Wedding Planning 101, R.S.V.P. Defined

R.S.V.P.  ( répondez s'il vous plaît) or Respond Please!  Why this is so important (and frustrating) for anyone planning a wedding or other event!  Here's some RSVP 101 and my devious ideas! 

  

Does anyone understand the significance of this?  They might not!  That is, until they are the ones planning an event.  It comes down to showing a host the common courtesy of knowing whether you are going to be attending or not.  For a wedding, it can influence the costs tremendously!  Most people think that it's just the cost of the food.  That is the biggest concern, but a lot of people don't think of the extra costs that a bride and groom might incur because they want to make sure that no one goes hungry or doesn't have a place to sit.  Here are some extra expenses you might not even think of in addition to the food.  If a person doesn't have an accurate count it can add to wasted money on tables, chairs, chair covers, chair sashes, tablecloths, napkins, glassware, stemware, centerpieces, cutlery, etc.  These things do not always come automatically with the catering.  (More on that in another newsletter!)  When people don't RSVP by a certain date is causes unprecedented stress on the bride, groom and their families when they least need it!  They already have enough things on their minds and have the extra weight due to other's lack of courtesy.  

If only you could put in the invitation...if you don't RSVP and you show up, you will be sitting on the floor, be the last ones to be called up to the buffet line, wish you had brought a plate, eat the food with your fingers, wipe your mouth on your sleeve, go thirsty...and be roasted, (oops!) toasted during the reception.  Maybe you can just give the name of the town where the wedding will be and not give the location of the wedding until they RSVP.  I've never thought of that before! Hmmm. You could make them get up and dance during the reception, but instead of dancing to Y-M-C-A, you could make them do the same only to the letters R-S-V-P.  It's your party, you can do what you want to!  8)

Wishing you the greatest of days!

 Visit:  Greatest of Days

  Contact  Greatest of Days

  Sign up for the Greatest of Days Newsletter "Wedding & Event Dialogue"

Tip # 4 for a Trouble-Free Wedding. Space! The First Frontier!

The sooner you have a "guess-timate" of  the guest count established, the least likely it will be that you waste money on deposits on venues that won't be large enough or even a waste of space.  Your choices are limited finding a venue that will hold more than 200 people.  Most brides and grooms tell me they are expecting 150 people.  You might think you know how many people will show up until you talk to your parents and they start spreading the word!  

In some cultures, there really is no way to know how many people are going to show up, so let your caterer know about this.  So by all means have a lot of space in this situation.  There's nothing worse than having your event shut down due to exceeding capacity!

This is important!!

Speaking of capacity and those numbers that they put on the walls telling you how many people can be in that room, in industry terms, it means reception style.  Reception style is when EVERYONE is standing and there are no tables and chairs.  I know, it sounds like the opposite just like having to obtain a banquet permit which is actually for serving alcohol that you have bought.  The human form takes 2-3 times as much space seated as it does standing.  There's your first visual on that difference.  The human form also needs a minimum of 18 inches to navigate between items of furniture.  You'll be happier with much more than this at a reception.

Horror stories that I've actually seen and heard about:

1.  A bride sent out her invitations before she put down her deposit on the venue.  They fell in love with the venue and got stars in their eyes.  A wedding coordinator who is hired to do a full-planning would have never let that happen or stand back and think, "What?!"

2.  Don't just think that it will be okay!  Be realistic.  Everyone wants to enjoy the festivities and not be craning their necks to see what is going on.

3.  See if your venue has supporting beams that will block your guests' vision.  Those among other things cannot be changed!

4.  Please have all your guests in one reception room!   This is such a downer!  Your guests will feel like 2nd class citizens in a smaller room.  Again a Wedding Coordinator who would be in on the full-planning process from the start, would never suggest this.  

It is because of these and many other situations that many wedding coordinators, truth be told, dread some day-of-coodinations.  We're stuck with decisions that have already been made unadvisedly by a client and there's no turning back.  Wedding Coordinators in some respects have a crystal ball.  Most of the time we know what might be a problem.  It's not always a problem with a bride's decision.  On the other hand, there are some venues, plain and simple think they can just open their doors for weddings like any other event.  Weddings are different.  I'll say this again Weddings are different!  If a vendor or venue does not live, eat and breathe weddings, perhaps they should reconsider weather or not they should provide services for weddings.

One of my next posts will be about choosing a venue.  Warning!  It's going to be a long one!

Wishing you the greatest of days!!

Janis Flagg

Greatest of Days 

Event and Wedding Planning, Design and Officiating

http://greatestofdays.com/services.html

Feel free to leave a comment so that I know what you are wanting to read.  I'm here to help, but I need to hear from you!  I ♥ U!