What no one will tell you about RSVP cards

RSVP cards
After the clothes have been fitted, the flowers picked, your centerpieces designed your last major item is sorting through your RSVP cards to create the dreaded seating chart.  What no one will tell you is that you can seat at least 1/3 of your guests throughout your wedding planning process and not have to wait until the last few weeks.  You and your fiancé will know your family members that will be attending as well as your close friends so add them to your chart well in advance.  Unfortunately, you will have delinquent wedding guests that will cause you more stress than you need by not sending in their RSVP cards.

As a South Asian bride, we have many events and at times various guest lists for each event.  How can you keep all of your wedding guests lists all organized? With your RSVP cards of course!  Not only, will your wedding RSVP cards help you stay organized, but it will answer many questions for your guests: How many people from a family are invited? Are my children invited to the wedding? When is the latest that I need to make arrangements by?

Designing your RSVP cards

  1. Do you want 1 RSVP card for all your events?
  2. Do you want 1 RSVP card for each event? (Remember: more cards = increase in postage)
  3. A space to write your guest’s names. Typically this is left blank for the guests to fill in on their own, but you may want to for some of your invited guests. For example, if you invite only 2 people from a family of 5 and you addressed the envelope to the “parents” in the house, but since you left the RSVP name blank they are sending their two children who are in college instead.
  4. Number your RSVP cards and write the number on your spreadsheet.  That way if someone forgets to write in their name you, or if you can’t read it you will know who it is because of the number.
  5. Number of invited guests. Fill in the number of invited guests and have a space for the person to fill in how many will be attending. That way it is clear to them that they cannot bring an extra guest.
  6. A reply by date. Keep the return RSVP Date as a fill in the blank if you are sending out a B list and possibly a C list that way your guests don’t feel hurt.  When you send it out you can write in the date

Alternative options
Many couples are also opting to have their guests RSVP online.  The benefits of this are that you can ask more information without it compromising the look if it was on a small RSVP card.  You can add your meal choices on this for a more accurate count for your caterer.

*Do not forget to add a stamp to the return envelope.

       

Invitations photos by: Invitations by Ajalon and Ceci New York

Need more advice:  Collecting addresses for your wedding invitations and should you send out a Save the Date?

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