If you have to decline a wedding invitation and you do so in advance, it's not rude. Things come up and events clash. If you have to be somewhere else on the day, it wasn't meant to be. If you do have to decline the invitation, consider sending the RSVP back with a hand-written note explaining the situation.
Meier says it is totally your choice whether to attend a wedding, and you don't even have to have a “good” reason. “If you just do not want to go, that's totally up to you,” she adds. But the most important thing is how you express yourself.
“Thank you so much for the invitation, I really appreciate it and it means a great deal.” "I would love to attend, but I have prior commitments on that date." "We would love to celebrate with you but unfortunately, we can't make it work." "I've given it a lot of thought, and unfortunately, we won't be able to attend."
You are allowed to say no, even to the wedding itself. That said, the stakes can feel incredibly high during wedding planning, and a perfectly reasonable “I'm so sorry, I can't” can feel loaded with meaning.
You should decline a wedding invitation as soon as you know you can't attend. There are many reasons it might make sense to decline a wedding invitation. If you're close to the couple, call or email in addition to declining by invitation. For most weddings, you should probably still send a gift.
On average, between 15 and 20 percent of guests will RSVP "no" to a wedding.
Sometimes, you may have no good reason for declining an invite. However, it is still your right of choice to attend or not. You are not under obligation to supply a reason. It is possible to get your point across politely, even without supplying a reason.
It's always more polite to decline the invitation sooner rather than later, where possible so that the bride and groom can offer your place to someone else. Be politely apologetic, explain why you can't attend, and send a small gift if you can afford to.
"While you should never feel obligated to attend a wedding you don't want to be a part of, think carefully if the reason you are using will hold up years later when you look back on it," Gottsman says. Once you decide to decline, you should ideally share the news in person, not through the mail.
The first and most agreed on action is for the wedding officiant to take the objecting person to another room where they can privately give their reason for the objection to the wedding. The other option is for the wedding officiant to ignore the person who has spoken up and continue with the wedding as normal.
Apology Letter for Not Inviting Someone to Your Wedding
I just wanted to get in touch about our wedding. I'm so sorry to say we will not be able to invite you. As much as we really wish we could celebrate with you, we're afraid that due to [budget limits/capacity/etc.], we've got to keep our guest list really small.
Whatever the reason, it's how you handle your RSVP status that counts. Regardless of how close you are to the couple, no-showing is NEVER appropriate. Brides and grooms pay per head at their wedding, so you ghosting them would cost a couple hundred bucks or more.
Simply say, 'Thank you so much. I need to check my calendar and get back to you. ' Or, you can say, 'It sounds like it's going to be a wonderful party but unfortunately I have already committed to other plans. ' Beyond that, it is not necessary to make an excuse.”
Don't Assume You're Definitely Invited to Anyone's Wedding
Immediate family, sure. Extended family, probably—but even still, your cousin could be having an intimate ceremony and reception far away, and you shouldn't be offended if they can't expand their close-knit guest list.
It's up to the invitation recipient to deduce whether they'd like to attend a wedding or decline with regrets. However, there are common situations where someone may RSVP no—without hard feelings.
And I mean you're really, really not alone. Out of 2,000 newlyweds, married in or after 2010, surveyed by Dana Rebecca Designs, a whopping 76 percent said there were things they would do differently and 43 percent said they actually have regrets about some aspects of the wedding.
One of the most important things to remember is that if you have RSVP'd to a wedding, it is not polite to cancel at the last minute. Unfortunately, this happens more often than it should and can cause significant stress for couples planning their special day.
As a general rule, you can expect 5-10% of those who RSVP 'yes' to your wedding invitation to not show up on the day. This figure may shock you, but unfortunately, it's a reality of life.
Not replying to someone who had sent you an invitation, made a request, or asked a question would be seen as a breach of the social contract. Indeed, it's the entire basis of the RSVP, which literally comes from the French phrase “répondez s'il vous plaît,” or “please respond.”
Hand-canceling is when each stamp on your envelope is marked (or "canceled") using a hand stamp instead of by a machine. Hand-canceling invitations prevents stuffed envelopes from being torn by the post office's machine.
“A general overall percentage between 75-85 percent of wedding guests usually attend.” The breakdown: 85 percent of local guests, 55 percent of out-of-town guests, and 35 percent of destination wedding guests will show up, Buckley said. But then it gets murky.
The Results. On average, 83 percent of guests indicated that they were coming to our users' weddings while 17 percent of invitees declined their invitation. In other words, if you have a 100-person guest list, you can expect 83 guests on your big day and 17 people to decline.