How do you politely get people to RSVP for a dinner party when you need exact numbers and you've asked twice already?

Sadly, I personally don’t think there is anyway to ask them without stepping on toes. You can try to ask once more, but thats about it. Hope this helps.

sigh, yep, they always do. It drives me uts. I politely say that we need excat nubers as we have to be sure we have enough chairs/dishes.food etc.but it never works. : (

I would tell them that’s y u need the rsvp and if they don’t them politely tell them not to show, I’m sorry. But I’m a very up front kind of a person

thanks!

Thanks. I’m sure your right. I just don’t like being firm, I’m a little wimpy.

Ur very welcome, its ok to b that way its just sometimes u gotta b firm and ths is one of those times, people shud b more curtious as well, ur goin through the trouble of plannin and inviteing them to the party the least they cud do is say wheather they r gonna show or not

That kind of sounds like my wedding! I had it sop formal paying per chair 70 dollars a chair not including all the added things…wrapped chairs, flowers, cake, and much much more… with 300 people…(which was considered a small event here…had to have people say yes or no & its amazing how annoying it was for people to just let us know if they were showing up or not…had to write the cards because it was by tables…his side vs. my side OMG what a pain that was…said if I ever had to do anything formal again I would just pass…not worth the hassle…calling the half of my side…like peeps if u cant make it just say so, dont gv us the damn run around maybe I dont know for certain & not sure how many…like peeps i gtta know if it is 1 person 3 people or a whole fckn table per one family…. So, yeah I def get what you mean.. You have no choice hun, gtta nag. Call this one last time & say look I understand if you are busy & cant make it, but we cant hold off anymore on your answer…so just let me know if it is a yes or a no right now so i can either hold the seats or gv them to someone else! Be direct, be firm & take no I will hv to get back to you with it later or it will continue til the last min & you will be as screwed as I was…people saying sure we will be there mark us down for 6 people & only 1 show up…remember…yes yes, no no….but get your answer then & there or mark as a no! If they show up…sorry…had plenty of time to notify us…but couldnt…and we were pressed for time…so I am really sorry! Maybe next time. Works like a charm.

hope this helped!

Thanks! I would hate to deal with 300 people! That would be horrible! I think I would of been a crying mess or I would of killed someone! Thanks much!

lol, np…I handled only half of them & let his side deal with their family! :P Got my mom to talk to her close family/friends & dad’s side…so we went through like 50 families her 25 me 25…including my friends. wasnt that bad…just getting their final answer was a b!tch…thank god its over & will nev happen again… If I ever decided to get married again it’s on some cruise…no parents no family no fuss…2 best friends as witnesses & that is as far as I am willing to go…as long as it is legal all over the world. (Again if I ever find the right person who will ever be worth me.) :P

set a deadline & be clear! change the wording of the invitation to include a more explicit description of what is desired in a response (please respond if you will or will not be attending by this date). also, give guests plenty of ways to respond so they’ll be more likely to do so. (call, text, e-mail or IM your response to: …). & make them realize the reason why a prompt response is needed… it might encourage them to reply! (please reply by ‘said date’ because I need to give a headcount to the restaurant). if you really need an accurate headcount for financial reasons or something (the restaurant will charge for the number of plates reserved), you can give non-responders a call. it’s more work and it puts others on the spot, but it’s the most effective way to getting responses. good luck!!

Send out a general last reminder, and let people know that if you do not hear from them by a particular date, you will take that to mean that they will not be attending.

if you’ve asked them twice, politely tell them that you have asked twice and that if they do not rsvp by such and such date that they cannot come :)