How do you book vendors without knowing your exact numbers?

I think it's important to find let the venue know that you're expecting between 80 and 100. They usually ask for the final number a couple of weeks before the wedding. Make sure you give people a deadline for the RSVP. You can phone them if they haven't responded to make sure that they haven't forgotten of misplaced the invitation. That happened to some of my guests. You should know the final number 3-4 weeks before the wedding. Then let the venue know.

Wedding planning IS hard but thankfully we're here to help

Have you booked any vendors or your venue yet?

Always ask your venue and all of your "quantity affected" vendors when final counts and final orders are due, when and how contract changes can be made (both in terms of contract services and the total cost), and if there are any required minimums!

Venues - you want to find somewhere that can fit your entire guest list in the rare case of 100% yes RSVPs (so look for somewhere that has capacity for at least 110-115, which is your guest list plus the bride and groom plus vendors). You should also keep an eye out for any minimums! Ask the venue if they have a minimum guest requirement, or a minimum food and beverage spend. You wouldn't want to book a venue that requires a minimum of 90 guests for example.

My venue had a minimum food and beverage spend, but we knew we'd be wayyyyyy over it no matter what My venue did not require a final headcount with meal choices until 72 hours before the wedding, and that's when they locked in the final payments. But that time-frame isn't typical! Some venues and caterers made need final numbers up to 1 month in advance.

The other big vendors that were affected by my final headcount were my florist and my event rentals company. When working with these vendors, I made a rough "guess-timate" of how many guests I thought would attend based on average RSVP rates, amount of travel involved, how frequently our friends travel for weddings, and how many people my mom added to the guest list that I've never met My working guess was that at least 30% of our guests would RSVP no, and I based my initial contracts on that number.

Florist - With my florist the only changing factor was the number of reception centerpieces I needed. I used my rough "guess-timate" as a starting point and made sure to ask about contract changes and final deadlines. My florist's contract stated that the final order was due 1 month in advance of the wedding date (so she can order the flowers) and that the order and price cannot be changed after that. I also asked my florist about changes to the total contract value. Personally I preferred to start with a smaller order (on the low estimate side), knowing that the florist would always be happy to add additional pieces on for more money but wouldn't be as happy if I kept coming back and trying to re-negotiate the contract by taking items off. I set a calendar reminder before the final deadline so I wouldn't forget to update the quantities!

Event Rentals - Event Rentals was slightly different for me. The key here was that I wanted to reserve enough chairs, linens, and chargers to make sure I had reserved enough inventory to be covered for my wedding. Again I asked when adjustments could be made, when the final order was due, if the quantities could be adjusted to lower amounts, and if I was in danger of not hitting any minimums. I set another calendar reminder before the final due date for rentals!

The only other tip I'd keep in mind is to remember that you only need one invitation per couple or household, so make sure to take a different count for invitations!! SO many couples accidentally waste money on their save the dates and invitations because they use their total guest list number to order, then realize they probably only need 50-65 invitations for 100 guests!

Sorry for the information overload, but I hope this helped!!