An RSVP is critical to the planning of a successful event. It gives the host or hostess a number to work with when making arrangements for food, beverages, seating and more.
If you fail to appropriately RSVP or uphold your commitment to the RSVP, your are creating a difficult situation for everyone involved.
If you say you are attending the event and don’t show, money was spent anticipating your participation.
If you don’t RSVP and decide to show up at the last minute, you are taking resources away from the other guests who did RSVP.
A good example is a wedding I attended this past weekend. 72 guests replied to the invitation indicating they would be attending the Friday night reception. 100 people actually attended the reception. There was not sufficient seating for all the guests at dinner and many had to eat dinner while standing. The food was also limited. Some people didn’t get a dessert.
The next evening at the wedding reception, 16 people who said they were attending did not. The bride and groom had to pay for those 16 meals.
If you make a commitment to attend an event, you should not back out unless there is a personal emergency you have to attend to. If you do have an emergency, you should notify your host or hostess as soon as possible. None of the 16 no shows informed anyone they would not be attending. I also doubt there were 16 personal emergencies on the same night of this wedding.