Planning Something Fun?
You are so excited! You are planning a special event, your wedding, a family reunion, or a surprise birthday party. You’ve set the date, designed wonderful invitations, planned the menu and you are in the midst of designing the decorations. Everything is on schedule. Well almost everything.
When you mailed your wonderful invitations, you included information on how to respond. Not one person has responded. What gives?
Répondez s’il vous plaît
R.S.V.P. comes from the French term Répondez s’il vous plaît. It literally means, “Reply if you please” or “Please reply”. It originated in the 18th century. According to Emily Post’s work in the early 1900’s anyone receiving a request to R.S.V.P. is obliged to reply promptly, within a day or two of receiving the invite.
With such a long-standing history, why don’t we follow this basic concept of good manners? I have to admit, I am guilty of failing to follow-thru on it. Maybe we just don’t understand its purpose.
It’s All About the Math
As a host it makes party-planning so much easier if we have a good idea of how many people are committed to attending our event. Its really about the math, if you are planning games, party favors, seating, a meal or just refreshments you need a count of who will attend so there will be enough for all your guests. I’ve had events where I did not have enough food and others where I had way too many leftovers just because I did not have a good count of who was planning to attend.
The best way to find out how much you need for your event is to ask your invited guests to let you know if they are or are not going to be able to attend. So I’m wondering if you struggle, as I do to get the responses so you can do your “math”.
What I’ve Tried
I’ve tried several different things to get that R.S.V.P. for events and I’ve talked to some friends about their struggles to get the R.S.V.P. Here are some things my friends and I have tried:
Send a save-the-date in advance
Clearly state how your guests need to respond and by when
Make it easy to respond – provide phone numbers, email, etc.
Set a reasonable response deadline
Give the reason a response is needed “Please respond so we are sure to have enough refreshments”
Send multiple invites – email, snail mail, facebook, etc.
Send follow-up reminders
Send event planning updates via email and social media so people are reminded and get to share your excitement as you prepare
Include a SASE in your snail mail invite
Call each guest and ask them
Some of these ideas have worked for me. I have found a combination of them seems to work best.
Can You Get That R.S.V.P.?
If it really is about the math, then two heads are better than one and a whole bunch of heads can solve this challenge. The reason I’m writing this post is to get your help and your ideas. Have you tried any or all of these ideas? Have you given up on getting R.S.V.P.s? What else have you tried? What has worked? Please share in the comments so we can all can get that R.S.V.P. I cannot wait to hear what has worked for you!
Blessings,
Lauree
…keep dancing the dream
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It is frustrating when people don’t respond. I don’t think the realize how big of a difference it makes to the person planning the party! I certainly don’t know the answer!
I agree Carlee, it is frustrating. I just know someone has the answer. I hope they share it! LOL! I do think it is key to communicate over and over and by several avenues. I also think it is important to sincerely thank anyone who does RSVP – positive reinforcement might be something we use on our kids, but it can work with everyone. Thanks for joining in the conversation!