Numbers RSVP wording by wedding type
Destination wedding RSVP wording you can copy
Guests need more time, and you need names for rooms as well as meals. The reply date sits earlier than a local wedding.
The short answer
Ask earlier than a local wedding, usually six to eight weeks before, because hotels and transfers book by name. Please reply by 15 April, and tell us which nights you will stay. A yes without travel plans is not yet a seat you can count.
A destination reply does two jobs: the meal, and the room. The hotel's cutoff often comes before the caterer's. Set the RSVP date from whichever deadline is earlier, as the destination timeline does.
The invitation line
Print this on the invitation itself, or on a small enclosure if the main card is already full.
Kindly reply by 15 April. Please tell us which nights you will stay so we can hold rooms.
The reply card
5 lines, and nothing else that the kitchen or the seating chart will not use.
Name ________________________________
Accepts, and will stay _____ nights
Declines
Arrival date ________ Departure date ________
Please reply by 15 April.
Use this when most guests need a flight or a long drive, or when you have a room block. Send invitations three to four months ahead, not eight weeks.
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 Priya, the hotel releases unbooked rooms next Friday. We have you as a yes without dates yet. Could you send arrival and departure when you can, so we can hold the room.
When this wording fits, and when it does not
Do not treat a save-the-date as a reply. Do not ask guests to book the hotel and then fail to collect their dates. Do not set the RSVP date after the hotel cutoff.
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. casual, adults-only, website.
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
When should destination wedding RSVPs be due?
Six to eight weeks before the wedding is typical, earlier if the hotel's cutoff comes first. Work back from that contract date, then add time to follow up.
What extra line goes on a destination RSVP?
Arrival and departure dates, or a number of nights. That is how the room block is held.
Do you still send a card if people reply on a website?
You can. Many couples print the date and point the reply to one form, so travel details land in the same place as the yes.
What if someone says yes and never books a room?
Follow up once, kindly, with the cutoff date. If they do not book, keep them as a yes for the meal only if they have told you they have other lodging.
Sources
- Wording below is written for a destination 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 destination wedding timeline.