What can guests answer on the RSVP form?
The form is part of the invitation itself, so guests reply on the same page where they read the date, venue and schedule. You switch each question on or off in the editor, and the guest sees only the ones you kept.
- ✦Attending or declining, with a phone number or email
- ✦Each guest by name, marked adult or child, or a plain headcount
- ✦A meal choice per guest from the menu you write
- ✦Dietary needs: vegetarian, vegan, gluten-free, allergies, halal, kosher, your own options and a free-text box
- ✦Transport, accommodation and a song request
- ✦A personal message to the couple
Choose an integrated RSVP or a separate form
An integrated RSVP is usually clearer when one invitation already carries the schedule, map and guest information. A separate form can make sense when a planner owns the response system or the event uses complex ticketing. Do not make guests hunt through two links unless the second system solves a real problem. If your replies already live on Zola, The Knot or Joy, the invitation’s RSVP button can link there instead.
- ✦Use one link for invitation details and ordinary attendance replies
- ✦Use a separate specialist form only for requirements your invitation cannot model
- ✦Keep wording, deadline and named-party rules consistent in every channel
- ✦Never publish two active forms that feed different guest lists
How do plus-one limits work?
Set the largest party one reply may bring, from one guest up to fifty, and the form stops adding names at that number. The limit applies to every reply, and every reply lands in the same list.
Set the deadline backwards from the venue date
Ask the venue or caterer when the final guaranteed count is due, then give yourselves two to four weeks to chase missing replies, check allergies and resolve unclear plus-ones. Destination weddings may need an earlier travel commitment, but an early answer is useful only when guests have enough information to decide. Once the deadline day has passed, the form closes by itself.
- ✦State one calendar date rather than ‘reply soon’
- ✦Place the deadline next to the response action
- ✦Explain whether named partners or children are included
- ✦Plan one reminder for people who have not answered
Ask only questions you will use
Attendance comes first. Then collect the smallest set of answers needed for catering, transport or accommodation. Long questionnaires reduce completion and can turn an emotional invitation into an administrative form.
- ✦Will you attend?
- ✦Which named guests are attending?
- ✦Which meal does each guest prefer?
- ✦Are there dietary requirements the caterer needs?
- ✦Will the party use the arranged transport?
Where do the replies go?
To one private replies page for the couple: who is coming and who declined, the headcount split into adults and children, a meal count you can hand to the caterer, and each guest’s dietary notes. You can download the whole list as a spreadsheet file at any time.
Test four guest paths before sending
Preview the invitation as an attending guest, a declining guest, a family and a guest with a dietary answer. Confirm that the correct questions appear, the response succeeds on a phone and the replies page shows the expected names and totals.
Questions
Frequently asked questions
Can guests choose their meal on the RSVP?+
Yes. Write your menu options in the RSVP settings and each guest in the party picks one. The replies page counts each dish, so you can pass the totals straight to the caterer. Ask only when the menu really has a choice; with a fixed menu, collect dietary needs instead.
Can guests add dietary notes?+
Yes. Turn on dietary needs and each guest can tick vegetarian, vegan, gluten-free, lactose-free, nut or shellfish allergy, halal or kosher. You can add your own options and a free-text box for anything else, and the notes appear with each reply on the replies page.
Can we limit plus-ones?+
Yes. Set how many people one reply may bring and the form stops there. The same limit applies to every guest, so name who is invited on the invitation itself.
How early should the RSVP deadline be?+
Start with the venue or caterer’s final-count date and move the guest deadline two to four weeks earlier. Add more time only when travel or accommodation decisions genuinely require it. Enter the date in the RSVP settings and the form closes once that day has passed.
How should a family invitation work?+
Make the invited party explicit, then let the respondent confirm the household total or each named guest. Test that declining one person does not accidentally decline the whole party.
Should we put the RSVP at the top?+
Show names, date and essential event context first. Place the response action early enough to find quickly, then repeat a clear RSVP prompt after the practical details if the page is long.
Can guests change their answer?+
Yes. A guest who replies again with the same phone number or email replaces their earlier answer in your totals, so the headcount always uses their latest reply.