5 Ways to Get Your Guests to RSVP on Time

Planning & Advice

While planning your wedding, you’ve got lots of moving parts to work with. Collecting RSVPs from your guests can give couples headaches if they’ve got to follow up with everyone. We’ve got 5 really simple things you can do to ensure your guests RSVP on time. You’ll thank us later!

Make it easy

And we mean for you and for your guests! Here are a few ways you can make the whole RSVP process easier:

Go digital: Create a free Gmail account and use that for all your wedding-related correspondence, including RSVPs. Having it all in one place means you don’t have to switch between platforms to gather RSVPs. Being online also means it’s easier and more convenient for guests to respond.

Envelopes: If you’d like guests to respond by mail, be sure to include an envelope in your invitation pack. Make sure it’s already stamped and pre-addressed. Then all your guests need to do is fill out the RSVP card and pop the envelope in the post box.

Be direct

It may seem obvious, but tell your guests exactly what you’re asking them to do. You want to make it as easy as possible for your guests to understand the steps they need to take. Do they need to send an email? Tell them. Would you like them to confirm their meal choice upon RSVP? Tell them.

Time it perfectly

If you give guests too much time to respond, they may put your invitation aside and forget to RSVP. If you don’t give them enough time, you’ll start to put too much pressure on yourself and your timeline. This is what we recommend: send your invitations six weeks before the Big Day. Then ask guests to RSVP two weeks before. This will give them four weeks to receive the invitation and respond promptly. It also gives you time to follow up with anybody who hasn’t responded yet.

Here’s a suggested timeline with some date examples:

Wedding date: 17th September 2022

The date you need to give a final headcount to suppliers: 10th September 2022

RSVP date on the invitation: 1st September 2022

Invitations get sent out: 6th August 2022

Make your RSVP date prominent

You can’t expect guests to RSVP on time if they don’t know what on time is. Have your RSVP date stated clearly on your invitations and on your website. Better yet, make it a nice round number (5th, 10th, 15th, 20th, 25th, 30th, 31st, for example) and it’ll be memorable.

Keep it fun

Here’s one way you can get your guests to respond promptly: make it fun! Instead of “Yes, can attend” or “No, can’t attend”, how about “Heck yes!” or “See you on the dance floor!”. Additionally, why not ask guests to submit their favourite song to dance to or their best piece of marriage advice. This will give them something fun to share with you!