How do you collect RSVPs for an Indian wedding?

Why wedding head counts go wrong

• A household is invited, not a person, and “we will come” does not say whether that is two people or seven.
• Replies arrive in different places: a phone call to one parent, a WhatsApp message to the other, a word at someone else’s function.
• Nobody declines. People who cannot come say nothing, and silence gets counted as a yes.
• The count is needed per function, and guests are invited to different ones.

What works

1. Start from what the caterer and the venue need. Usually a number of plates per function, a vegetarian count, and a date by which it is final. Ask guests for exactly that and nothing more.
2. Set the reply date before your own deadline. If the caterer needs numbers ten days ahead, ask guests for a reply two weeks ahead. The gap is for chasing.
3. Ask for a number. Give each household a limit and ask how many are coming. A number can be added up; “all of us” cannot.
4. Make declining easy. A clear “cannot come” option gets you the answers that silence hides.
5. Keep one list. Whoever takes a reply by phone enters it in the same place the online replies arrive. Two lists are how forty plates go missing.
6. Chase only the silent. After the reply date, follow up with the households that have not answered, personally. Do not remind the ones who have.

How Momen9 does it

• The RSVP is part of each guest’s invitation page and asks one question at a time: coming or not, how many, any dietary preference, and any question you add yourself.
• You set how many plus-ones each guest may bring, so the number they give is one you agreed to.
• You can set an RSVP deadline for the celebration.
• Replies land in one list you can search, filter and export, with the plus-ones and dietary notes beside each name.
• The list also shows who has opened their invitation and not replied, which is the list of people to call.