RSVP: Respond By Date?...

[KalikLove]

That is EXACTLY what I'm afraid of. 2 days before you were leaving to notify that they were going?? How did you handel that?

 

Originally Posted by JayKay 

although dont rely on that, we had people tell us two days before we were leaving that they were going to be there)

 

[SunsetLove]

Girl - you are sooooooo on top of things! I wish I had started planning over a year in advance!

[MissBubbles205]

) I hate being rushed.. I'm soo glad I started early. I don't think my FI could put up with me had I waited.. I started a planning journel with pictures of all of my completed projects thus far. )
 

Originally Posted by SunsetLove 

Girl - you are sooooooo on top of things! I wish I had started planning over a year in advance!

 

[cherany]

We're sending STDs 1 year in advance (so, in just a few days - I'm super excited about it!).  We only have a small number of them going out, about 20, so perhaps they're not absolutely needed, but rather than friends calling us or taking (incorrect) guesses as to when we said our wedding was, I'd rather they have a magnet on their fridge with the date and location on it.  With guests scattered across multiple states, countries, and continents, STDs just make sense for us.  I did DIY mine to save money.

 

We haven't settled on an exact timeline for the rest yet.  I'm thinking about sending invites around the 4 month mark.  I feel like with our small guest list, all close friends we talk to on a regular basis, we can reasonably expect people to know by that point if they can come.  We'll be giving them a month or two to RSVP.  If we give them 2 months, that would give us a head count 2 months from the wedding day.  I feel that is enough time to finalize things, although it sounds scary, compared to traditional timelines.  I do expect most our friends will let us know sooner, though.  We've already had some ask if they can book airfare and a room this early.  (Ah, tax refund season!  If only we were getting one!)

[maridr2012]

This is a great thread! My wedding is on Nov 9th. We sent out save the dates in January, when we officially booked a venue and date. Our families already knew we'd be having a DW as we had decided that as soon as we got engaged the year before. I just ordered invitations and will mail them out 1st week of June, with RSVP July 14th. That'll be about 3 1/2 months before the big day. It's not terribly early, especially given that our wedding website (printed on save the dates) did provide travel agent info and resort name so folks had plenty of advanced notice. Besides, our group travel arrangements for resort stay require all guests' final payments be made by end of August. So, an RSVP that is 3 1/2 months prior should be fine. I only wish I would've ordered the invitations a little earlier since I'm only giving guests 6 wks to reply, but then again, they've known about it for months.

[cinnagirl]

Hey, I'm getting married the day before you!
 

We sent out our Save the Dates in March this year. Just a little note saying we're getting married May 28, 2013 in Punta Cana. Gives our guests enough time to start saving. 

 

Once we get a group rate for our resort that we like (hopefully this summer), we will be sending out our invitations. I think we'll be going through Sunwing, and from what my TA says you have 90 days from the day you get the group rate to change the number of people the rate is for. So once we get the rate, invites will go out with an note along the lines of "Please RSVP by (date) in order to secure group travel rates" and we'll have the date be a week or two before the 90 days is up. I think we'll also put another note on there asking people to contact us if they will be attending but plan to book their travel by their own means. I'm hoping this covers all our bases, but we'll see when we get down to it!

 

I think it might be easier for us since we are getting married off resort, and the quote we get can be changed at any time. Maybe see if your numbers can be changed as you get RSVPs back? We're starting off with getting a group rate number for 30 and we'll go from there.  

[MoniqueJ]

We're getting married Nov 24, 2012 and sent STD's in February.  We made a facebook event and it's been an easy way to stay in contact with everyone letting them know about rooms, etc.  Invites are going out at the end of July and RSVP's are due by Oct 15th which is also when the remaining rooms will be released if they aren't booked.  The hotel also gave me a link to see who has booked rooms, so it's made it pretty easy to keep track so far.

[inloveinkorea]

My TA said that most resorts will allow you to decrease the number of rooms within 120 days of the booking date, without a fee. I would look into this.