Diary of a Wedding Planning Machine: RSVPs

Ho ho ho, I bet you're thinking. Yes, many of you will know how I feel about people who don't RSVP. I have already mentioned it before in a previous post. And those thoughts aren't exactly kind ones.

The RSVP date for our wedding has now been and gone (it was last Wednesday). I was expecting to have to call half of our guest list to see if they were actually coming because this happened to my bridesmaid, Rhianon in the lead up to her wedding nearly three and a half years ago. I remember feeling disgusted when she told me.

Actually the vast majority have been very good and RSVPed on time. We've had to chase up a few people and surprisingly they've been people who are usually very prompt in this area. Most people are now accounted for except for a few we just can't get in touch with....very frustrating!

Duncan wanted to be in charge of RSVPs because he said he wanted to take something off my 'to do' list. I was very grateful for this. I also suspect that he knew that if I'd been the RSVP person, I'd have cast out anyone who RSVPed late or not at all and made them sit outside where there'd be weeping and gnashing of teeth.

I've said it before and I've said it again - not RSVPing to an event that you're asked to RSVP to is really not good enough. Unless you're facing a major disaster or helping someone else who's in the middle of one, there really is no excuse. "I'm busy" or "I forgot" are not excuses. Guess what? Duncan and I are flat out with work and organising this wedding but we've still RSVPed on time to other things. People who don't respond because they're hoping a better offer will come along should learn to make a decision, stick to it and become people of integrity.

Here are my tips to RSVPing on time:

• Don't get someone else to do it for you (unless you're part of a couple or family, that's different). If you ask a friend to do it for you and they forget, then you're just going to look like a slacker.
• Put the invitation somewhere prominent where you'll see it all the time such as on the fridge or sticky-taped to a mirror. Don't stuff it away in a drawer or let it get buried in piles of junk.
• Do it straight away as soon as you get the invitation. Don't say "I'll do it later," because chances are you'll forget. If you need some time to figure out if you can come (ie. because of work schedules), do it as soon as you find out whether you're free on that day.
• Put a reminder on your mobile or your work calendar or something that will pop up and make a loud noise to remind you.
• Don't just assume the hosts know you're coming. They are not psychic. It's amazing when you follow people up, how they go, "Yeah, course I'm coming." Well, how was I supposed to know that if they don't tell me?

Thank you to all those who have RSVPed on time whether yay or nay. We really appreciate you doing this. You've certainly made our lives a lot easier and helped us keep our phone bills down a bit.