When can you stop accepting changes to plus ones?

When you have to give your final count to the venue, or when you start making the seating chart. Most venues dont need the count until two to four weeks before the wedding but youll probably want to make the seating chart before that

For me, once I give my final count to the caterer, I'm no longer adding plus ones.

As the bride, you can turn down a request for a plus one at any point in time. My general rule is, unless you were given a plus one in your invitation, you are not entitled to a plus one. If someone’s relationships change as frequently as their underwear, you have no obligation to grant them a plus one just because.

Generally you’ll want to have final numbers in 4 weeks before the wedding (I’m going with 6-7 weeks to be safe) so I would not allow any less than 6 weeks out to allow some leeway with time, but again, you are under no obligation to allow it regardless of ‘how soon’ anyone asks.

First off..it's highly rude for anyone to request a plus one. Also a spouse/significant other is not a plus one. They are an automatic invite. If someone asks to bring a plus one, you nip that in the bud right away saying "we already decided on the guest list." If you decide to allow plus ones for whatever reason, the first and only time it should come up is when they see "and guest" on the invite that comes in the mail. Be consistent and treat all guests equally so don't allow some for one group and not others.


Invites are sent out no matter what at 6-8 weeks prior to wedding. Your venue and caterer do not need a final count prior to that time frame, but ask what date they require and cushion a week or two for you to track down anyone who doesn't respond, via phonecall, text or email. At that time only do you find out if they are bringing anyone and their names for placecards.

We gave everyone a plus 1 that wasn’t in a relationship. It was easiest to plan for that since we didn’t know who would be in a relationship by the time we got married and couples should always be invited as a unit. No regrets! Weddings are not fun to go to alone and we didn’t want anyone to skip our wedding or leave early because they felt awkward being alone.

I think last minute is after you’ve given your final headcount to your vendors. You can be as accommodating or strict as you want. We have everyone who is in a relationship a plus one. If a single persons status would change between now and September of next year, I think we would try to accommodate.

View Quoted Comment Ive attended lots of weddings alone when I was younger and not in any relationship and still had a great time because the guests were fun to party with and already knowing a number of guests depending on if I was a guest of the bride or groom . Even from talking with others outside of WW who are unattached, I had no idea that plus ones or feeling left out not having one were a thing before reading here. But every group is different so it's not fair to assume one uncomfortable means every person elsewhere who is single feels the exact same.

RSVP deadlines are normally 4-6 weeks prior to the wedding. Guests shouldn't be asking to add a plus one. Guests in a relationship should've been invited with her significant other as plus ones are only for those that are single.

View Quoted Comment Sure, everyone obviously has their own opinion and my/my husband’s opinion is what we based our guest list off of. The vast majority of people we invited to our wedding were already married, in a serious relationship/engaged so it barely changed our numbers at all to give plus ones to the people not in relationships. Every wedding I’ve been invited to as a single person/without a plus one I left after that cake was cut. I have never found it fun to be the third wheel/bonus person in a group of people with dates. We wanted to give everyone the opportunity to have a date, and most people brought a date or a friend but some people did decline the plus one. Everyone has a different comfort level and if they don’t care, they don’t have to bring one! But we wanted everyone to be comfortable and wanted to give everyone the chance to be comfortable and for us, the best way to do that was give everyone a plus one and put some thought into our seating chart.