How to treat R.S.V.P?

R.S.V.P is a French term means "Respondez S'ail Vouz Plait" which has an English translation of "Please Response" .

This is part of the social etiquette and almost all social events have this form of request.

R.S.V.P card is given to the guests to notify them that the party is controlling the number of heads and the hosts are strictly counting the number of attendees to set the budget., so it is always a must to send it back three to four days after receiving. 

Normally, in other parts of the world, R.S.V.P is made separately, usually printed in a card and inserted in the wedding invitation. Recipients must send a message of response a week after receiving the invitation or before the specified date mentioned in the invitation. For an inserted R.S.V.P card, recipients must return it to the sender with a confirmation or refusal.

Responding to an invitation specifying an R.S.V.P is a must for guests because the bride and groom need to know how many guests are coming to the wedding so that they can adjust the types of menu, the number of tables and chairs and their overall budget.

Since reception is the most expensive part of the wedding event, monitoring the number of guests is very crucial.

Importance of R.S.V.P to the couple:

• Allows you to monitor the number of guests at the reception.
• Important information of who are coming to your reception and who cannot make it.
• Can save anxieties on how many people are coming to the event.
• If there's an escort card to be displayed at the entrance area of the reception for your guests, R.S.V.P can tell you how many escort cards to prepare and how many tables and chairs to be provided.
• It helps determine how many excess heads can be comfortably accommodated to the reception without worrying too much on the budget.
• It helps determine the volume of food and drinks to be prepared at the reception.
• Overall, it has a great impact to your budget. You can avoid wastage.

But what if the invited people do not respond even if the invitation specified R.S.V.P note?

According to Wedding the Knot site, it's hard to assume if the invited guests are coming or not, so if you are closely monitoring the number of guests at the reception and how many excess can only be accommodated with your budget, so if the invited people are not responding even if the invitation specified RSVP, it's better to call them up and make a follow up than wonder if they can come or not. If this is too much for you to handle, arrange the task to your wedding planner or to your wedding attendants.

If you are the guests, how will you treat the invitation with R.S.V.P note?

• Send back your response approximately one week after you receive the invitation.
• Look for a specific instruction attached to the R.S.V.P note, mostly it tells where to send your message.
• Other wedding invitations have inserted R.S.V.P card, send this card back to the couple or to their wedding planners with your response.
• Notify the couple immediately if you cannot come to the reception so that they can adjust the number of guests.
• Do not assume that the couple understands you are coming. They are counting how many people are coming to adjust their budget so a prompt reply is very important.
• Never take for granted the invitation with R.S.V.P