The favor of your reply is requested
What goes on my response cards?
The answer to this question is it depends. Are you having a formal or casual celebration? Are you doing a sit down meal or a buffet? Once you make these decisions, be sure to check with your venue and/or caterer to make sure you are collecting all the information they need and by the time they need it.
Below is the basic breakdown of a response card, starting with your request for response.
Request for Response
To start, you'll want to kindly ask for a response from your guests by a specific date. There area few ways to word this depending on your preference.
The most traditional way and what is usually used when the wedding is to be held in a place of worship is:
The favor of a reply is requested before [date].
The more casual way is this:
Kindly reply before [date].
Response Deadline
Your response deadline should be 3-4 weeks before your wedding day. It’s important to check with your caterer as to when they will need your final head count for meal planning. Since you’ll find not all guests will get their responses in on time, add a week or two to that date.
The M-Line or Name(s)
Each response card will include a line for your guests to write their name(s). The “M” signifies the first letter of their salutation (Mr., Mrs., Ms., Miss). Another option is to simply write, "Name(s)." You would be surprised how often people forget write their name on this line. To help with that issue, I highly recommend numbering your guest list and writing that corresponding number on the back of their response card. With this trick, you can do some simple detective work to figure out whose card it is and to mark them as attending or declining.
Accept or Decline
Up next is the part you will pay the most attention - will the guest be accepting or declining your invitation? There are a variety of ways to word the options depending on your style. Here are a few:
Accepts with please; Declines with regret
Gratefully accepts; Regretfully declines
Will attend; Will not attend
Can’t wait to celebrate; Will celebrate from afar
Number of Guests
To be extra clear about how many seats you are reserving per household, you can add a line on your response card below the accept/decline line that reads:
We have reserved ____ seats in your honor.
____ of ____ guest will attend.
Number of guests attending ____.
Make sure you write in the total number of guests invited on the lines for options 1 and 2!
Other Headcount Details
If you are offering transportation to and from the wedding, hosting a farewell brunch the morning after the wedding or a cocktail reception the evening before you can use your response cards to collect this information as well. Below the name line, list out the events that you’ll need a headcount for and either an accepts/decline and a line for them to write in the number of guests.
Meal Choice
This more comes into play when you are having a sit down meal and need to collect each guest’s preference. You can write out the main meal options, just the proteins or use cute icons to indicate the choices. It’s always nice to have a vegetarian option for our non-meat eating friends.
Allergies
Lastly, if you are concerned about guests who may have allergies you can include a line on your response card to ask for this information. To save space, it’s best to ask for this information like so:
“Please note any food allergies or restrictions on the reverse side of the card.”
“Any allergies? Please let us know on the back of this card."
Knowing this ahead of time will help your caterer. The main allergies you need to look out for are shellfish and peanuts. Certain allergies, such as strawberries or dairy, are things the guest can let the wait staff know at the reception as they would at any restaurant.
Have a questions not answered here? Please email us at hello@reveriepaperco.com so we can help!
