What percent of invited guests come?

rcpm44 · July 2009

There are statistics all over the internet saying that 12-14% of invited guests don't come. Then I've heard from friends that really you should expect 50% to come and anything over that is just icing. So, for you married ladies I was wondering how many guests ended up attending your wedding? Our guest list is right at 100, and I just wanted to get a feel for about how many people I should expect. Thanks!

Mariah&Steven · July 2009

Umm, I think you should expect WAY more than 50% showing. I invited around 120 and about 110 had RSVP'd "yes". I seriously was biting my nails until the day of the wedding. We had guaranteed for 100 and any person over that would be $60 per person. I think we were right at 100 people. I had about 6 or 8 people cancel or no-show the day of. If you invited 100, expect 100.

rcpm44 · July 2009

Really?! Wow, I had no idea that most would show up. Ok, well that's good to know. We've been planning on about 85 actually coming, but we can change it. Thanks for letting me know. We would have planned the whole wedding for 85 people and no place for them to sit and not enough food! Eeek!

Tiffany618 · July 2009

I'm not married yet but it seems like this depends on who you invite. Our guest list is right at 100, but we are only inviting people who we pretty much know will be there unless there are extenuating circumstances. We only expect maybe 5-10% no show. However, if you invite lots of people that you grew up with and parents friends, etc then you will probably expect a much higher no show rate. It just depends really.

stephl3055 · July 2009

We invited probably around 205 and we had about 170 show up. There were a few people we never heard a yes or no from, and they ended up not showing.

appletango85 · July 2009

Yeah there is no set percentage. You should expect everyone to come that is invited (unless of course you know without a shadow of a doubt certain people won't come) I know 100% that my stepdad's mom and family won't come because they live up North and there is no way they could afford to come down here. Especially because they have met me like twice maybe lol But since they are family we have to waste I mean send them an invitation anyways.

Mariah&Steven · July 2009

Well, it also depends on how many OOT guests you invite and how many are willing to make the trek to your wedding. There were some people that I sent a courtesy invite to, not expecting that they would come (family members who don't live in Texas) and to my surprise quite a few actually RSVP'd "yes".

almoyo · July 2009

We invited about 170, and 150 RSPD'd yes. About 150-160 actually showed... Ditto Mariah: expect them all. You will have a better idea after RSVPs.I went to a wedding this June where 126 people RSVP'd yes, and only about 80 showed up.There is no good rule of thumb.

Donnaaries · July 2009

Yikes! It's annoying that people would RSVP and then not show! I guess a better statistic would be, what percentage of your RSVP'ed guests actually show up... it appears to be about 90-95%?

appletango85 · July 2009

I RSVP'ed yes once but didn't show. But I got sick. Even after being on here and reading every ones grievances, I still don't know if I should have texted her to say I wasn't going to make it. I know I wouldn't want to worry with those texts the day of and I think I read someone didn't like getting a text like that either. I didn't have any other numbers of people to tell though. It's a little late to do anything about at that point anyways right?

rcpm44 · July 2009

Thank you so much ladies! We aren't really inviting alot of what we call "fluff" people. Mostly everyone we are inviting are close friends and family, so then we'll say 100 when planning.

Mariah&Steven · July 2009

Apple, I got some texts and e-mails the day of to let me know some people couldn't make it. While it was a little annoying to get something like that the day of, it was still nice to know. I was more ticked at people who didn't show and didn't let me know one way or the other why they didn't make it to my wedding, even though they RSVP'd "yes". It's just common courtesy to let someone know. There were even a few who RSVP'd "yes" and have never offered up the reason why they didn't come to my wedding. I think that's rude because they didn't even say, "I'm sorry I couldn't make it because such and such came up".

TCUESW1999 · July 2009

I agree with the pp, especially with the OOT factor. My guest list is very large, about 325 however the grooms side is ALL out of state and most will not make it since alot are elderly, can't travel, can't afford it, etc. FMIL gave me a alot of guests to invite but it is mostly for common courtesy and she only expects about 25% or less to show up on her/grooms side. To me, it seems like it would be a waste of invitations and stamps to send out invites to people you know for sure who can't make it but that is a battle I was not willing to pick with FMIL.

llc_lauren & chris · July 2009

We'll be planning for all of the invites to come, but know in the back of our minds that a small percentage probably won't. There is a lot of my family that lives on the east coast or in the caribbean that won't fork out the money to come. Which is totally fine with me becuase a large portion of the list are in the area, or state, and we'll still have a good turn out.

BanannaP · July 2009

This makes me nervous too. We have about 140-150 on our "dream list" before cuts. I don't want to cut anyone, but we only want about 100 there. Some of my family lives in Switzerland, so it's unlikely that they'll come, and same with some of FI's family in Florida. I guess maybe we'll cut it down to maybe 100-115 or so?

SCbrideinTX · July 2009

I agree that it really depends on your guest list. If everyone is pretty much local then figure that most of them will come.Since our wedding is somewhat "destination" and everyone will be OOT, I'm figuring on only about 60% actually coming, but we also had a lot of people who we wanted to invite because they were family, but knew wouldn't be up to the trip.

amber&richard05 · July 2009

I am inviting 120 but only expect 100 to show up. 90 percent of my guest are from OOT and some just simply won't be able to afford to come. Some are older and can't travel so they will be getting a curtisy invite. I am planning for 100 settings not including kiddos just in case. Remember that you finalize everything after the RSVPs come in.

rcpm44 · July 2009

I know we finalize after RSVP's come in, but for planning purposes I was wondering if I should be planning for all 100 or for less. But, it seems that I need to be planning for 100!

tnickel06 · July 2009

I'm nervous about the actual percentage that will show up/ RSVP yes. Alot of my guests will be OOT because basically both my and FI's immediate family are the only ones who live in texas. His family is in Illinois and mine is mostly Florida/Caribbean. We thought about having our wedding in Florida but decided it would be too much stress. So we are guestimating that only about 70-80 will show up and we are inviting 120. But then again we could be surprised and alot will RSVP, who knows.

emimayor · July 2009

I agree with Mariah (and any others). Expect them all! About 65% of our 225 ppl we invited were OOT and all but 5 came. At our actual wedding we had 205 people, and only one couple that RSVP'd yes that didn't make it (jerks!)

. Anyway, plan for everyone to be there. I learned that people get excited for weddings and will make the trip for your big day, espcially to Dallas. GL

Terriniski · July 2009

We invited about 200 (about half from each side) and almost no one from DH's side could make it and almost everyone from my side did (which is what we expected). It really depends on people's willingness to travel. We sent out our invitations on the early side (in mid-February for our May wedding) so we could start getting better counts. Until we got a good sense of the count from RSVPs, we went on the assumption that apart from the people my MIL said would definitely not come, everyone else would.

What percent of invited guests come?

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