What is the average wedding guest drop out rate?

Many brides ask, what is the average wedding guest drop out rate? I did some research to find out exactly what it is, and how to prepare for it. I recently set up a Facebook group called North Leinster Weddings, dedicated to wedding suppliers, venues and couples getting married in North Leinster. It was one of the most nerve-wracking things I’ve done since starting the blog! What if no one joins, what if I fail and look like a loner, what if no one is interested? All questions that ran through my head, on a loop. Parties aren’t much different, and weddings are even worse!

Face The Fear

Lately I’ve taken the approach of calling out the worst things that could happen in various situations. I’ve been naming them out loud, which makes them a little less scary. The fears most couples have when booking their wedding date are often:

what if another one of our friends/family also gets married that day?
what if the date is too soon and people don’t have enough time to plan/save?
what if such-and-such gives birth early/late?
what if our date is too soon after/before the other friend/family wedding?
will people come to our wedding too?
what if people don’t want to take time off work to come to our wedding?
what if people are on their holidays?

I’m sure the list could go on, but there’s a few to keep many a bride and groom awake at night. I’m a firm believer in calling out your fears, then working out what you would do should the worst happen. They have a lot less power once you actually say them and they’re not playing over and over in your mind.

Image by Erica Schneider Photography via Couture Events

Accept The Inevitable

You’ve decided on the guest list, you’ve sent out your invitations and now you are eagerly waiting for the RSVP’s to come through the door, or your inbox. Things feel so much more real once people start responding, accepting and making plans. As a couple, you need to accept that not everyone is going to be able to make it, for lots of reasons. Unfortunately, there are going to be a few people that don’t RSVP but show up anyway. There could be a few extras, or some who bring an uninvited plus one and then there are one or two who are just rude – aka no-shows! So “what is the average wedding guest drop out rate?” – and what does that even mean?! Keep reading and I’ll explain what it is, and how to prepare {and budget!} for it.

Image by Erica Schneider Photography via Couture Events

Prepare For The Unavoidable

How do you prepare for all of the above, I hear you ask. Firstly, make the RSVP the easiest thing in the world to do! If you want RSVP’s via email, you’re probably best sending out your invites via email too. Then it’s as simple as replying! If you’re sending traditional invites in the post, be creative with your design choice. You can get invites with a perforated, tear off strip with RSVP details that your guests can simply tick as appropriate and return to you. If you can’t find invites like that or it’s over your budget, you can include a separate, smaller insert with the same details and principle. If you want to go all out, include a self-addressed {possibly even stamped} envelope so literally all they have to do is find a post box!

Image by Erica Schneider Photography via Couture Events

What Venues Say

I’ve seen lots of memes saying “if you don’t show up to the wedding, expect the bill for your meal in the post.” A couple of years ago one couple hit the headlines for doing just that. But there’s a reason, most venues have a minimum amount of guests they charge for. These can vary, so make sure you check with your wedding venue what their minimum is. Most wedding venues say the average wedding guest drop out rate is anything from 10-25%. Many venues have a minimum charge of 150 guests, which if the average wedding is 200 guests and the average drop out rate is 25%, it makes perfect sense.

Image by Erica Schneider Photography via Couture Events

The Numbers

I thought I’d test out what the wedding co-ordinators from various venues said, and got my own figures from 14 couples who were either recently married, or are getting married in the next couple of months. They were from all over the country and gave the number of guests they invited and the number of guests who dropped out or just didn’t show up. Again, rude! The average number of guests invited were 190, the average drop out rate was 25%. The lowest drop out rate was 14% , the highest drop out rate was 32%. 9 out of the 14 couples had drop out rates over 20% so I would advise to allow for at least 20-25% when planning your own wedding reception.

I really hope you found this post helpful! The smallest wedding I took figures from was 116 guests and the largest was 320 – so I hope that was a realistic scope of average wedding guest numbers and the drop out rate. All the images in this post were found on Couture Events, the full post and details can be seen here and I’ll link the relevant suppliers below.