Why Do People Make Rsvps So Difficult!

[sbodnar4]

Please Help...

 

 

When me and my fiance decided to go along with a destination wedding I did not think it would become as difficult as it has been.

 

First off our travel agent has been amazing. She got us an amazing price quote from Sunwing. She has been there to answer all my questions really quickly and is super knowledable.

 

Once we got the details all finalized with her and the resort (RIU Palace Cabo) I made up our Save The Dates. I used a really cool website called paperlesspost.com. Its an amazing website where you can email an rsvp card to everyone who has email. I thought these were a great alternative to typical mail outs just because we only had a certain amount of time for people to guarauntee there spots. These were a quick way to get out all the info to people. I also worked my butt off on our wedding website with alot of help from my MOH.

 

We were worried about sending out the Save The Date because it was really close to Christmas so we decided to wait till Dec 30 to send them out.

 

The response was not at all as pleasant as I had anticipated.

 

The only people booked are our moms and grammas.

 

My questions for all your wonderful ladies is at what point do I send out a reminder email? I was thinking a month before just to give a pleasant reminder to pay the deposit.

 

Our price with the travel agent will remain the same up until the wedding. However, unless people pay a deposit by Feb 28, 2015 they will not be guaraunteed a spot. They will then have to hope that there is still room at the resort and on the plane. This worries me like crazy.

 

I also need to have to my numbers by Nov 2015 so that I know our budget. We are paying person and I dont really know how to explain that to people who want to wait last minute.

 

 

 

HELP!!!!!!!

 

 

 

[kmk2016]

Are you sending formal invitations as well? If your original mail out was simply a "save the date" then some may have marked it on their calendar but are waiting to get the actual invitation (not Everyone is familiar with paperless post and other options and still think old school). How many did you invite? Do they know the booking deadline? If you only sent them December 30th people are still only 2 weeks from receiving them and may need time to digest costs and time off work before they can commit. Do you have a website that shares more info?

 

Don't worry too much. If you asked for rsvps by a specific deadline, I wouldn't concern yourself until that date has passed. Then you can send out reminders or ask friends and family to help in spreading the word.

[acw271011]

@@kmk2016 is absolutely right. Plus too your wedding date is still a long way off and there are lots of people that have no clue what is required for a destination wedding, especially if they see the date so far away. The other thing you need to consider is that immediately after Xmas like that, money is very probably a concern for a lot of people. They may not have available funds right now. It's a tough time of year with the Xmas bills coming in. Is there any way your agent can get a deadline extension for you? And I agree - are you sending full invitations out? Did you add all of the necessary information to your save the date or make sure that people are fully aware of the deadlines and dollar amounts involved?

 

You'll see a lot of notes here from brides having the exact same issue. We want so much for everyone to be as happy as we are but in reality they have their own lives and won't live and breathe wedding the way you will over the next year. Plus for people to actually figure out vacation a year from now is tough. We're only working on vacation for this year. Hang in there. You can figure that from all of the people you've invited, you likely won't get more than 50% attending. Some brides get more than that, others get less.

[LisaAnthonyPoppy]

Don't jump the boat before it's sailed! You have SO much time before your wedding.

And it's only been what 2 weeks since you mailed something. People are probably waiting for an invite or waiting to get caught up on their regular finances after all of the Holidays etc. Don't worry dear!!!

 

But I would say your off to a success, it's only been 2 weeks and you have 2 people confirmed already, even if they are your mother and grandmother.

 

There may be people who don't want to stay at your resort or ones that want to make their own arrangements etc etc so don't panic!

 

My wedding is in 4 months and over 85% of people have not RSVP to my March 1st RSVP deadline.

 

I think it's appropriate to send out something 7 days before your Feb. 28th deadline.(Just my thought but do what you think is best!) I would keep it geared towards securing their room. And don't worry if people don't bc that doesn't mean they are not coming to your wedding

 

Good luck!!

I guess I should mention our family and friends financial ability is on so many different wave lengths that decided to have a wedding off site from a hotel and we also made it clear on our wedding website where we were staying, the promo code they could use when they booked to get a discount, but STRESSED that people can book whenever they want and wherever they want as long as it's by March 1st and if not by March 1st we comically listed the name of nearby take out joints they may want to eat at before they come to the wedding! Lol

 

I couldn't even think about getting everyone in the same hotel together and keeping up on people. So if something goes array you have many other options to get people there and also keep your sanity!

[nadiakat17]

I struggled a lot. My wedding is two months away and still waiting on ten people ( these are not even the people who never answered but we knew wouldn't come anyways). Feb 1 that's it . My advice to u right now is to skip the mass reminder and personally contact everyone whether it's you or some other family member and gage interest and what people are waiting on. For instance I don't find out my yearly vacation schedule until a few months before so finding out these things are useful. This is also time to convey WHY it's important to you to know by the date. What I've found out is a lot of people don't start planning for these things til way too last minute and it has been a pain

[TinkerSofi]

@@kmk2016 I agree with you. @@sbodnar4 If your save the dates did not include an RSVP date many of your guests may not be aware. We sent electronic save the dates as well and no one booked until we sent our invitations (those were paper ones), and even then, most booked in the last 2 days haha. Even if the STDs did include an RSVP deadline you'd be surprised how many people do not read the save the dates! or the invites for that matter haha. I would send the invites as soon as you can and then follow up with people about 2 weeks before the deadline, especially for those who said they would come but are not booked at that point. Many of them were totally confused as to the process and even though we made our invites directing people to the website and spent so much time explaining everything there, we ended up talking to them and walking them through the process. Most people in our guest list have never been to a DW so this was a totally different experience for them. 

 

Another suggestion, make the info on your website in point form. That worked best for us because people just don't read hahah. 

[Wafflesmom]

Hi @@sbodnar4, don't stress out as I think this is a common destination wedding issue. I also sent out save the dates via paperlesspost (so convenient and an easy way of tracking who has received it) and probably got 10% reply with an RSVP. I then followed it up with an email, with a letter given to me by my wonderful destination wedding travel agent that outlined cost of trip based on occupancy, amount of deposit and due dates for the deposit and final payment. I sent this out 2 months before the deposit deadline then sent out reminder email messages 1 month to deadline, 1 week then day before. Most of our guests booked the last two days before the deposits were due! I still have a few who haven't replied, though some have mentioned that they can't commit yet.

 

So basically don't worry. As mentioned some don't know how destination weddings work. And with our wedding dates being so long from now, there will be a few who won't commit til the end. Just anticipate that this will happen.

[jsparrow10]

Why do people need to pay a deposit this February for a 2016 wedding? Were you able to get a room block so rooms don't sell out?It seems really super early to have people make a decision especially if the RSVP deadline is not until November. Flight information will not even be available for a really long time. My wedding is in less than 6 months and the first room just got booked this past week, the save the dates went out August or September, I forget. 

[TinkerSofi]

Why do people need to pay a deposit this February for a 2016 wedding? Were you able to get a room block so rooms don't sell out?It seems really super early to have people make a decision especially if the RSVP deadline is not until November. Flight information will not even be available for a really long time. My wedding is in less than 6 months and the first room just got booked this past week, the save the dates went out August or September, I forget. 

 

I'm guessing she could be from Canada and/or have a chartered flight. The way it works here is that you reserve a group pricing for a certain amount of days with the airline and hotel since they're both packaged together. Then your guests have until then to put down a deposit. After the deadline you lose the group pricing and either you need to get a new one later on or people need to book trips on their own, which is usually a bit more expensive.  Depending on the TA, some can already get pricing that far away. 

[sbodnar4]

I'm guessing she could be from Canada and/or have a chartered flight. The way it works here is that you reserve a group pricing for a certain amount of days with the airline and hotel since they're both packaged together. Then your guests have until then to put down a deposit. After the deadline you lose the group pricing and either you need to get a new one later on or people need to book trips on their own, which is usually a bit more expensive.  Depending on the TA, some can already get pricing that far away. 

 

 

Thank you for explaining it so well! That is exactly why we have sent them out so early. Plus i figured it would have a better response if we gave people more time to book rather then less time.

 

I have been speaking to a few people just to see where they are and alot say they didnt know how to work the website so I made it a little more kindergarten ish so that its easier for people.