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OOT Brides- HeadCount/RSVP

hughe046hughe046
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in Louisiana-New Orleans
For my fellow destination brides out there who have already received their RSVPs- I know NOLA is a "destination", but since its in the States- about what percentage of people are attending of those you invited?  Trying to gauge how many invites to send to get 125 people to the wedding.  Thanks!!  ~ Magen
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Re: OOT Brides- HeadCount/RSVP

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    becker.amandabecker.amanda member
    First Comment
    edited December 2011
    The majority of the guests we invited are from OOT (although my parents live in NOLA and some of their friends live there, my fiance and I do not). We sent out invites to 325 people, have 192 confirmed, and are still waiting to hear from 20 people. So currently, that's about a 59% response rate.Just one thing...I have heard many horror stories (esp on the Chicago board) of people inviting more guests than their venues can hold and getting a high number of RSVPs. Be careful!
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    becker.amandabecker.amanda member
    First Comment
    edited December 2011
    Oh, and what I was also going to say is that we have been surprised with how many of our OOT friends are making the trip to NOLA - many are making it a 3 or 4 day weekend. We expected less guests given the economy, etc. but our guests have pleasantly surprised us!
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    2009NOLA2009NOLA
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    edited December 2011
    We are having a destination wedding in NOLA later this month.  We invited 80, expecting 60.  However, it is looking like we are going to end up with about 45.  I think a lot of it depends on your friends/family and their willingness to travel.  A lot of our friends have small children that they don't want to travel with (and we aren't having kids at the wedding).  Good luck!
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    meganfauermeganfauer member
    First Anniversary First Comment
    edited December 2011
    This is what I will tell you, I was floored at how many people came from really far away. I had alot of guests that had never been to NOLA before and they made a long weekend out of it to go and see it. I invited 165 plus guest and I had 168 at the wedding. I was shooting for 175. NOw I would say that 95% of my guests were from out of town but again I was floored how many people traveled and like people always say its the ones that you would never expect to come that come. Like long lost family. Best f luck b/c that for me was the most nerve racking part b/c my dad only wanted 150 and he called everyday to find out how many people siad yes. GOOD LUCK
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    glitterspankglitterspank member
    First Comment
    edited December 2011
    Our RSVP deadline is tomorrow. We invited 320 and as of now it's looking like we will have 175-180.  Most of our guests are OOT apart from my family and a few friends.  We had some people who RSVP'd yes early on, but had to back out because of new jobs, work demands, unexpected major expenses, etc.  I was shocked how many people are driving from Indiana to NOLA for our wedding!  We didn't invite children, so I know some people aren't coming because of that.
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    hughe046hughe046
    First Comment
    edited December 2011
    Okay- you all rock.  I am worried (I am sure you saw in my 800 previous panicked posts) that the $250/nt hotel rooms that weekend will deter more people.  For those of you who are not having kids at the wedding...how did you handle that?  Word of mouth?  I am worried that despite addressing invites to just Mr and Mrs Blah Blah that they will not get the hint and bring the kids in tow.  [It all reminds me of that scene in Sweet Home Alabama: "You have a baby.  In a bar!"..."You brought a baby.  To New Orleans.  On St Pattys weekend!"]
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    Danser1013Danser1013
    First Comment
    edited December 2011
    I have to agree with prior posts. Our guests are almost all from out of town. It is unbelieveable how many people are coming to NOLA for the wedding and even making a long weekend vacation out of it. Those that have been to NOLA before cannot wait to come back. Those who have never been to NOLA before cannot wait to come! We invited 275 guests and are expecting 60 - 65%. This is with the economy in the tank! I think you will find many people will want to come to NOLA without their children. This wasn't a problem for us. Good luck in planning. Believe everyone when they say it goes by so fast. WW
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    Tracy325Tracy325
    First Comment
    edited December 2011
    We are OOTers and invited 320, we had 120 people at our wedding, 70 of which were OOTers. We were also surprised at how many people made the trip...many of our friends and family made a vacation out of it! If all of your guests will be from OOT, I would probably send 250 invites out
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    Tracy325Tracy325
    First Comment
    edited December 2011
    let me clarify...not 250 invites....but invite 250 people....too early to think! lol
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    AnnieMae321AnnieMae321
    First Comment
    edited December 2011
    Today is our RSVP deadline, and it's looking like we'll have about 125 out of the 300 we invited. All are from OOT. Good luck!
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    glitterspankglitterspank member
    First Comment
    edited December 2011
    On the children thing:  Our stationery lady put "There will be no provisions available for children" on our reply cards.  We had our moms and BMs spread it by word of mouth from the beginning, too, so nobody was shocked when they got the invites.  We have had no one RSVP with kids after all that, and our deadline was today.  One of FI's buddies/ wives wanted to bring their kids to the ceremony and have US find them a babysitter for the reception, but luckily buddy had our backs and told her the kids were not invited and they were not coming, and they eventually RSVP'd without the little ones once they finished fighting among themselves.  I expected to have a lot more problems than we have had.
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    glitterspankglitterspank member
    First Comment
    edited December 2011
    PS - We also have several guests with babies who are bringing along grandparents to babysit at the hotel while the parents attend the wedding and reception.
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