Wedding Bells Blog
dear belle
Counting Heads
Q: My daughter has roughly 300 RSVPs for the reception. What should I tell the caterer the head count is? Do I assume some guests will not show up and consequently decrease the head count, or do I assume some guests simply did not RSVP meaning I should increase the head count? Either way, by what percentage? – Ron
A: Dear Ron,
That’s always a tough question, because you don’t want to undercount, yet you don’t want to go over, either. The best thing to do is ensure that you have an exact amount, give or take five people. Be stern and let your guests know that there is a definite deadline and that you need to get back to the caterer ASAP. However, to be on the safe side, you should always order a bit more (no more than 5 percent) because it’s always better to leave your guests satisfied than hungry.
-Belle
Tags: food, guest list, rsvp
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I work for a hotel who does weddings in Kingston, ON and the hotel will prepare for a maximum of 5% above the guaranteed number (so for 100 person wedding, that wuold be 5 extra meals). If no one shows up, fine. If you do have extra guests you are charged for the actual number.
I would check with your caterer to see if they do or can provide something like this.