AboutShannon M Mason Expertise As an accredited Professional Bridal Consultant, I can answer questions involving all aspects of wedding and event planning. From budgets and organization to menus and timelines, each part of the planning process is just as important as the next. Whether you are looking for answers to traditional wedding questions or you want to venture outside the box, ask away! If we don’t have the answer we will find it for you!
Experience I am the owner of New Beginnings Wedding & Event Management and have been planning weddings and events for 13 years. I attend networking and training classes on a regular basis to keep abreast of the latest trends and fashions.
Education/Credentials Professional Bridal Consultant - Association of Bridal Consultants
Expert: Shannon M Mason Date: 4/15/2008 Subject: Wedding guest No-Shows
Question QUESTION: Hi,
I was wondering, on average, how many wedding guests RSVP "yes" and then do not attend a wedding?
Thank you!
ANSWER: Claire:
In past experience, most guests who RSVP that they are attending usually attend. Most of the books will tell you that about 20% of invited guests do not attend the wedding.
In the past, clients who have relied on this number have been surprised that most all of the invited guests came to the wedding.
My advice is to make sure you have a large enough venue to hold the amount of guests you plan to invite. If they don't all show up then you have no concerns. However, if you invite more than the venue can hold and they all show up then you won't have a place to put them all.
Good luck!
~Shannon
---------- FOLLOW-UP ----------
QUESTION: Hi Shannon,
Thank you for your response! Fortunately, our venue is large enough to hold all of the wedding guests who have RSVP'ed yes, and we have about 4-5 extra chairs in case guests who did not respond are able to attend. I was curious more about no-shows and whether we should confirm a slightly lower attendance number to our caterer since there is a chance that a few guests may not make it, even though they said they would. To give you a little more information, our wedding is this Saturday. We have had 135 adults and 8 children accept our invitation. Knowing that our caterer will prepare more food than is necessary, is it safe to assume that a couple of the adults may not make it due to last-minute emergencies? Any rule-of-thumb advice you can give is great.
Thank you!
Answer Ah... that helps a little. If you are having a buffet then you can give the caterer a count of 130 and have enough food. If it is plated then you want to be able to give them the correct count. With a plated meal, they are more accurate with the amount of food they prepare.
I would hate to tell you to count on less people due to last-minute issues and then they all arrive.
