How long to give guests to RSVP?

Hi, I am giving 2 months! Hoping that people get back to me but heard a lot about people who don't even bother to RSVP, grrrrrrrr!x

We gave our guests 1 month but that was mainly because our invitation lady is really busy and she could only get them to us mid March! We have to meet our venue this month and wedding not until August, so couldn't give guests any longer to reply. I think if you give people too long the fact they have to reply will slip their mind.

Bold statement: I think most guests could probably tell you on the day they receive the invitation whether they actually can attend or not. Obviously, there is a work 'proviso' to this statement though!

We gave our guests 3 months. Most of them told us that they could attend within week one and then actually replied in the week leading up to the deadline. (I don't get it, it is a deadline, not an aim!) The less time you give people, the quicker you will know! One month is more than adequate as far as I am concerned! Although, be aware than some people may not be able to respond within that time - for example, one of my friends has been in hospital for almost 2 months, and unsurprisingly, we are not expecting her to RSVP! (Although, I keep getting texts saying 'I am coming to your wedding, I promise the RSVP will be done as soon as I'm out!' - you would think all I did was bug her about it, but no, all I ever text about is to see how she is!) And the longer the time, the more likely people are to forget.

Most guests take no notice of RSVP date. I've realised etiquette is sadly lacking in today's society! 6 days to go and we're still chasing people up! Agh!

We sent ours out 4 months ago and have only had half back. I know people aren't as excited as we are but 4 months to tick a box?!

I feel stressed just reading these and mine haven't even gone out yet!

We went to two weddings last year and I sent the RSVP the same day!

I think I will definitely go for 30th August deadline.

We only gave a month and it was absolutely fine, we got a lot back within a week or so but then a few we had to chase up. I think though that we'd have had to chase them up even if we'd given them three months. I think that if you keep it reasonably short then they're less likely to forget to reply!

I haven't even sent mine out yet and it annoys me after reading these posts that people don't respond/take ages to respond, why??!! I am the kind of person that sends my RSVP back within a week. I am having a guest lust of people who are attending my wedding at the hotel, if they haven't RSVP and suddenly appear on the night then they won't get in. Doing this as we wouldn't have accounted for seats, wine for them etc........ x

My deadline is 30th June and I still get irritated on days when none arrive ?

Course if they don't RSVP, they get no food, so no skin off my nose really...

In my head I thought people should of RSVP's before the invertations even went out!! But hay that's just me!

I managed to get all my day RSVP's back around 4 months early, as I sent the invites out 6 month before to give guests as much notice as possible as we're getting married in the summer holiday.

Iv had around 20 evening ones back out of 50/60 but I really can't be dealing with chasing them up and we haven't hit our max so not going to stress over it (read: until about a week before and I'm worrying no one will turn up!!)

Just go with works best for you, if you need them back early to find replacements then do it

I (invite designer) normally recommend 2-4 weeks to chase up those who don't reply.

Or you could do as my friend did and a week before her deadline (and final meeting) went on Facebook and said 'no RSVP I'll assume your not coming!!' And then tagged those concerned!! It was hilarious!

Totally agree with this. When the invitation lands you know with 95% certainty whether or not you can attend (or be bothered to attend!), and let's not forget a lot of the time there has also been a save the date (although we didn't do these).

You might need to check your diary/negotiate time off of work etc. but I think a month is a reasonable amount of time in which to do this. We gave our guests a month and about 25% still haven't RSVP'd, including one of the BM's, and two couples who we saw at a meal last night....I had to resist the urge to ask them where it was over the table