How many people should we invite for limited space?

Question

We have found a reception location that we LOVE, only problem is that it can only accommodate 80 people. We have 117 people on the guests list, most of whome are interstate.
Judging by cousins weddings (in my state and inviting the same interstate family) I know about 65 guests will definately come (11 of these are children, does that make a difference?) and 17 definately will not come leaving us with 35 that may go either way.
Do you think that is too many people to invite for the 80 person limit?
How many should I expect to show up out of the 35?
Do reception venues downplay their maximum capacity eg if 5 more than the limit showed up would that usually be ok?

Answer 1

Your best bet is to organize your guest list into A, B, and C.
A= MUST INVITE
B= Really want to invite, will skip only if absolutely necessary
C= Would like to invite. OK to skip.

Send your invites out early (8weeks) to the first 80 people. Then, as you get regrets start sending to the B list. If you get enough regrets move to the C list.
It is what I am doing, except I have a 150person limit.

OH, and the first place you can cut the # of people, in case you haven't done this yet, is removed the "and Guest" from the invitations. If it comes down to your cousin not getting invited or your aunt bringing a date, pick the family member!

Answer 2

Sites don't downplay their capacity. They squeeze every inch possible. If you have room for 80 and put 100 you are going to be very cramped and stuffy and pretty uncomfortable for everybody. Not to mention having authortity figures kicking people out or shutting the whole thing down entirely.

I would start by having a no-children allowed. Even if you have 80 the space is going to be very carefully maxed and no extra room for kiddies to run.

Start by inviting your top 80. As the invitations declining come in then start sending invites to your second list.

On a side note: it's usually best to have room for about 20% more people than will actually be there so with a room that has a capacity of 80 you should only be trying to fit in about 70. I would look for a bigger space, or perhaps see if they have a terrace so you can do an in/out kind of thing

Answer 3

in the case of occupancy laws, children count the same as adults. If you go over the occupancy for your space, then you run the risk of your event being shut down.

You only have 3 options in this case.

1. rent a larger venue

2. cut your guest list down until you have a total of 80 people (this is including you, the groom, and the bridal party--don't forget them if you were not counting them in the 117 guests)

3. Or issue separate invitations to the wedding and reception. In which case there will be no mention of the reception in the wedding invitation. (I DO NOT recommend this route--you will have all kinds of ugly fights the rest of your life with the family members/guests who were excluded)

Good Luck and Happy Wedding!

Answer 4

Hi and congratulations!

The way to plan is to expect that ALL will show up. You know definitely 65 WILL come, 17 will NOT come. However, as you say, that leaves 35 that can go either way. If all 35 come...that totals 100....way too many for your venue.

I would think the venue would allow for maybe 5 more....but that would be tops! And, no it doesn't matter about kids...they need a seat too...so definitely count them in!

The best bet is to try to cut your list down by about 20 people.

Good luck!

Answer 5

expect everyone you invite will come. no matter how much you like the space, it is not acceptable for your group. my sister tried to smash a bunch of people into a space that was too small, and people ended up sitting in the outside hallway. that is beyond horrible. another friend had her daughters wedding in a room that had a second room that had a double door opening, she put people in there and they could hear but not see the wedding, because she loved the main room, but had too many guests. no no no, these things are beyond bad. the room must fit the guest list. it is better to have a bigger room. can you send the out of state guests an announcement of your marriage after you are married? or will they be offended?

Answer 6

in case you do the etiquette properly, then definite, you're able to try this. just to be sparkling: it does not be ok do the choice, because it would be impolite to exclude any visitors from the hospitality (the reception). Your substantial, extra advantageous invitation must be mailed to anybody to ask them to the marriage reception (only replace the be conscious "wedding ceremony" with "wedding ceremony reception" and that makes a marriage ivnitation right into a receptoin invitation). then you definately insert a ceremony Card with the ceremony information purely for the persons you're inviting to the ceremony. Any sturdy etiquette e book are able that may additionally assist you extra, as can the web pages under.

Answer 7

Before making a final decision on this one, please mention it to the person at the reception location and see what they say. That might help give you a good idea of how other brides how worked with the limit.

Answer 8

Invite only the number of people per number of spaces available. You don't want to have to turn anyone away.

Make sure you give them plenty of time to RSVP. This way you can invite others to replace the ones that can't make it.

Answer 9

You usually have a little bit of wiggle room. We had a reception place that said we could only have 200 people. Almost 200 people were there, and there could have been more people easily. I would say invite them all, it is very rare to get 100% attendance.

Answer 10

It will be a very tight squeeze. You always have to assume everyone you invite will come even though most will not. The children thing maybe what will save you. Not everyone will bring their kids to a wedding. In your count did you include the wedding party?