Need help, please

I was told that I need a minimum of 125 people.
So I have no idea how many people to invite in order to meet the min.? B/c it's always said to assume that at least 20% of the people invited reply no. The problem is that I really can't take the chance to invite too many people b/c we're on a tight budget. I don't know what to do.

Re: Need help, please

Well it really depends on how much family and close friends you have.

I invited 165 and 120 responded yes. I guess because it was a Sunday afternoon only 120 showed up. I would invite 150-175...depending. You can always have an A-list and a B-list this way you can meet you minimun.

Re: Need help, please

we invited 240 or so, knowing ahead of time that about 20 would be no's for sure. So figure, 220. We wound up with 180 or so, which is exactly 20% less. I think you get more no's for a sunday night or friday night wedding than a sat. night, but not sure on that one....might be true if there are a lot of people traveling.

Re: Need help, please

I'm trying to figure out the same thing. We budgeted for 125 guest and we are thinking about inviting about 150-160.

Re: Need help, please

I think you need to look at a couple of factors. I agree that a Friday or Sunday night would lead to more no's. However, if 99% of your families live local, there's a good chance that no matter when you have it, you'll have a high Yes ratio. You're also getting married in the middle of summer, so you probably have to account for people being away on vacation.

If you're really on a tight space or budget constraint, I would definitely go with the B-list. If you do fall below your limit - see if your hall will negiotate - instead of paying for extra, wasted meals, can you add extras to your cocktail hour?? The hall gets the same amount of money and you're not stuck with extra meals.

Good Luck!!

Re: Need help, please

Dont foregt to add your vendors...that it what helped us pull through to make the minimum.

Re: Need help, please

You can also send the invitations out extra early to about 130-140 people. . . .then as the no's come in, send more invitations out. This has worked for friends of ours before.

Re: Need help, please

I agree with Vickic - send them out a little early and you will have that extra time to continue sending out as people respond that they can not attend.

Re: Need help, please

I also aree with Vicki! My FH met my younger brothers best friend & I told him he's on the B list. John had no idea what I meant but after explaining he thought it was a great plan.

Re: Need help, please

I invited 200 and ended up EXACTLY at my minimum - 130! But mine is a holiday weekend. It could have gone either way with us - I would not bank on any 'rules'!

Re: Need help, please

I would go with an A and B list like some of the other brides have said. You can't know for sure if the 20% rule will work for you. Most of my quests are immediate family and all of them already know our wedding date, so I'm not expecting many no's at all. Good luck!!!

Re: Need help, please

BillysBride, I am in the same predicament as you. I am budgeted for 125-130 max. I have been told that I can safely invite 160. I do not want to take that chance because most of our invites live in NY , I am only inviting 10 out of town guests 4 of those being my Sister and her family. So as you can see I really do not anticipate a lot of no shows.

On top of that reception room can comfortably seat 140 hold 175, so that is more of a motivating factor to keep my guest list down.

Though some may not agree with this I may end up doing the A List B list thing.

Re: Need help, please

I wish I had too many people! I would love a B list! I thought I would be reaching my minmum no problem (125) but then after all the RSVPs for my e-party and realizing my FI family is only inviting around 30 or so people (small family) I'm worried were not going to make it! My family is small too and my e-party only has about 80 people!!!

Re: Need help, please

Wow thanks for the advice. I really have to consider
all of my options. I guess I have some time to make up my mind. I hate stressing

Re: Need help, please

So this A List, B List thing...we also thought about it merely to control the headcount. We can easily meet the minimum, we just don't want to max out too much, to keep costs down. We were thinking of sending out the A list three months in advance and the B list two (which is the normal amount of time). Is that what everyone else is doing?