Brides Helping Brides ™ - Final Head count....

lucky1010 Posted: Aug 21, 2008 11:48 AM

Final Head count....

So if my final head count is say 180, how many should I tell the hall?? So many people tell me to tell them less, but how many less??

BeccaJo Posted: Aug 21, 2008 11:50 AM

Re: Final Head count....

I'm having the same question... how do you tell them a smaller number than expected but still have them set up the right number of chairs/tables?

kirstenjk Posted: Aug 21, 2008 12:12 PM

Re: Final Head count....

I am sure that they will catch on to the fact that you are guaranteeing a smaller number than what you want set up for. Why don't you guarantee 5 or 10 people less and call them a day or two before the wedding and say the count is now whatever. That way you don't have to pay for no-shows or at least for too many no-shows.

Hope this makes sense.

kslmbuggie Posted: Aug 21, 2008 12:16 PM

Re: Final Head count....

tell them 170, your bound to have no shows. I'm sure they can set up an extra table in no time.

Espo22 Posted: Aug 21, 2008 12:24 PM

Re: Final Head count....

whats your minimum, is 180 your minimum? if your minimum is 180 for example then there is no point in telling them less bc you have to pay for the minimum you guaranteed no matter what. So even if you tell them 175 for example but you guaranteed 180 ppl you still pay for 180 ppl no matter if less ppl come

they can set up an extra table just in case but remember you wont have things for that extra table, such as a cp like all the other tables, any if you do any extras such as table numbers or anything like that

lucky1010 Posted: Aug 21, 2008 12:33 PM

Re: Final Head count....

Posted by Espo22

whats your minimum, is 180 your minimum? if your minimum is 180 for example then there is no point in telling them less bc you have to pay for the minimum you guaranteed no matter what. So even if you tell them 175 for example but you guaranteed 180 ppl you still pay for 180 ppl no matter if less ppl come

they can set up an extra table just in case but remember you wont have things for that extra table, such as a cp like all the other tables, any if you do any extras such as table numbers or anything like that

my minimum is 150, so Im over.... Im afraid to tell them less and then have to set up another table last minute...

Espo22 Posted: Aug 21, 2008 12:39 PM

Re: Final Head count....

Posted by Karen9508

Posted by Espo22

whats your minimum, is 180 your minimum? if your minimum is 180 for example then there is no point in telling them less bc you have to pay for the minimum you guaranteed no matter what. So even if you tell them 175 for example but you guaranteed 180 ppl you still pay for 180 ppl no matter if less ppl come

they can set up an extra table just in case but remember you wont have things for that extra table, such as a cp like all the other tables, any if you do any extras such as table numbers or anything like that

my minimum is 150, so Im over.... Im afraid to tell them less and then have to set up another table last minute...

oh ok thats different then. I can see your dilemma, and i would be afraid to tell them less too. Maybe they would be able to set up chairs at other tables instead of making another table. Lets say you say 4 less people, 2 can go to a table that can fit them and same for the other 2. As far as no shows the day of the wedding i think i had 4 the most, right now i can only think of 1 couple who rsvp'd yes but never showed and maybe 1 or 2 other ppl i think if they do set up another table then they'll end up knowing regardless that you will have more ppl than what you told them

MikeandJess Posted: Aug 21, 2008 12:49 PM

Re: Final Head count....

I'm also minimizing the head count. I'm just taking a few people away from the larger tables. They'll have less of a problem adding more people then taking them away. I'm only minimizing by 5 guests.

MCA1180 Posted: Aug 21, 2008 01:08 PM

Re: Final Head count....

that's a good question...

let's say hypothetically you guaranteed 150, but you have 175 guests attending.... since there are always a couple of last minute no-shows on the day of, how do you kind of buffer yourself from having to pay for these people's plates and then they don't show up the day of???

what # would you give them? would you say 175? or would you give a couple of bodies less? if all 175 do show up (yeah right!) would it be a big deal for the hall to accomodate them?

jessica08bride Posted: Aug 21, 2008 01:16 PM

Re: Final Head count....

not only might there be people who dont show up, but there might be people who just show up even though they said no - like in my case. i had some people not show, but there was that 1 or 2 people who did show up last minute, so i guess it all evened out. my final count was 260 and i told them 260. i didnt want to take any chances or have any headaches that day. im sure it wont be a problem for the hall to accomodate but i really didnt want them setting things up last minute.

Espo22 Posted: Aug 21, 2008 01:26 PM

Re: Final Head count....

Posted by MCA1180

that's a good question...

let's say hypothetically you guaranteed 150, but you have 175 guests attending.... since there are always a couple of last minute no-shows on the day of, how do you kind of buffer yourself from having to pay for these people's plates and then they don't show up the day of???

what # would you give them? would you say 175? or would you give a couple of bodies less? if all 175 do show up (yeah right!) would it be a big deal for the hall to accomodate them?

it depends on the Rh and your maitre'd. I was told some will charge you extra if more ppl show up than what you told them, and others will just let it go if its off just by a few. No way of knowing ahead of time unless they tell you this info.

It wouldnt be a big deal for your RH to accomodate them, they definitely can. Its ALOT easier if they can set up seats at tables. Like i said above, if they have to set up a whole table then that table will stick out bc they have no cp on it, or for example i did table numbers so do many other girls so they wont have personalized table numbers like the others. So if you tell them about 4 or 5 less ppl then its fine bc they wont need to set up a new table. If they find out during CH you have more guests it wont be bad bc they can set up new seats while your guests are still in the CH room and before they enter reception.

BUT also remember that you have to give your RH a list of your guests by name. They do it by tables, they have every table listed on a sheet and at each table you write down the name of each guest at that table. They do this just in case theres a problem with placecards the day of your wedding and somebody cant find their placecard, they can tell them where to sit. So by telling them less ppl then you have to leave ppl off that list even though they rsvp'd yes. SO if you say 5 less ppl, then dont write 5 peoples names on the list. ALso you have to hand them your placecards ahead of time and they count it, so that means that you wont be able to make placecards for 5 ppl, so you might have guests who dont have placecards bc you cant guess ahead of time who might not show. So not only will they not have a placecard but they wont have a seat and theyll have to wait for it to be set up. They'll come up to you if theres a problem like this.

I had 1 placecard missing, DOC came up to me and asked me what table are they supposed to sit at. The problem is that dh told me the name of the couple and i thought it was his cousin, the couple had same first names lol, so i put the wrong last name, it was his parents friends instead. I felt real bad that the couple stood there looking for their placecard and never found it, and then had to be told to hold on, the doc had to come to the bridal suite to ask me and then had to go back to where they were waiting to escort them to their seats

nicolejohn Posted: Aug 21, 2008 09:45 PM

Re: Final Head count....

honestly, i dont think it's worth the headache! after you submit the numbers, just keep your fingers crossed they show up!

i told them the number I had, and that was the number that attended, minus 3 no shows! But then we had 1 add on at the last minute. So, I'm down $340...oh well....

Annoulak Posted: Aug 21, 2008 09:57 PM

Re: Final Head count....

Posted by nicolejohn

honestly, i dont think it's worth the headache! after you submit the numbers, just keep your fingers crossed they show up!

I agree...in the long run, peace of mind is worth it.

Also, if 4 or 5 people don't show up, ask them to give you that number of dinners in doggie bags to take home with you (or give to your parents, bridal party, etc.).

wundmoretime Posted: Aug 21, 2008 10:49 PM

Re: Final Head count....

IMO, I would under count by about 4 people, but not too much more. You can add 2 people to 2 different tables if need be. I am not sure if they count the place setting/cards though. example, first marriage-2 people didn't come because the guy had a massive stroke earlier in the day. Otherwise, they were very good friends with the ex and would have never missed it for the world. You just never know.

CD516 Posted: Aug 21, 2008 10:54 PM

Re: Final Head count....

I had 2 people not show on the day of. I wish i had told them 2 less!!

Mici n KC Posted: Aug 22, 2008 01:50 AM

Re: Final Head count....

I would go to 175.

AllyDrew1108 Posted: Aug 22, 2008 07:45 AM

Re: Final Head count....

Ugh, this sounds like Price is Right or some type of game. Why are people so rude? Unless you have a dire emergency, you say you're going, you better go. Ha ha!

RisiLeigh Posted: Aug 22, 2008 07:49 AM

Re: Final Head count....

I had this same issue. FILs were all telling me to tell them like 4-6 less than the actual # but I asked the girls on here and all of them said not to do that. We were too paranoid that something would not work out, so we ended up telling them the actual #. If we end up spending more b/c people don't show than so be it.