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Giving your RH the final head count...

Original post by RisiLeigh

My FSIL is telling me I should tell them less than what the actual # is, in case people dont' show, etc. Are you girls doing this? How many less should I tell them?

Espo22 Posted:

Re: Giving your RH the final head count...


Posted by RisiLeigh


Posted by Dalia

a word of advice... DO NOT pay for everyone that you think is coming!! JMO because my next door neighbors just got married last sunday and she was raving to me that she paid for everyone and three families had last minute things and didnt show up... she got NO MONEY BACK, ended up paying for 12 heads that were never there!!... if you pay for less and then all show up all that happens is the day of you ask one of the groomsmen to carry the $$ and pay them on the spot. This is just my opinion and what I will personally be doing.



Yeah that's what I was thinking. Its not my side I am so worried about, but my FMIL invited all these cousins she never sees. Most are replying 'no' but 1 replied yes! She was like, 'Oh Marisa I hope they actually show up b/c I have a feeling they won't.' CHARMING!!



well it depends, bc alot has to do with your minimum. If you are at your minimum or just under then it wont matter bc you HAVE to pay for whatever your minimum is regardless, they dont care if less ppl are coming. So if thats the case then there really is no point in giving them less people since you are paying for it regardless...if you are over your minimum then its different and you do pay ahead of time for a final count you give to your Rh a few weeks or up to a week before your wedding.

So lets say your minimum is 200, theres no point of giving them a headcount of 190 bc you would have to pay for 200 ppl no matter what
futuremrsfab Posted:

Re: Giving your RH the final head count...

I would like to give a lower number by 2-4, but am not sure how you set the seating arrangements up or escort cards- any advice from the newlyweds?

Espo22 Posted:

Re: Giving your RH the final head count...


Posted by futuremrsfab

I would like to give a lower number by 2-4, but am not sure how you set the seating arrangements up or escort cards- any advice from the newlyweds?



are you afraid of going over your minimum?

like i said i dont understand the point of doing this unless you go over your minimum, bc no matter what you are paying for your minimum, they dont care if less ppl come you will still get charged based on the minimum you booked with.

If you are going to be over that number then you can give a lower number but dont forget you have to give your RH ahead of time your table arrangements not just your place cards. They gave me a sheet with all the table numbers and lines underneath, they wanted a sheet with all the guests names at each table so they would see ahead of time exactly how many guests you have, you dont just give them a number. Now in order to give a lower number you would have to leave guests off this sheet, and what happens if they show, not only would you give a less number but you would have to pick which guests to take off the list you hand in and you can never guess ahead of time who wont show...now when these guests show they wont have a seat, even if you do place cards for them it wont matter bc since you give them a list with guests names and also they give you a sheet with a floor plan and at each table you put the amount of guests at each one so they set it up that way. So a table will have 2-4 less seats since they are going by the number you gave them. Now you have guests with no seats and the RH having to hurry to set up seats for them

They also want the sheet with all the guests names ahead of time in case there is a problem and someone cant find a placecard, they can tell them where they are sitting
LeeLee111 Posted:

Re: Giving your RH the final head count...

I'm going to give them an exact number. I asked my hall what if that happens and they said they could upgrade an item to make up for the difference.

GinaZ Posted:

Re: Giving your RH the final head count...

That could get tricky... I wouldnt say any less than 2-4 people if u do do this. I think thy set up based on your number given and they count your placecards too. So you might end up paying for them all anyway....

futuremrsfab Posted:

Re: Giving your RH the final head count...


Posted by Espo22


Posted by futuremrsfab

I would like to give a lower number by 2-4, but am not sure how you set the seating arrangements up or escort cards- any advice from the newlyweds?



are you afraid of going over your minimum?

like i said i dont understand the point of doing this unless you go over your minimum, bc no matter what you are paying for your minimum, they dont care if less ppl come you will still get charged based on the minimum you booked with.

If you are going to be over that number then you can give a lower number but dont forget you have to give your RH ahead of time your table arrangements not just your place cards. They gave me a sheet with all the table numbers and lines underneath, they wanted a sheet with all the guests names at each table so they would see ahead of time exactly how many guests you have, you dont just give them a number. Now in order to give a lower number you would have to leave guests off this sheet, and what happens if they show, not only would you give a less number but you would have to pick which guests to take off the list you hand in and you can never guess ahead of time who wont show...now when these guests show they wont have a seat, even if you do place cards for them it wont matter bc since you give them a list with guests names and also they give you a sheet with a floor plan and at each table you put the amount of guests at each one so they set it up that way. So a table will have 2-4 less seats since they are going by the number you gave them. Now you have guests with no seats and the RH having to hurry to set up seats for them

They also want the sheet with all the guests names ahead of time in case there is a problem and someone cant find a placecard, they can tell them where they are sitting


thanks that helps alot, i think its probably better to just go with the real number, unless a guest gives us a maybe or something (fh's cousin said maybe when we told her the date )
GinaZ Posted:

Re: Giving your RH the final head count...


Posted by Dalia

a word of advice... DO NOT pay for everyone that you think is coming!! JMO because my next door neighbors just got married last sunday and she was raving to me that she paid for everyone and three families had last minute things and didnt show up... she got NO MONEY BACK, ended up paying for 12 heads that were never there!!... if you pay for less and then all show up all that happens is the day of you ask one of the groomsmen to carry the $$ and pay them on the spot. This is just my opinion and what I will personally be doing.



Not a bad idea to keep the money handy! just check your halls contract for policies on this. my hall made it clear that once we gave our final number, it couldn't be changed.
Espo22 Posted:

Re: Giving your RH the final head count...


Posted by futuremrsfab


Posted by Espo22


Posted by futuremrsfab

I would like to give a lower number by 2-4, but am not sure how you set the seating arrangements up or escort cards- any advice from the newlyweds?



are you afraid of going over your minimum?

like i said i dont understand the point of doing this unless you go over your minimum, bc no matter what you are paying for your minimum, they dont care if less ppl come you will still get charged based on the minimum you booked with.

If you are going to be over that number then you can give a lower number but dont forget you have to give your RH ahead of time your table arrangements not just your place cards. They gave me a sheet with all the table numbers and lines underneath, they wanted a sheet with all the guests names at each table so they would see ahead of time exactly how many guests you have, you dont just give them a number. Now in order to give a lower number you would have to leave guests off this sheet, and what happens if they show, not only would you give a less number but you would have to pick which guests to take off the list you hand in and you can never guess ahead of time who wont show...now when these guests show they wont have a seat, even if you do place cards for them it wont matter bc since you give them a list with guests names and also they give you a sheet with a floor plan and at each table you put the amount of guests at each one so they set it up that way. So a table will have 2-4 less seats since they are going by the number you gave them. Now you have guests with no seats and the RH having to hurry to set up seats for them

They also want the sheet with all the guests names ahead of time in case there is a problem and someone cant find a placecard, they can tell them where they are sitting


thanks that helps alot, i think its probably better to just go with the real number, unless a guest gives us a maybe or something (fh's cousin said maybe when we told her the date )



this would work if all we had to do was give just a number to the Rh...But the problem is that you have to guest the names of ALL your guests and on top of that fill in the floor plan and put how many guests at each table. So they will set up the room based on the number you give them. If you give them less people and ppl do show up then theres no seats for them. Also in order to give a lower number you have to take off guests names from the list you give them of all guest names, now hopefully there wouldnt be a problem but if somebody cant find a placecard it can get messy, doesnt happen often but it can.

My biggest thing is what i said before about the fact that if youre not over your minimum then it wont even matter, even if you tell them 10 less ppl you still will pay for 10 ppl even if they dont show up

plus ill say that many RH's will not charge you the day of your wedding if 2-4 extra ppl show up or even a bit more

amanda41083 Posted:

Re: Giving your RH the final head count...

Some people are saying there giving there head count a couple of days before so they know who is coming and who is not. But you cant predict who are actually going to show up the day of. I think people just RSVP yes to avoid explaining why they cant go and just dont show up. Which is stupid.

amanda41083 Posted:

Re: Giving your RH the final head count...

Also you have to pay for the amount of people you Guaranteed for when you signed the contract. So i graranted 350 and if i only have 340 i still have to pay the 350. That *****. These RH and such a rip off some times. And my hall wants payment in cash. can you imagine walking in with a suite case of cash. LOL LOL

Butterfly123 Posted:

Re: Giving your RH the final head count...

I gave them the correct count.

mrspalomino148 Posted:

Re: Giving your RH the final head count...

I had 3 people not show on the day of, but honestly i dont get how you would say a lower number? you still have to give them your seating chart, they will probably notice if they have to set up 200 plates and you only pay for 190, ya know?

melissatam2008 Posted:

Re: Giving your RH the final head count...

3 of my FH's cousins got marry last year n they all advised me to do no give the exact number cuz is better if u pay after ., that payin n not gettin ur money back...i told the place 125 ppl , but i originally have 130, so im not payin for those extra 5 till the day of the wedding in case some ppl drop ...good luck

Bride908 Posted:

Re: Giving your RH the final head count...

honestly at my sisters wedding she had EXTRA people. 2 of my cousins who responded no showed up with dates. They set it up fine. If you want to do it go for it. I might give 2 less. There are always no shows. Its 2 people they can work it out...

kat124 Posted:

Re: Giving your RH the final head count...

I am doing it. I am giving 4 people less, I am not counting the dates of my bridal party and I let them know this. One of them actually gave me the idea. She said dont count our dates, in case other people dont show, if they do we gert extra chair and you pay, if they dont then we move the chairs.

However more than a 5 people deletion in count would make things a little too complicated.
Kris0703 Posted:

Re: Giving your RH the final head count...

IMO I don't think I would scr ew around with this. You pay so much and plan for sooo long, I don't think I would want this hanging over my head, ya know? I would be thinking about it all day - if I had to pay for extra plates, get more seating, etc. JMO, but I just want to sit back and relax that whole day. I wouldn't want to be bothered with money and paying extra.

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