsheets are your friend. Posted by SSaltzman87[/QUOTE]

Couldn't agree with you more!!  = ) We're using Excel for ours because that just seemed like the easiest way to me.  I haven't checked out TK guest list area, but I like Excel because I can format everything how I want to. 

Side note - My co-worker gave me a great tip.  Number your address on your spreadsheet, or whatever you're using, & put the same number on the RSVP so if you have someone add 2 kids & 3 grandkids, you can know who you have to call & polietly tell them, NO!!  = )  I will be doing this little trick for sure!

drdifabio

I am another vote for Excel. It worked really well for us and the only formulas we had in there was to sum the number of guests invited and RSVPs.

I would not recommend the knot as i have heard bad things about that guest list - like it going down for a day or just not being user friendly.

ogrady88

In Response to <a href="http://forums.theknot.com/Sites/theknot/Pages/Main.aspx/local-wedding-boards_minnesota-minneapolis-st-paul_guest-list-feature-knot?plckFindPostKey=Cat:Local Wedding BoardsForum:81Discussion:15571509-4f8e-4bbc-bd28-50754c3e1771Post:0b7b9dd4-8eb3-4906-bb58-2f8e3f664ece">Re: Guest List feature on The Knot</a>:
[QUOTE]I'm using Google Doc's via my gmail account -- that way I can access it from anywhere. I just created a spreadsheet in Google Doc's and made it public and shared it with my parents and FI's parents. That way, everyone can go in and see whose on the guest list -- and add or delete people (with my permission of course) if needed. I love it.
Posted by bemistobe[/QUOTE]

This, exactly...I love google docs.  We had originally used Excel, but google docs is so much easier to share from long distances and I can access it everywhere as long as I have internet.

Steph0871

Google docs!  That way you can access it from anywhere, and share with anyone you want.  I also frequently saved it to both my work and home desktops as a back up.

My spreadsheet included:

list (steph-friend, steph-mom, steph-dad, etc to track who was inviting how many people)

Party name (for envelope address)

First name

Last name

address

email

rsvp yes

rsvp no

rsvp ?? (checked one of the to run a total)

gift received

thank you sent

meal choice  

Kayla514

I'm using Excel as well.
I have columns for first name, last name, address, city, state, zip. You can easily export into a word document to print off labels.
I also have it color coordinated for who's guest it is... pink for me and blue for FI.
And I have a column for how many people are included- like 2 for husband and wife or more for kids, then another column for who i THINK might come. And then I'll add a column for the RSVP's.
I'm crazy organized.

maybe984

I used a combo of both TK's feature and Excel spreadsheets. I built the list on Excel, loaded it onto the site, and regularly pulled reports for whatever I wanted to find. I work with Excel wayyyyy too much at work, so it felt like a PITA to have to search through spreadsheets to find a lot of the info... so being able to pull specialized reports and look at things in a pretty, graphical format made everything a bit easier for me.

julesrachele6

Great Advice! Thank You All!

Would anyone be willing to email me thier template? I'd really appreciate it! I can't do the formula feature unless I spend like 5 hours trying. Sucks too because I use excel all the time...this, for some reason though...I just could not figure out!

julia.anzel@gmail.com

leggwilliams

I'm also doing Excel and pairing it with Martha Stewart's online guest list because there's a great seating chart feature on their I'll be using