Little can be more frustrating for a bride and groom than sending out your wedding invitations and hearing nothing back from your guests.  The excitement over the upcoming nuptials may be easily stifled by this lack of responses, not to mention the challenge that goes into planning a rustic or outdoor wedding without an estimated head count.  There are some strategies that can help to get the wedding RSVPs that you need to move on to the planning stages.

Mail the invitations eight weeks before the wedding.  Sending the invites to your guests with too much time before the big day and you risk it being put aside as the guest feels that they have plenty of time to respond.

Send save the dates.  If your guests will be traveling from out of state for the wedding, send save the date cards six to nine months in advance.  In this scenario, someone who will not be able to attend because of travel will likely tell you so now, narrowing down the RSVPs that you will be expecting.

Be specific.  Don’t hesitate to include a set date in the wedding invitation when attendees need to respond by and make sure that this date is also included on the reply card.

Provide options.  When asking guests to RSVP, offering multiple ways to do so can help.  This may include a phone number to call or text, email and even a wedding web site where guests can RSVP.

Ask for it.  We are all busy and simple things like RSVPs can slip through the cracks.  When you see invited guests that have not yet responded, ask them if they will be able to attend.  Chances are the process of sending in their RSVP has just slipped their mind.

The sooner you can get an accurate count of guests attending your wedding, the easier the final planning stages.

When you plan a rustic, outdoor wedding the staff at Lippincott Manor can help to ensure that your wedding is truly a day of your dreams.  Contact us at 845-895-2474 for availability or to schedule a tour of our facility.