For a smaller reception...are response cards necessary?

Question

If we set an e-mail account and make our phone number available can we have people respond that way?

Answer 1

It all really depends on the wedding formality etiquette.  

If it is formal ... rsvp cards are a must with proper font.

If it is semi-formal ... you may just say on your wedding invitation... Reception follows ceremony ... then just do a ball park figure guess on how many people are going to show.

If it is casual ... anything goes ... well depending on the theme location etc.  

Not everyone has email accounts and phoning could be ok ... if it is casual.

Answer 2

Of course. As long as the folks you invite have access to a computer.

Good LUck

Answer 3

If it's small enough that you can handle keeping track of the responses by phone/email then it should be fine.  It depends on what you think you will be able to handle/keep straight.  

It will be really easy to keep track of people's email responses, but a bit harder to keep track of people who call you to respond (especially if they are bringing a guest/+ one or something.  Just plan for everyone to call instead of email, and then if you have a system to keep track of those, you should be fine (especially if more people email).

Good Luck!

Answer 4

It depends on the number of people. My personal opinion is anything over 15 guests should require a formal invitation (doesn't have to be fancy though - you could go to a place like Target to get them, for even make  your own). And yes, you would want to include response cards for a guest list of over 20, for your own sake.

Technically, you can do whatever you want, but to make it more special and memorable - and to make your guests feel welcome and appreciated - formal invitations are the way to go.

Answer 5

I don't think they're necessary, even for larger receptions. A great alternative is to have a wedding website where your guests can RSVP, pick a menu choice, name their guest, let us know if they're bringing kids, everything. That helped me a ton, and eliminated the cost and the bother of the response cards.

I have one of those (through weddingsolutions.com), and we have the site address on our wedding invitations, so people can RSVP that way, but we also have an alternative, where they can call or mail us if they don't have internet access or something. (This is for my fiance's ancient relatives in the mountains of Virginia somewhere, lol. Everyone else managed to RSVP online just fine.)

Answer 6

RSVP cards are a lot more formal than telephone or email

depends on how formal your event is and how small your party is....I would say go with the RSVP card - it's easier to track in my opinion

Answer 7

Send response cards, especially if you're having a sit down meal where you need to know what everyone is having - saves you and your caterer a lot of headaches.  Besides, it's an etiquette thing.

Answer 8

Small reception or large, response cards are NEVER necessary. In fact, it's in *better* taste NOT to send them. Here is why:

Your guests are either traditionalists who are used to communicating in formal written notes, or they are not and are used to communicating by email or text or telephone.

Those of us who love the traditional formal note have our own lovely social stationery and know that the correct form is to write a response to any formal invitation immediately, using the form "Miss Aspasia Phipps/accepts with pleasure the kind invitation of Miss Linney/for September twenty-seventh". Sending such people a machine-printed form-letter is insulting because it suggests that either we don't know how to reply, or don't have any stationery, or that we ought to standardize ourselves to fit mechanistically into your card-file box.

Those of your guests who think hand-written formal notes belong in the dinosaur museum will have to hunt up a pen that doesn't skip, find a clear work-surface beside the computer to fill out the form, and then take a walk to the post box; when it would be much simpler for them to send an email or to telephone. They are insulted that you would be willing to inconvenience them by your pretensions of formality.

So why do people insist on sending those cards when they're improper anyway? Partly, because the invitation-vendors (who are trying to sell more product) keep telling them that such cards are "required". Partly because other brides swear up and down that such cards help with records-keeping (as if it were your guests' job to help with your record-keeping!) And partly because, we just l-o-o-o-o-v-e our fancy printed stationery, all luscious and pristine with its nice thick paper and crisp ink fresh from the printer LOL!

Answer 9

Response cards can be handy to get a count, but not everyone who comes will respond anyways. If it's all really close family & friends, just call/email & ask a few weeks before or mention it when you see them.

Answer 10

If you provide a phone #, then I think response cards really aren't necessary. Asking someone to email or RSVP online without a phone # isn't quite appropriate because not everyone has a computer or internet access. Almost everyone has access to a phone.  

Answer 11

It depends on how small this reception is.  If you're talking REALLY small, like under 25 people, the e-mail and phone RSVP system should be fine, but anything over 25 people and I really think you need response cards, just to keep track of how many people you're really expecting.