Wedding RSVP Drop-off Calculator
Stop guessing who is actually coming. Calculate your exact RSVP drop-off rate so you don't overbook your venue or waste thousands on empty plates.
Your Estimate
You are about to have ~11 empty seats. Do you know whose they are?
If you give your caterer a guess, you pay for those plates anyway. iDoTogether sends one personal link to your guests' phones. You get hard, confirmed RSVPs instantly so you only pay for people who actually show up.
Formula: 75 guests × (85% base) = 64 expected
Scenario Comparison
| Scenario | Expected Range | Buffer |
|---|---|---|
| Local · Satcurrent | 59–69 | 68 |
| Local · Fri | 56–66 | 65 |
| Destination · Sat | 45–53 | 53 |
The estimate is done. Now get the actual numbers.
Averages don't pay the catering bill. Confirmed RSVPs do.
You are organizing an event for ~75 people. You shouldn't manage it with chaotic group texts and a fragile spreadsheet. Send one personal link. Let guests enter their own addresses, meal choices, and RSVPs. You just watch the numbers update.
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Frequently Asked Questions
For a local Saturday spring wedding, expect 59–69 guests to attend out of 75 invited. The midpoint is 64. Plan food and seating for 68 to cover upside variance.
Plan catering for 68 guests even if you expect only 64. The 5% buffer covers last minute plus ones, vendor meals, and attendance that runs slightly above the midpoint estimate.
On average, 15-20% of invited guests decline a local wedding. For destination weddings, the decline rate jumps to 30-40%. Factors like day of the week, season, and travel distance all affect the final number. Saturday weddings see the highest attendance, while weekday ceremonies can see decline rates as high as 30%.
The average wedding drop-off rate is about 15% for local weddings held on a Saturday. This means if you invite 100 guests, roughly 128 will attend. Destination weddings have a much higher drop-off rate of around 35%, meaning only 98 out of 100 would attend. These are industry averages — your actual numbers will depend on your specific guest demographics.
It depends on your wedding type. For a local Saturday wedding, you can safely invite 15-20% more guests than your venue capacity. For a destination wedding, you may be able to invite 50-55% more. Use the 'Fill My Venue' mode above to find the right invite count for your venue size.
Season plays a meaningful role. Spring and fall weddings tend to see the highest turnout due to comfortable weather and fewer travel conflicts. Summer weddings (especially July/August) can see 3-5% lower attendance due to vacation conflicts. Winter weddings often see 5-8% lower attendance due to weather and holiday scheduling.
Friday weddings perform much closer to Saturday than Sunday does. Many guests are already in a weekend mindset, and taking one day off from work is more manageable than losing a Sunday evening before the work week. Sunday weddings consistently show higher decline rates because guests need to be back at work Monday morning.
The biggest bottleneck is chasing people who ignore paper mail. iDoTogether lets you text each guest a personal link. They tap it, RSVP, and submit their meal choice in under 60 seconds. Couples using our software typically collect 80% of RSVPs within the first week.
Send RSVP requests 6-8 weeks before your wedding date. Follow up with non-responders at the 4-week mark. (Pro-tip: If you use iDoTogether, your dashboard automatically flags exactly who hasn't answered, so you don't have to manually cross-reference a spreadsheet).
Done estimating? Get real answers from your guests →
Planning a 75 Person Wedding?
75 guests sits at the edge between "intimate" and "mid size." It's the most common size for couples trying to cut costs while still inviting extended family. Expect 64 attendees out of 75 invited for a local Saturday spring wedding. At this size, venue minimum headcounts often kick in: many caterers require a 60–80 person minimum, so your 68 person buffer count may actually match your minimum anyway. The most common mistake at this size is underestimating the RSVP chase. Count on 10–15 people needing a follow up nudge.
A 75 person wedding means roughly 10–12 people won't respond by your deadline. iDoTogether automatically flags people who have not responded and lets you send a one click reminder to everyone who hasn't submitted their RSVP.