Practical Party Tips: RSVPs

Today’s blog post is a guest feature with Tiffany of Fizzy Party!

Hi, Tiffany of Fizzy Party here. Welcome to Practical Party Tips, where I’ll be bringing you tips to help you throw great parties. I’m very excited to be here on Chickabug and to help you with your parties!

For my first post I want to take a moment to talk to you about those four little letters at the bottom of an invitation: RSVP. These letters don’t seem like much compared to all the other information on the invitation but they are critical for the hostess. As the hostess the RSVP tells you how much food to buy, how many chairs you’ll need, how many party favors to make, and more. As the guest it’s your job to contact the hostess and let her know if you can make it to the party or not.

Guests not RSVPing has become a real problem lately. When I first started throwing parties I would stress out about guests not RSVPing. I would buy too much food or not enough, not have enough places for people to sit, and run out of party favors.  It was very frustrating as a hostess.

In the age of social media and cell phones there should be no reason not to RSVP. Your hostess shouldn’t have to track down her guests and ask if they are attending or not. If you can’t make it to the party don’t feel bad that you have to decline. Your hostess will be grateful for letting her know. By RSVPing yes, no, or maybe you are saving your hostess from party stress.

So next time you receive an invitation make sure you RSVP. Your hostess will thank you!

Here are some hostess tips for handling the RSVP on your invitations:

– Include your name if you’re inviting kids whose parents you haven’t met yet, or if you don’t know them well. If you’re just inviting family and close friends, it’s ok to leave off your name (or to write something like “RSVP to Emma’s mommy”).

– Include your phone number. Can people text you? You could write “Call or text 123-456-7890.”

– Include your email address. It’s a great option for phone-shy guests.

– Include a date by which guests need to respond.

– Try using a phrase that will get people’s attention, like “Pizza will be served. Please RSVP so we have enough for everyone!”

– Only write “regrets only” rather than “RSVP” if you’re flexible on your head count. Unfortunately there’s no way of knowing the difference between regrets via a lack of response, and someone who simply forgets to RSVP.

More Practical Party Tips:
– Hostess Gifts
– Summer Fun