Numbers RSVP wording by wedding type
Casual wedding RSVP wording you can copy
A relaxed wedding still needs a date and one place to reply. Plain sentences beat a joke that guests have to decode.
The short answer
Write in full sentences, and still give a date. Please let us know by 29 May whether you can come. One link or one card is enough. If you want a meal choice, ask it on the same reply, not in a later message.
Casual is not the same as vague. Guests still need to know how to say yes, and by when. A joke on the card is fine if the date and the method survive a quick read.
The invitation line
Print this on the invitation itself, or on a small enclosure if the main card is already full.
Please let us know by 29 May if you can be there. Reply at the address on this card, or at the link on our website.
The reply card
4 lines, and nothing else that the kitchen or the seating chart will not use.
Name ________________________________
I'll be there
I can't make it
Please reply by 29 May.
Use this for a backyard, a restaurant buy-out, or any invitation that already says please join us rather than request the pleasure. It still pairs with the invitation timing.
A reminder you can send
Wait until a few days after the printed date, then send this once. Copy the replies into the same list you use for the cards, so you are not keeping two headcounts.
Hi Tom, we are locking numbers with the caterer and wanted to check you in. Can you still come on 19 June. A yes or no by Friday is enough.
When this wording fits, and when it does not
Do not hide the date in a pun. Do not offer three ways to reply (card, text and a form) unless you will check all three every evening.
The date on the card is not a guess. Work it back from the caterer's headcount deadline with the RSVP deadline calculator. The usual window is ten days to two weeks before that date, as in when to send invitations.
Free toolWedding RSVP deadline calculatorWork back from your caterer's deadline to the date to print on your invitations.Find my RSVP dateOther RSVP wording. traditional, destination.
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.
Questions
How do you word a casual RSVP?
Please let us know by [date] whether you can come, with a name line and a yes or no. Keep the humour in the invitation, not in the deadline.
Can guests RSVP by text?
Yes, if that is the only method you publish. Put the number on the card and copy every reply into the guest list the same day.
Do casual weddings still need a date?
Yes. The caterer still has a headcount deadline. Ten days before that date is the one to print.
Should a casual card ask about food?
Only if the kitchen needs a choice. A blank for dietary needs is enough for most relaxed dinners.
Sources
- Wording below is written for a casual wedding. Change the names, the date and the seat count. Do not mix in a line from a different type of day.
- The RSVP date is set from the caterer's deadline, the method in when to send invitations.
- The longer invitation, from who is hosting, is in wedding invitation wording.
- The longer guide this card belongs with is when to send wedding invitations.