Today, we decided to do something short and sweet to help you determine your guest count. Hope it helps! Here are great tips on counting up your invite list:
When calculating your guests, don't leave out your parents' invitees. Normally, couples don't include the guests their parents want to invite, which will add to a higher guest count. (But also remember to set boundaries; you may not want your Mom's hair stylist at your wedding.)
Make sure you don't have more guests than your venue has seating.
Determine whether or not kids will be invited.
Take into consideration your food budget. (The more guests, the more mouths to feed.)
Don't underestimate your fiancé’s number of guests. They may only tell you they need 40 invitations for friends but probably verbally invited 20 co-workers already.
Make a 'not invited' guest list. This will help you with tough decisions in the end if you are crunching guest numbers later.
Diamonds are a girl's best friend, but lists are a bride's best friend! Make a list of your guests' names and addresses. On that same list, keep track of whether or not you sent their invitation and if they have RSVP'd.
The rule of thumb that KayDi's goes by is to expect 8 out of every 10 guests to attend. This means the other 2 may have plans already that they cannot cancel, may fall ill, etc. (Everyone who responds 'yes' will not be able to make it.)
Of course, you don't need to count your vendors in your guest count, but you will need to add them to your food count. (Some venues have the option of a different dish for your vendors)
Make sure that you or your fiancé know everyone on the list. If neither of you recognizes a name on the list, remove them. (These tend to be the ones your parents or cousins throw-in at the last minute)