Maximize Your Budget with an Accurate Guest Count
The number of wedding guests you invite is one of the biggest contributing factors on how far you can stretch your budget. Therefore, having an accurate guest count is so crucial. I have seen hundreds of couples prepare and pay for far more guests than actually show up. When this happens, so much of the budget gets wasted (i.e. cost of dinner per person, number of tables and centerpieces, size of cake, number of wedding favors, the list goes on and on). If you invite 100 guests, don’t plan and pay for 100 guests. It is highly unlikely that all of them will show up. Knowing an accurate guest count can really help you save on your budget.
RSVP’s are very important to help get an accurate guest count. You should give your guests a very simple way to RSVP through a wedding website or with pre-stamped and pre-addressed envelopes included in the invitation. If it’s not simple and easy, the chances of getting a response drastically decrease. Make sure to give guests a date to respond by and follow up with those who don’t reply.
It’s hard to imagine that some of your family and friends will not show up for your big day, but life happens. Someone is bound to get sick or have car trouble or get stuck at work or have a family emergency. Even some that RSVP they will come might not make it.
So…how do you know many guests to plan for? After lots of research, event experts have devised a formula to help give you a quick estimate. It is just an estimate, but after thousands of events this seems to be the trend.
For local guests, plan for 85% of invitees attending. Don’t forget to add spouses and children if they are invited!
For out-of-town guests, plan on 55% of them attending. However, if most of them are close family who may go the distance to make it, your estimate could be higher—as high as 85%.
To simplify, use the following equation for a quick guest estimate:
(Number of out-of-town guests x 0.55) + (Number of local guests x 0.85) = Total estimate
Here is a super convenient wedding guest calculator if you don’t feel like doing the math. Enter the number of local guests, the number of out of town guests, and how early you will send out the invites, and it gives you a very good guest estimate. https://weddingdive.com/idea/wedding-guest-count-estimate-calculator
Happy planning!
