Guides Guests
How many people to invite to your wedding, group by group
The usual answer is to expect about one in five guests to decline. That is a fair average, but your list is not average. Estimating it group by group gives you a number you can plan seats and a budget around.
The short answer
Across thousands of guest lists, RSVPify found that 83 percent of invited guests said yes and 17 percent declined, and The Knot's editors use 20 percent declines as a starting rule. So to fill about 100 places, invite about 120 to 125. For a better number, give each group on your list its own rate, add them up, and check that the room still holds everyone if your closest groups all say yes.
Every couple asks the same question once the guest list has names on it: how many of these people will actually come? A single percentage gets you close. Your own list gets you closer, because the guests who decline are not spread evenly across it.
What the averages say
Two figures are worth knowing:
- 83 percent said yes. RSVPify, an online RSVP service, looked at the guest lists of thousands of weddings planned on its platform. On average 83 percent of guests said they were coming and 17 percent declined. Guests who never replied were counted as a no.
- Start at 20 percent declines. The Knot's senior editor puts the usual decline rate at about 20 percent, to be adjusted up or down for the time of year and how far guests travel.
Both sources say the same thing about distance: the more of your guests need to travel, the more declines to expect. And a yes is not quite a guarantee: The Knot notes that a small handful of guests who said yes drop out at the last minute.
The quick sum, then, is your target divided by 0.8. For 100 guests, that is 125 invitations. With 83 percent, it is 120.
Why your list is not average
The 83 percent is a mix of very different groups. Your parents and siblings will almost all come. Old school friends who would need a flight and a hotel will not. A list that is mostly local family will beat the average. A list with a lot of travel, colleagues or a holiday weekend will fall short of it.
So instead of one rate, use one per group. You know your guests better than any average does.
The method, in four steps
- Fix the ceiling. The number your venue can seat for dinner, not its standing limit. This is the number that must never be exceeded.
- Sort the list into groups by how likely they are to come: close family, close friends, guests who would have to fly, the wider circle (colleagues, parents' friends, people you see once a year), and plus-ones you are offering.
- Give each group a rate and multiply. Be honest, and keep the overall result near the 80 to 83 percent the averages suggest unless you have a reason not to. Add up the expected guests.
- Check a busy night. Assume your closest groups all say yes and the rest come at their rates. If that does not fit the ceiling, cut from the group with the lowest rate first. If it fits, you are taking a small, known risk, and the next section says how to cover it.
A worked example
Your venue seats 120 for dinner. You have 140 names. The rates are your own guesses for each group, not research:
| Group | Invited | Rate | Expected |
|---|---|---|---|
| Close family | 40 | 95% | 38 |
| Close friends | 30 | 90% | 27 |
| Would fly | 30 | 60% | 18 |
| Wider circle | 30 | 75% | 22.5 |
| Plus-ones | 10 | 70% | 7 |
| Total | 140 | 80% | 112.5 |
You can expect about 113 guests. A flat 83 percent would have said 116. The difference is the 30 guests who would need to fly, and it is the kind of thing the average cannot know.
Now the busy night. If all 70 of your close family and friends say yes and the others come at their rates, you have 70 + 18 + 22.5 + 7 = 117.5 guests. That fits in 120 seats with a little room.
Can you invite more? Each extra guest from the wider circle adds about three quarters of a guest to both numbers. With 2.5 seats of headroom on the busy night, three more invitations from that group still fit. A fourth would not.
This is not a guarantee. All 140 people could say yes, and the only list with no risk at all is one no longer than your seats. So before the invitations go out, ask the venue what happens if more accept than expected: whether it can add a table, and up to how many. If the answer is no, either invite no more than you can seat or keep the extra places on a B list that only goes out once declines arrive.
What it means for the budget
Caterers usually charge for the final number you confirm, not for everyone you invited, so the expected number is the one to budget for food and drink. Budget a few above it for the guests who are harder to call. To know what being off by a few costs, ask your caterer for the price per head with tax and service included, and multiply. The Knot's 2026 average of $292 a guest is not that number: it spreads the whole wedding, venue included, across the guests.
What is priced by the room, like the venue and much of the decor, does not change with replies. That is why the ceiling matters more than the expected number: if the venue is booked for 120, being wrong by ten in the other direction is a real problem. Our guide to what a 100 person wedding costs shows which lines move with the guest count.
Ways to make the estimate come true
- Send save-the-dates early to the groups who travel. The longer they have, the more of them can say yes. Our guide to when to send invitations has the dates.
- Decide plus-ones before you count. A partner invited by name is part of a couple, not a maybe. Our plus-one guide has a rule for the rest.
- Keep a short B list, and send the first invitations early enough that a second round still arrives in good time. Our guide to making and cutting the guest list covers how.
- Follow up after the RSVP date. A guest who has not replied is not a no until you have asked. Count them as pending, not as declined.
Yes, I Do
Every guest, every reply
Paste a list from anywhere and it becomes names. Replies, plus-ones, dietary notes and tables stay in one place, for both of you.
Counting the replies as they come in
Once invitations go out, the estimate turns into real replies, and the useful number is the one you can still change: who has not answered yet.
In Yes, I Do, every guest has a reply of yes, pending or no, and plus-ones count as seats. The guest list shows how many are coming out of how many invited, with a bar for yes, pending and no, and you can sort it by side or by family, friends and work to see which groups are still out. Both of you can mark replies from your own phones as they come in.
When the replies are in, the next job is the seating chart, and if you have not chosen a date yet, start with how to choose a wedding date.
Questions
What percentage of wedding guests decline?
About 17 to 20 percent. RSVPify found 83 percent of invited guests said yes across thousands of weddings, and The Knot's editors suggest starting from 20 percent declines. Expect more if many guests need to travel, and fewer if most are close family nearby.
How many people should I invite to get 100 guests?
About 120 to 125. Divide 100 by the share you expect to say yes: 0.83 gives 120 and 0.8 gives 125. If many of your guests would need to fly, expect fewer yes replies, so you need more invitations for the same 100, and check the busy-night total against your venue before sending them.
Should you invite more people than your venue holds?
Only if you can live with a full house. Assume your closest family and friends all say yes and everyone else replies at a realistic rate, and trim the group least likely to come until that total fits. Then ask the venue whether it can add a table if more accept, since everyone invited could still say yes.
Do all guests who RSVP yes actually come?
Nearly all. The Knot notes that a small handful usually drop out at the last minute for reasons nobody planned. Confirm the final number with your caterer as late as the contract allows.
How many guests does an average wedding have?
The Knot's 2026 Real Weddings Study, of couples married in 2025, found an average of 117 guests. That is the number who came, not the number invited.
Do people who never reply count as a no?
Not until you have asked them. Send a short, friendly message after the RSVP date with a clear day you need to know by. If you still hear nothing, it is reasonable to count them out and tell them so kindly.
Sources
- RSVPify: what percent of guests should you expect to attend your wedding, January 2019, from thousands of guest lists on RSVPify.
- The Knot: what percentage of wedding guests RSVP yes, updated February 2024.
- The Knot Worldwide: 2026 Real Weddings Study, 10,474 US couples married in 2025, for the average guest count and cost per guest.