WHEN to book reception venue? How small is too small for a reception hall wedding?

[PoshMeld]

Ok, so I am at a point now that I am talking a little here and there to different people about our potential wedding destination but I have no clue how many people will actually come to the wedding (we are mostly from Canada).

I am wondering what comes first; the reservation of the venue or the RSVPs?

If we are less than 35, I have Plan A and if we are more than 35 (let's say over 40), I have a Plan B.

The thing is, is that the restaurant which I want to book has a private room but max 35 and a view of the fireworks. But if we are more like 40-50, we would have to take the reception to a hall downstairs and I think this would look empty and goes against why I firstly wanted to have the reception at this venue (for the wishes fireworks)...

I would hate the date to be taken but at this point, I cannot put any deposit as it is way too in advance...

Talking about advanced plans, how many months ahead should you send invitations for a destination wedding? I was told 1yr and give the people about 2 months to think about it... that would bring me to 10 months before the wedding date.

Thoughts on all the above,... please!

 

[Erzengel]

How many people will you be inviting?

How many do you really think would come? How many are iffy?

 

[lurkyloo]

Invitations are traditionally sent about 6 weeks before an at-home wedding. For destination weddings they are sent 2 or 3 months out, but people almost always send a Save the Date earlier—like at your 1-year mark. If you send an actual invitation a year out, too many of the details are still up in the air and people are likely to forget. A Save the Date will give your guests a heads-up, and then you can contact them individually to find out the likelihood of their making the journey. Even then, nothing's certain, of course. Often you hear of destination wedding guests backing out at the last second.

Destination weddings have a response rate of 40%-60%, so if you're only planning on inviting, say, 50 people, you could safely book the smaller room.

 

[goofyfigment]

we are sending out pre-rsvps to get an idea of how many people are serious
i found someone on etsy who does them

 

[PoshMeld]

How many people will you be inviting? How many do you really think would come? How many are iffy?

To tell you the truth we haven't done a real list yet... But I am guessing inviting 70 people and having at least 25 sure, extra 15 iffy...

 

[alyaki]

You may be best off sending out a pre-RSVP if you've got that many you want to invite, even if you don't think they all will come. That way you have some idea of who is actually planning on trying to make it for your wedding, which means you would tentatively know your numbers.

If your numbers were closer together (say, you were planning to invite 50) and you were unsure of some, I probably would have just went and booked the smaller room, but with 70, if you have a lot you're not sure about, I'd try to get an idea of whether they're coming....sometimes people surprise you, and the people you thought for sure wouldn't come, end up coming.