Wiggle Room for Guest List?

[goldenstar]

Would it be imprudent to select a venue that just barely holds our guest list? We have 130 on our list and several of the venues we really like have a capacity of 120. We are pretty strict about our numbers, but I''m worried that the guest list might grow with last minute additions. I suppose we can use the capacity excuse to prevent this from happening.


What do you think?

 

[~*Snow*~]

is that 130 confirmed guest or just 130 people on the list?
the general rule of thumb is 66% of people will accept the invitation, maybe more if all are local, maybe less if the majority are out of state... so i hope that helps!

 

[partyjewels]

Our reception location allows 200 max and unfortunately we''ve had to leave people off the list as we''re already at that number! We both have very large families and are inviting only a small amount of friends but we''re still up there

And I''m worried about the same thing as you. We''ve had several of our recently married friends/family tell us how we shouldn''t worry about it because not everyone comes and we''ll be fine... but I don''t like the idea of assuming that only a certain amount of them will come because what if we invited more than that max number and they all come? well then we''re screwed! But I''m definitely a play it safe kinda woman so I don''t want to risk it.. I think it depends on what you''re comfortable doing.

Do you have any inklings on who might not end up going? I''m sorry I can''t really help you out

 

[happy in love]

Our venue holds 150 max, and we are inviting almost 170. We know about 10 are not coming. We have already heard from a few others that we thought would definately be there who can''t make it, so I think we will be under 150 for sure. But... our wedding is about a 3-4 hour drive for most guests, so that makes a difference too.

 

[goldenstar]

I have 130 on the list and I do have an idea of a few that might not make it because of distance. But its mostly people who are near and dear so I think we''ll have a high acceptance rate.

Choosing one of the 120 person venues would meet a lot of our venue criteria. Any larger and we start running into budget issues and would have to make some compromises.

I''m starting to consider having a "B" List even though a lot of people wouldn''t agree with that. I dunno, I would rather have people on the B list than exclude them altogether. If I did this, I would try my best to conceal the fact that there is a second list. There are people that I would love to have if space permits, and if there happens to be room I would like to fill it.

I need to mull this over for a while longer.

 

[Fancy605]

I really don''t think you have to worry. You can generally assume that at least 25% of the guests will not attend. I have always heard 33% will not attend, but I say 25% just to be safe. We invited 300, and had just over 200 show up RSVP yes. Our hall was supposed to hold 200, but we were able to add a few extra chairs at tables with children especially and hold all 200whatever it ended up being. With a guest list of 130 and a capacity of 120, I''d say you are more than safe. You could probably invite 150 or 160 if you wanted.