Guest List!

sarjhawk · July 2013

I am having MAJOR trouble with my guest list. I am coming to Vegas from Minnesota. We ideally want less than 100 people at the wedding. If I invite 200 how many do you think will come? I am having the hardest time eliminating people.

kiraregnier · July 2013

I had the same problem! We ended up inviting 123 people and 59 are coming. With a destination wedding you can expect that a big percentage won't be able to make it. We started with just family and close friends then added people as others said they couldn't attend. It's totally stressful I know. Good luck and congrats!

missmo14 · July 2013

Just make sure that if by some freak event all 200 come you can accommodate them :-) guest list was hard for us too. We have ended up with 80 so we got an extra banquet room. If less come we will just have a bigger dancefloor and more premium menu/beverage package.

Kimberlybfpc · July 2013

We ended up inviting 94, because FI's mom wanted us to invite some of her friends and he has a big extended family. We were prepared for that many, but I was extremely happy when we only ended up with 40. I would for sure plan your budget and everything else around 200 if that's how many you're inviting. You can always downsize, but upsizing your budget, etc may not work as well.

ktbabe530 · July 2013

We have 83 on the list right now, I want it a bit lower, but we can't seem to get there. Our wedding planner told us to estimate about 80% of those we invite will actually come. There is just something about Vegas that makes people want to come! I even have people asking if they can come!

mbenoit03 · July 2013

we invited 65, 50 rsvp'd, 2 flaked.

SD210 · July 2013

We invited 167 to our wedding at the Bellagio next month. In the beginning, I thought we would have about 125 (a good chunk of the 167 were to elderly relatives who realistically would not be able to travel to Vegas, but we didn't want to hurt feelings, etc.) Our RSVPs are not due til the end of this month, but right now, it looks like we will only have about 85 to 95 people. I'm actually happy that our numbers are lower because we can upgrade a couple of things and still be within our budget. (But we were prepared if all 167 people decided to show up, as they would all fit in our venue.)

My FI likes to joke that "we don't have the drawing power that we used to," and that is why people don't want to come, har har. But we are in our mid-thirties and we have a lot of friends and family with small kids (and many guests who can't come because they are pregnant and expecting around the time of our wedding). So we totally undertand. Plus, flights from the East Coast are expensive right now, so I think the price has a LOT to do with it.

In short - - you never truly know until the RSVPs start to roll in. Plan for the total amount, just in case, but realistically you may have less.

J9lawrence · July 2013

I feel your pain! Making our guest list was the most stressful part of our wedding planning. I am agreeing with the other ladies that you should plan for close to the 200. I was also told the 80% rule by my wedding coordinator. It is going to be a lot less stressful for you in the long run. It is going to be a lot easier to upgrade to some fun options to meet your food/drink minimums than try and find a bigger venue a month before the big day! We invited 120 people and so far 55 have RSVP. If we have a smaller number than we can go with an ice cream sundae station!

liljennygirl · July 2013

I sent out save the dates really early, like maybe even a year or more out, just to get the buzz going and give people plenty of time to save if need be etc. By doing this it really gave me a good idea of who was a "sure thing" and who were more "maybe's" as some people had booked right away and there was a lot of talk within our group of friends about who was in/out. At 6 months out when I sent the invites, I was already quite confident at who was going to respond which way which was crucial in planning the Vista Suite reception space. I have heard it is really maxed at 50, including DJ. We are expecting 40-50 give or take some stragglers, and/or pregnancies and we invited about 70.

SD210 · July 2013

J9lawrence said:

I feel your pain! Making our guest list was the most stressful part of our wedding planning. I am agreeing with the other ladies that you should plan for close to the 200. I was also told the 80% rule by my wedding coordinator. It is going to be a lot less stressful for you in the long run. It is going to be a lot easier to upgrade to some fun options to meet your food/drink minimums than try and find a bigger venue a month before the big day! We invited 120 people and so far 55 have RSVP. If we have a smaller number than we can go with an ice cream sundae station!

Ha! Yes, we are totally in the same boat! If we have under 100, I am adding a Gelato Sundae Bar towards the end of the night! Great minds think alike!

jennyjuice09 · July 2013

I am getting married in November. The invites are out and about 85 people were invited. My ultimate goal was 40-50. Our RSVP count as of today is 34. So I think I will be pretty on target with my range. I honestly don't think you have to plan for 100% attendance, more like 80% and I even think that is aggressive. It's really unfortunately, but flights to Vegas are not the bargain they once were and hotels are even expensive.....what is with these resort fees!!!! (are the pools even open in November??). That said, it can be a real financial strain for people to attend.

jaime85120 · July 2013

@j8lawerence and sd210 please add another guest yo your head count as I will be crashing your sundae bar, yum!

swyatt2014 · July 2013

We may have invited 50 and 19 are coming.

vegasgroom · July 2013

kiraregnier said:

I had the same problem! We ended up inviting 123 people and 59 are coming. With a destination wedding you can expect that a big percentage won't be able to make it. We started with just family and close friends then added people as others said they couldn't attend. It's totally stressful I know. Good luck and congrats!

NEVER make that assumption.

We invited ~135 and had 125 come.

vegasgroom · July 2013

SD210 said:

(a good chunk of the 167 were to elderly relatives who realistically would not be able to travel to Vegas, but we didn't want to hurt feelings, etc.)

One of our guests was a completely unexpected 85 year old great aunt; she said she wouldn't miss it. :-)

sarjhawk · July 2013

@vegasgroom - where were your guests coming from?

vegasgroom · July 2013

sarjhawk said:

@vegasgroom - where were your guests coming from?

We live in Florida. At least 75% of our guests came from Florida, the remaining came from Colorado, Kenya (Africa), California, Arizona and I think a couple north east states I'm drawing a blank on.

SD210 · July 2013

jaime85120 said:

@j8lawerence and sd210 please add another guest yo your head count as I will be crashing your sundae bar, yum!

To quote Sheldon from The Big Bang Theory: "50% of marriages end in divorce, but 100% of make-your-own-sundae bars end in happiness." Ha ha!

SD210 · July 2013

vegasgroom said:

SD210 said:

(a good chunk of the 167 were to elderly relatives who realistically would not be able to travel to Vegas, but we didn't want to hurt feelings, etc.)

One of our guests was a completely unexpected 85 year old great aunt; she said she wouldn't miss it. :-)

That is awesome! I hope she had a blast!

J9lawrence · July 2013

SD210 said:

jaime85120 said:

@j8lawerence and sd210 please add another guest yo your head count as I will be crashing your sundae bar, yum!

To quote Sheldon from The Big Bang Theory: "50% of marriages end in divorce, but 100% of make-your-own-sundae bars end in happiness." Ha ha!

Hahaha this is so awesome! Thanks for sharing!

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