You’ve accomplished a huge wedding to do – getting your invitations sent. About a week or so after they’re sent you anxiously check the mail every day in anticipation of receiving multiple guest’s RSVP’s back, only to be disappointed.
This is not only frustrating, but can turn into a concern as you approach your wedding date. The earlier guests RSVP the better chance your travel agent can get them a good price. Your on-site wedding coordinator also needs to know how many guests to expect so they can plan your menu, pricing, and how many rooms to block off. The pressure of this can start to weigh on you when you aren’t receiving many RSVPs back.
So, what should you do? Check out the following 6 tips to get your wedding guests to RSVP in a timely manner.
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1. Send save the dates
You may be reading this after you’ve sent your invitations already, but we want to mention it to our brides who haven’t yet. Sending save the dates plants the seed in your guest’s heads that there’s an event coming up. Having your wedding date in the back of their mind will cause them to think more often about whether or not their attending.
Once they receive your invitation they should already have a pretty good idea on whether or not they’ll be attending, making it easier for them to send the RSVP quickly. By avoiding this uncertainty your guests will respond in a more timely manner.
2. Be specific with instructions and dates to get guests to RSVP
Your RSVP should clearly state how and when to respond. Without a clear, easy course of action for your guests they’re more likely to put it off to the side and think about revisiting it later.
Consider the following phrasing:
“Kindly respond by February 21st.”
“Please respond with the included RSVP return by February 21st.”
“Please visit our website at http://www.jackandjillswedding.com to RSVP no later than February 21st.”
3. Offer multiple wants to RSVP
Not only should you clearly tell your guests when they should RSVP by, but it’s a good idea to offer multiple ways to do so as well. Some guests like doing things the traditional way and sending theirs back in the mail. Others want a simple website to quickly go to from their phone.
Here are a few ways they can RSVP:
- Mail-in RSVP
- Your wedding website
- Texting a friend or family member you’ve appointed
How many of these options you want to provide is up to you. Of course, there’s only so much space on an RSVP for information and instructions, so only choosing 2 options may be best. Either way, giving guests multiple ways to get back to you will increase your chances of getting RSVPs back sooner.
4. Add a fun task to get guests to RSVP
Guests love to feel involved in your special day. Consider offering a way to include them in their RSVP.
One way of doing this is by leaving space on their RSVP for them to include a song request during your reception. It gets them thinking about how fun it would be to dance alongside you on the night of your wedding to a song they enjoy.
Another way is to ask the guest to include their marriage advice for you and your fiance. Since not everyone will be married that you’re sending an invite to, the responses you’ll get will be a fun mix of real and humorous advice.
5. For your sake – don’t make the RSVP date too late in case you need to follow up
If you set your RSVP date to the last possible day they can return it by, you’ll be very stressed thinking about all the guests who haven’t gotten back to you yet and trying to track them down. You’ll want to choose the RSVP date with the intention that you may need to follow up in case you haven’t heard back from multiple guests.
Choose your RSVP date a few weeks before you absolutely need their answer. That way, if you haven’t received a lot back you’ll have plenty of time to reach out.
6. Follow up
We hope this isn’t an action that you have to take, but in our experience it may be likely. Consider ways in which you’ll want to follow up and gently remind your guests instead of having to reach out to them individually.
If you sent your save the dates or invitations via email, it’ll be easy to send a reminder email that you haven’t received their RSVP yet. A gentle nudge may be all they need to remind themselves they haven’t RSVP’ed yet.
If you sent them my mail there are a few ways you can follow up. If you’re comfortable, you could send out a Facebook announcement that you’re still waiting on RSVPs. You can filter your post to only have certain Facebook friends view this. That’s just in case you’re worried about people questioning why they haven’t received an invitation.
Another way to follow up is to have your mother or future mother-in-law reach out to certain family members you haven’t received yet. This takes the pressure and awkwardness off of you and, most of the time, they’re looking for ways to help and be involved in your wedding anyway.
Were these tips helpful to you? If it was, sharing this post to your social media would be so beneficial to me! While you’re there feel free to follow us on Instagram. And hey, it would be a great nudge to all those guests you’re still waiting on RSVPs for. 😉
Any other tips you’ve found helpful to get your guests to RSVP? Comment below or contact me here!
Helpful tips!!I especially like the last tip about having a mom or MIL reach out. We have a destination wedding in April and with the pandemic I’d say more people are on the fence than would be during a normal year, so we’re still looking for a decent amount of RSVP’s. 😬
It’s such a frustrating process! I’m glad the post was helpful for you and hope you get them all back sooner rather than later. 🙂