Video:How to Set a Wedding RSVP Date

Transcript:How to Set a Wedding RSVP Date

Hi everyone, my name is Nicole Nassief from The Wedding League in Los Angeles, California, and I'm here today on behalf of About.com to talk to you about how to set your wedding RSVP date.

So the first thing I need you to do is grab your handy day planner or your favorite calendar, as I'm going to walk you through my Wedding RSVP Timeline, that I take all my clients through, so that you can start from your wedding date and work backwards to find out exactly when those RSVPs should be coming in.

Set Date for Sending Out Wedding Invitations

First of all, you can't have an RSVP without an invitation, so the first thing you need to do is, in your calendar, block off your wedding date and count backwards by 8 weeks, or two months, and that's the point when you should be sending out your invitations with the RSVP inside, whether it be a card, or a number they can call or what have you.

Set Wedding RSVP Date and Follow Ups Date

The next thing you need to do to actually grab your RSVP date is to count backwards from your wedding date 3 weeks. This is then your RSVP due date that you're going to write on your invitations.

The next step to really help you control your RSVPs, to put them forward towards your wedding, is count backwards by 2 weeks. This is the date that you should be following up with those guests that you have not heard from yet, whether it be you calling people, a maid of honor or mother, but it's important to find those people who you haven't heard from.

Tips for Setting a Wedding RSVP Date

Then after all that, the next week, the week right before your wedding, you should know exactly how many people are going to be coming, exactly how many plates of beef, chicken or fish, if you need to do that kind of count, and you can give those numbers to both your caterer and your venue and just finish off everything else that you need for your wedding in regards to seating chart and escort cards.

So just remember, the key point here is that you take your wedding date and then just count backwards by about 3 weeks and that will give you your RSVP date.

Thank you so much for watching. For more information, visit us on the web at About.com.