Venue

My venue didn’t offer catering, A lot of venues have you bring in a caterer. At least the ones we were deciding to chose from. I personally would just order for the amount of guest you’d invited especially if your doing buffet style. Since people like to get extra food at buffet style.


Are caterer we hired are also gonna pack up the extra food. So we can keep the left overs and not waste food.

Most venues I've seen don't offer catering. Also most caterers, unless you're doing a plated style where each person selects their meal in advance, will account for the correct amount of food for a buffet, which typically involves wiggle room for a few people who didn't RSVP.


But also, make sure your rsvp timing makes sense with what the caterer needs. Mine is okated style, so the restaurant needs everyone's menu choices 2 weeks prior to the event - I've set my rsvp date as 1 month out so I have 2 weeks to track down the stragglers.

It's too early for invitations, so that's why you're probably not getting an accurate head count now. People will either lose the invite, forget, or not know their plans yet. Simce you already did the invites, you should send reminders in August with an RSVP deadline 2–3 weeks before the wedding. At that point, you will know how many people you actually need to feed.

View Quoted Comment Was you wedding in Chicago?

View Quoted Comment Okay thanks for that information.

View Quoted Comment Thanks for that information

View Quoted Comment My wedding will be in Idaho.

View Quoted Comment Oh okay thanks for the information.

It’s VERY early to send out invitations for October. I’m also getting married in October and won’t have my invites sent out until beginning of august. Plus places don’t need a head count until like 2 weeks before the wedding and wedding rsvp deadlines tend to be around 3 weeks before. Save the dates go out about 6-12 months before depending on where your wedding is but Invites don’t usually get sent out until around 8 weeks before. Most people won’t commit this early. I feel majority venues do offer catering although mine does not

View Quoted Comment Thanks, I understand I maybe a little too excited🤣

While some venues do offer/require in house catering or they contract with a preferred list that you must use,That doesn’t necessarily mean they are the best and often they are more expensive. An equal number don’t offer it at all and require that you go elsewhere to find a caterer.


It is way too early to send invites for an October wedding. People will lose and forget the information. You are seen as a impolite host if you don’t track down anyone who forgot to rsvp on time before the caterer needed the final headcount and then ban them from attending or eating.

View Quoted Comment I totally get it! I’m in the same boat lol

View Quoted Comment No, I don’t want to do that I’ll be sure to remind everyone.

View Quoted Comment You can send save the dates now. But don’t send invitations until 6-8 weeks before the wedding with a rsvp due date of 3-4 weeks before the wedding. When does the caterer need the final headcount? Add in a buffer week between that and the rsvp due date to track down anyone who has not replied yet. Do not remind anyone before the due date.

Make your RSVP date a week before the caterer/venue needs the final count. That way any late stragglers have time to come through. Sometimes things get lost in the mail. I had 2 RSVPs get lost. If you don't hear by your deadline, call people and check in. If they say no, don't count them. My venue made a little extra food as a "just in case" and didn't charge us.


Most caterers/venues where I live are always willing to "add" more food after the final count but not subtract if people decide later not to come. Ask what their rule is.

View Quoted Comment Thanks for the information.

View Quoted Comment Thanks for that information. The question came about because I’m a little too excited and wouldn’t mind having a simple wedding/ reception but my side of the family is 65% of the wedding.

Your wedding invitations and sounds like your RSVP dates are way too far ahead from your wedding. Invitations should be sent 6-8 weeks ahead with RSVP's due about 2 weeks before.

If people RSVP no in the time frame of 2-3 weeks before the wedding then you're not obligated to plan for them to attend. If they don't respond at all, it's your job to track them down for a response. This may be busy for your because the invitation timeline is off by several months.

I’m getting married in September so I don’t plan on sending out invitations until either the end of June or beginning of July ! I think you might have sent them out a tad to early so that’s why you aren’t getting many responses yet.

We are adding a small note to ours. “ If you dont RSVP by date, bring a chair and a happy meal as we wont have one available for you. We set rsvp out 1 month so we can contact people