How Many Usually Come?

kkidd28 · February 2010

My FI and I have 217 on our guest list - and thats after alot of cuts! Our budget is planned for 150. How many usually come of those actually invited? I know that due to distance - 36 of mine def. won't come. If its around 150 - 160, its ok but I just wondered if there was a general rule of how many to plan for etc. Thanks in advance!

janedoe1113a · February 2010

You should plan for 100% attendance. Some people might surprise you. I know a lot of people we didn't think would come are going to come. You need to cut more if you only have enough money for 150.

gower2be · February 2010

Dont rely on oh they wont come because theyre too far away. My cousin did that and it was a big mistake. You should expect 100%

kkidd28 · February 2010

I have already been told by 36 that they cant come - we have a family reunion the month prior and because of school for the kids, many can't make it. My reception is contractually bound to 150 minimum - 200 max...... So a guest list of on 150 will cost me more.

Mrs.B6302007 · February 2010

There's no formula. Every wedding is different as far as how many come. Plan on 100%.
Pick a final number between 150-200 that your venue and budget can hold and stick to that.

aerinpegadrak · February 2010

Every situation is different, so there's no way to tell. If you have 217 on the guest list and 36 have already told you that they absolutely can't make it, you still need to plan on at least 181 until you start getting your RSVPs in. It's better to plan for too many and then be able to scale back, than to plan for too few and be unprepared to handle it.

MyNameIsNot · February 2010

You need to have budget and space for 100%.

Typical yes rates vary from 50-100%. Some people actually do get 100% attendance. You don't want to be in a position where you can't afford your guest list. If the max you can feed/seat is 160, that's the max you can invite.

megk8oz · February 2010

Ditto the PPs, you pretty much will not know until every last RSVP is in what your attendance is. Sometimes people really do get a "yes" from every single person they invite. You're saying 36 already said "no", are you planning on sending them an invite anyway? If you are, you might want to take into consideration that plans might change and they might be able to make it after all, even if they're convinced right now that they can't.

Basically, don't invite any more people than you can afford to. You really do not want to be stuck 2 weeks before the wedding trying to pay for every single person you invited when you only banked on x amount of people attending (And budgeted for x, not 100%).

goheels05 · February 2010

If your budget can only accommodate 150, and you are contractually obligated to have at least 150, you already have a problem. There is no possible way to guarantee that exactly 150 people show up, unless you wander the streets inviting random people in right before the reception until you get to 150.

To answer your question, a lot of different factors go into your RSVP rate. Holiday weekends where people already have plans will lower your rate, as will Friday or Sunday or morning weddings. We had a brunch reception, and I guess a lot of people weren't going to spend a lot on travel if they knew they weren't getting filet and top shelf liquor.

If 200 is the max your venue can accommodate, then you need to absolutely not invite more than 200 people, and adjust your budget in other way since you said your budget was based on 150.

duckie1905 · February 2010

There is no magic formula that will calculate how many people will say no. Additionally, you have no way of knowing that some of those 36 no guests won't change their minds and come. Just because they say no now doesn't mean they won't say yes later.

Invite who you can afford and not a single person more. I'm not sure why you booked a room that has a minimum that equals your budget (because if you can afford 150 you shouldn't be inviting more) but you should just eat the extra cost if you get less than 150.

How do you plan on paying for extra guests should you have them? What if 160 people RSVP yes? What then?

Think this through, you are making a huge potential mistake.

kkidd28 · February 2010

In Response to <a href="http://forums.theknot.com/Sites/theknot/Pages/Main.aspx/wedding-boards_chit-chat_many-usually-come?plckFindPostKey=Cat:Wedding%20BoardsForum:14Discussion:c019a278-011c-45bb-96a8-4ace11929849Post:914f4fae-5c4c-4acd-8175-159ebb2b98d2">Re: How Many Usually Come?</a>:
[QUOTE]There is no magic formula that will calculate how many people will say no. Additionally, you have no way of knowing that some of those 36 no guests won't change their minds and come. Just because they say no now doesn't mean they won't say yes later. Invite who you can afford and not a single person more. I'm not sure why you booked a room that has a minimum that equals your budget (because if you can afford 150 you shouldn't be inviting more) but you should just eat the extra cost if you get less than 150. How do you plan on paying for extra guests should you have them? What if 160 people RSVP yes? What then? Think this through, you are making a huge potential mistake.
Posted by duckie1905[/QUOTE]

I actually noticed in fine print that the contract says I must have a minimum of 150 guests or $10k. If we have extra guests, they'll be covered by the parents. His mother gave me a HUGE list (96 originally - now down to 60) and his family is all local, whereas mine has to travel. I spent Christmas with my family and I got alot of their responses then as it is a weekend they have to plan for and they are about 1600 miles away. So when they say no - they mean it.

If 181 RSVP, I guess we'll deal with it. THE RSVP date is actually going to be 6 weeks before the wedding to allow for any late RSVP's.

aerinpegadrak · February 2010

Remember too that if you fall below the 150, you can always upgrade elements to bring you back up to the contracted price. There are all sorts of little extras that most venues can add to your package to bring you up to what you need to spend.

ros3392 · February 2010

My venue has a 150 person limit, but if only 140 show up, we just simply pay for the 150 and take the cut. Are they really going to charge you 10k if 140 show up?

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