We feel pretty confident that, never in the history of weddings has every single guest sent in their RSVP. There are always a handful of your 'carefree friends' that prefer to keep their options open, with no commitments or, the few that, just forgot or maybe, god-forbid, lost the RSVP card! You have about a million things to do in the weeks before your big day and, boy, wouldn't it be nice if tracking down your friends and family wasn't one of them.
As the RSVP's are flying in, it is often hard to keep them all organized and accounted for. Here are a few great tips to keep your mind at ease.
Excel Sheets
One of the best ways to keep your RSVP's, guests and gifts organized is to create an excel sheet. Start by entering all of your guests name in the far left hand column. Followed by their address and number of people in their family. Label the columns as Names, Address, and Guest Count. Label the next columns as; Yes, No, Followed by your food options (e.i. beef, chicken, salmon) giving each its own column.
When the guests return their RSVP cards, put the number of guests attending in the yes column. The number of guests who are not attending in the no column. Then, put the number of each meal choice in the appropriate column. Use the sum function for each column to give you an accurate guest count and meal count for your caterer.
Another great idea is to add a gift and a thank you column to the end of the excel sheet. When you receive a gift from a guest, write a short description in their gift column then, once their thank you note is in the mail, check off their thank you note box. That way you don't miss anyone and you can remember what it was that Aunt Susie got you, or where exactly that crock pot came from.
Don't procrastinate.
As soon as you get your mail in for the day, go right to your excel sheet and enter in the information. This will help make sure you don't loose an important response and avoid hours of tedious sorting.
Happy planning lovelies!
