There are several ways guests can be unintentionally inconsiderate when it comes to RSVP-ing. They may fail to do it altogether (and still show up), do it last minute, or reply “yes” then bail. Getting an accurate headcount a week before the day is essential to ensuring the engaged couple doesn’t overpay at the last-minute or lose money on plates they already paid for due to no-shows.
When Lifehacker reader GGxGG had to significantly downsize their wedding to 30 people due to COVID, they hadn’t gotten a reply from one close friend whose wife was about to have a baby. Three weeks before the wedding, GGxGG reached out to inquire (never make the host follow up!) “Again no response, so I assumed he was a no,” GGxGG writes. “Until he finally responded and told me that he was going to come, but the wife would stay home (totally fine, but now I had to pay extra for the last-minute addition and rearrange the seating chart).”
Adding insult to injury, “He no-showed at the event because she had given birth a few days before. Totally understandable, but with such an intimate event, why didn’t you just decline from the outset?”
