Invitation rsvp detail stuff

KittE7

Hello! Now that our invites are ordered & I'm waiting for the proof, I'm re-considering the wording on the RSVP card. 

We want the invite to be clear about who is invited, which is slightly sticky.  I know I may get some eye-rolls here, but bear with me.  We're under serious space constraints with our chosen venues, and we'd prefer to be surrounded with our nearest & dearest - I'd rather not have ~10% of the guests to be someone I've never heard of. 

We are not reserving places for some of our single guests to bring a date - i.e., our cousins (ages 14-20) and coworkers (not in relationships).  Also, we are only inviting adults/teenagers, not families/children - we've passed word about this to the families w/kids.

Thus, to properly convey this message, how do I indicate that a guest is not supposed to bring a date?  I know that technically, only the names on the outer/inner envelopes are invited, but guests could easily misinterpret this and invite a date regardless.

Is there any other way to indicate this besides this phrase on the response card, "___ seats have been reserved in your honor" ???   TIA!

drdifabio

Well we are listing out eveyone's names on the RSVP cards - yes it is a lot of work, but then it is clear who is invited. This is also easy for us since we are printing out own RSVP cards.

Muffers

We put a line on our RSVP, right under where they will check yes or no, that says "Number __" . We will fill in the number invited before we send it out. We thought that was the simplest way to do it.

Whatever route you take there is always a chance someone will RSVP for more people than were actually invited, so you just have to be prepared to make a few phone calls to politely let them know what's up  

KittE7

thanks gals ~ I don't know why really, but muffers, you sound like my seattle-MOH, full of common sense & advice!

drdifabio, thanks! so are your RSVP cards set up in a "Grid", like
__________________  Entree choices / / / decline
Name_____________   A       B       C       D 
Name_____________   A       B       C       D 

We could maybe make that fit on our cards.  We only need 2 lines per card anyway... That would really make it clear. 
Right now it says,"Please initial an entree selection for each guest" -- is it clear enough that they should put the particular guest's initials there, not the main responder?  Plus, I'm worried we'll get initials & won't know the full name!

PS, is it okay, if your guest doesn't respond with the name of their guest b/c they don't know yet, to write "Guest of Mr. Christopher Williams" on the escort card? (Chances are, if they don't know who they're bringing yet, they aren't that close, but whatever!)

wittyschaffy

I had a couple people reply that they were bringing a guest and didn't tell me their names.  it was as easy as calling them or emailing them and asking.  Each person should have their own escort card if you can manage it.

schmood

Our RSVP card reads like this....  
(We're filling out the # of places reserved prior to mailing out the invitations.)

We have reserved _____ places in your honor
The favor of your reply is requested by July 20th

M____________________________
______ Accpets
______ Declines

Please indicate each guest's entree selection with initials
_____ Chicken
_____ Beef
_____ Pasta
_____ Children's meal

Our RSVP card is 5.5x4", and I don't think that it looks too full....too many words.  I can try to post a pic if you want to see it...

Muffers

KittE - well your MOH must be pretty great   Thank you!
 
good luck w/your cards - and don't forget to let us know what you decide and how they turn out!

KittE7

Here's the response card proof:


Since we're not printing them ourselves, we'll do this "initial selection" thing.
And I would like to add a line as suggested, but does it go above "Kindly respond by the thirtieth of July" or below it?
_____ places have been reserved in your honor

I am not sure about the blue text!!
I wanted some color b/c all grey was "austere" & my mom said it didn't look like a wedding invite. Reason against the blue would be that now I’m thinking about about using mostly black & white decor stuff at the RC, and navy decor doesn't look good next to black stuff, like black TCs, so the blue would only be on the invite here.
 
I could request a dark grey w/NO green in it (make the color CYBK), or do black or white text. 
(This stinks!)

Thanks for everything!