I spent a good three months trying to gather information for our invitations with the help of FI, FMIL, FSMIL, and my mother. I double checked everything before I entered it onto my spreadsheet, and sent emails to all four of them asking them to please double check spelling on any names I wasn't sure of. By the time the invites went out I felt pretty good about everything. I proofread all of the envelopes before the final stamps went on.
Today I got an RSVP back, logged it into the spreadsheet, and noticed that I had misspelled someone's name. I went back to check my source emails/texts, and discovered that I had been given faulty information. This is now the sixth or seventh time this has happened. I am mortified. Also a little bit angry and frustrated, though I do realize these could have been honest mistakes or oversights.
I'm not sure what's worse the fact that it happened at all, or the fact that every misspelling was from FI's family. These are people I've only met once or twice. I don't want them thinking I'm some sort of inconsiderate jerk. Part of me wants to write them back to apologize, but also to defend myself, "It's not my fault! I really do have respect for my guests. I can only work with what I'm given!" Alas, I fear the only thing I can do at this point is to make damn sure everything is correct on the place cards.
On that note, I also want to ask a question: If you address an invitation using someone's formal name (like David), and they return the RSVP using the informal version (Dave), would you take that to mean that they might prefer the informal name on their place card?
