Wedding RSVP Card Wording: Meals, Dietary Requirements & Deadlines, Done Properly
An RSVP card has one job: to get your guests to actually reply, with the information you need, before you need it. It is easy to underestimate how much a card’s wording affects whether that actually happens. A vague card gets vague, late replies. A clear one gets clear, timely ones. So I wanted to put together the wording approach we come back to again and again.
Start with the deadline, stated plainly
Every RSVP card needs a clear reply-by date, and it needs to be early enough to leave you room to chase stragglers before your final numbers are due to your venue or caterer. A good rule of thumb is to set your RSVP deadline at least four to six weeks before your wedding date, giving yourself a genuine buffer rather than cutting it fine.
Simple, direct wording works best here: “Kindly reply by [date]” or “We would love to know if you can celebrate with us. Please respond by [date]”. Avoid burying the date in a longer sentence. It should be the easiest thing on the card to find.
Asking for meal choices, without overcomplicating it
If you are offering a choice of meals, keep the options short and unambiguous, and leave a clear space for guests to indicate their choice rather than asking them to write it in themselves. For example: “Please select your meal choice: — Beef — Fish — Vegetarian”. If you are running a shared or set menu with no choice required, you can leave this section off the card entirely rather than including it as a formality. Only ask a question you actually need an answer to.
Dietary requirements, asked clearly
This is the section that causes the most confusion when it is worded vaguely, so it is worth being specific rather than leaving it open-ended: “Please let us know of any dietary requirements or allergies:”. Leaving a simple line for guests to write on is usually enough. If your caterer needs more detail than a blank line will capture, such as the severity of an allergy, it may be worth a short follow-up message closer to the date rather than trying to capture everything on the card itself.
Wording for a plus-one or family RSVP
If your invitation extends to a plus-one or a family group, your RSVP card wording should make that clear rather than leaving guests to guess: “We have reserved [number] seat(s) in your honour. Kindly confirm who will be attending below.” This avoids the awkwardness of an uninvited plus-one turning up, or an invited one being left off by mistake, simply because the card wasn’t specific.
A song request or other extra touch
Some couples like to add a small extra question, a song request for the reception being the most common. This is entirely optional, and worth including only if you genuinely want the answers, not as a default addition: “A song that will get you on the dance floor:”
A few honest answers to the questions I get asked most
Should the RSVP deadline be the same as our catering deadline? No, it should be earlier. Give yourself at least a week or two of buffer between your RSVP deadline and the date your final numbers are actually due, so you have time to chase anyone who hasn’t replied.
What if a guest doesn’t fill in the dietary section at all? It is worth having a simple follow-up plan, a text or a quick message closer to the date, for anyone who hasn’t returned their card by your deadline. A card alone will not catch everyone.
Should we include a stamped return envelope? That is a personal choice rather than a wording one, but it does tend to improve reply rates, particularly with guests who are less likely to reply digitally.
Can our RSVP wording match the rest of our semi-custom or bespoke suite? Yes, the wording itself sits within whichever collection or bespoke design you’ve chosen, so it stays consistent with your invitations, details cards, and day-of signage.
If you’d like help wording your own RSVP cards, or want to talk through your full suite, get in touch and I’ll help you get it right.
