Question and Vent: Percentage of Guest who Attend

So, is it really true that 25% of your guests won't be able to attend your wedding? I'm asking because even though we told FH's parents that our reception site could hold at maximum 150 and that we wanted to keep it at 140 and we asked them months ago for all of their names--friends and family, and then a month ago they came to us and told us that they had to send invitations to six of their friends, who wouldn't be able to come, but they wanted to extend the courtesy, even though they knew that we were hovering at 155 on our invitation list. Our list went up to 170 and this made me very nervous.

Now we are beginning to get rsvps and FH's Dad emails us that some of their friends who we were told to invite, who wouldn't come, are making plans to come! Of course this doesn't mean that they will--I am not counting on it until an rsvp card comes in, but I'm already getting sick to my stomach that we'll go over the 150 or something. Please tell me that I shouldn't worry and that people won't be able to come!

Hey Meg,
I'm going to make you feel better. We're inviting 190, with the hopes of having 140. Some were courtesy invites like yours. I started getting mad at my mother as she kept inviitng extra 'courtesy' people. My parents have invited 2/3 of all the guests as it is.

I hope that's not gonna be true in my case....Anyone want to come to my wedding???

It depends on your guest list - how many people are travelling, the time of year, holiday weekend, size of guest list, etc.

Keep your fingers crossed that your totals fall in line. FYI, the yesses usually come in way before the no's so you may see a drop off in the next couple of weeks.

Irene:

Yikes! I know how you feel. FH and I are praying that his parents won't come back with more courtesy guests. I'm sure in the end will both be fine.

Thank you everyone. I'm feeling a little less stressed

I heard that 20% is average, that is what we are planning for. We want 225 and have 260 on the list (still waiting for the finals). My sister said her wedding was about 20% decline.

Good luck and don't stress!