RSVPs, meals & guest needs

Keep every guest detail connected to their seat

Track who’s coming, what each guest chose to eat, and any dietary or accessibility detail your planner, venue or caterer needs to know.

Because it all lives on the guest record, you review it right beside their table and exact seat — instead of reconciling separate RSVP, catering and seating spreadsheets.

Free to start·Private details stay in your planning record·Works in your browser

Five RSVP states
Invited → declined
Meals per guest
Beside the right name
Private needs
Never on public charts
Filter for gaps
Spot missing details

One record holds the whole picture

Attendance, meals, dietary and accessibility details all attach to the guest — so nothing gets stranded in a separate document.

Five RSVP states with running totals

Mark each guest invited, attending, maybe, declined or awaiting — and watch the headcount update as replies land, including who’s attending but still needs a table.

Meal choice ≠ dietary requirement

The menu option a guest picked and an allergy that affects service are two different fields — so a nut allergy never hides inside “vegetarian”.

Structured seating needs

Record real needs — a wheelchair space, near an entrance, away from speakers, a high chair — not just a free-text note.

Adult, child or infant

Age groups help with children’s meals, high-chair planning and quick table reviews.

Private by default

Dietary, accessibility and private notes stay in your planning record — guest-facing charts show only name and table.

How it works

Track every guest detail in four steps

  1. Step 1

    Set the RSVP

    Mark each guest’s status from the list as replies arrive — update several at once when a household confirms together.
  2. Step 2

    Record meal & dietary

    Add the chosen menu option and, separately, any allergy or dietary requirement the caterer needs to know.
  3. Step 3

    Add needs privately

    Note structured seating needs and private accessibility details — kept on the record, never on public charts.
  4. Step 4

    Review in context

    Filter for missing meals or unresolved details, and check everything beside each guest’s table and seat.
Attendance

Know who’s coming — and who still needs to reply

RSVP status drives nearly every seating decision, so it stays front and centre. Update a status inline and your running totals move with it — no re-tallying in another spreadsheet.

When a guest declines, Lovely Seating stops counting them toward active table capacity. If they were already seated, the plan flags it for review rather than quietly rearranging your tables — so you can see exactly what changed and decide.

Your assignment is preserved until you act on it. Nothing moves on its own.

At the table

See the practical details right where you seat

These aren’t isolated admin fields — they’re the context you need while arranging a table. Open one and the meals, dietary flags, children and access needs are right there beside each seat.

  • A declined guest no longer holds a seat
  • A child may need a kids’ meal or high chair
  • A dietary note follows the guest to the caterer
  • A wheelchair need shapes where they sit
  • A plated dinner benefits from exact seats
  • A buffet may only need tables and dietary notes

Use as much or as little detail as your wedding actually needs.

Example: preparing Olivia & James’s guest information

Fictional sample data, used to demonstrate the product.

Olivia and James are planning a plated reception for 126 guests. As replies arrive they update each RSVP, and the summary settles at 98 attending, 6 maybe, 9 declined and 13 awaiting.

They filter for attending guests with no meal chosen and chase the rest. Mia Collins picked the vegetarian option and has a nut allergy — both stay on her record when she’s seated at Table 7, Seat 4. Another guest’s private note asks for a spot near the entrance; Olivia keeps it off the printed chart.

A week out, one guest declines — Lovely Seating drops them from active capacity and flags their old seat. The same records feed the final checks and the meal tally the caterer needs.

Several separate lists — or one connected record

Most weddings start with a different document for every person involved. Then the reconciling begins.

Separate sheets

Details drift apart

  • RSVP status in the invitation spreadsheet
  • Meal selections in a caterer document
  • Dietary notes scattered across emails
  • Accessibility details in planner notes
  • Tables in a separate seating chart
  • Manual checks to keep them all agreeing
With Lovely Seating

Details stay together

  • RSVP right on the guest record
  • Meal and dietary beside the same name
  • Private needs available while you seat
  • Table and exact seat visible in context
  • Filters for incomplete or important details
  • Relevant fields ready for supported exports

The goal isn’t to collect more than your wedding needs — it’s to keep the details that matter attached to the right guest.

Made for couples and wedding planners

For engaged couples

Log replies, meals and the odd allergy as they come in, and see your headcount and open to-dos without a spreadsheet in sight.

For wedding planners

Hold every client’s attendance, catering and accessibility detail in one place — and hand the venue clean, table-organised information.

What to know about RSVPs, meals & guest needs

Meal choice and dietary requirement differ

A meal choice is the menu option a guest selected; a dietary requirement is information that affects preparation or service. A guest can have both — and they’re stored separately on purpose.

Declined guests don’t hold a seat

Changing a guest to Declined removes them from active table capacity. Any old assignment stays visible as an issue to review, so your plan never shifts unexpectedly.

Private information isn’t chart content

Dietary details, accessibility needs and private notes are planning information. They don’t automatically appear on the chart guests use to find their tables.

Structured needs vs a free-text note

Auto-Seat can match a guest’s structured seating needs to a table that can meet them, when a suitable table exists. A plain accessibility note is kept with the guest for you to act on, but isn’t matched automatically — use the structured needs for that.

Continue into the complete seating workflow

RSVP, meal & guest-needs questions

Can a guest have both a meal choice and a dietary note?

Yes. The meal choice and the dietary requirement are separate fields, so a guest can select the vegetarian meal and also have a recorded nut allergy — the allergy never gets buried inside the menu label.

Can I change an RSVP after assigning a table?

Yes. RSVP status can be updated any time. If a seated guest changes to Declined, Lovely Seating flags their remaining assignment for review rather than moving anyone automatically.

Can I track children separately from adults?

Yes. Guest records support adult, child and infant age groups, which helps with children’s meals, high-chair planning and table reviews.

What if a guest hasn’t chosen a meal yet?

Leave the meal field empty until you know. You can filter the list to find attending guests whose meal or other details still need attention.

Does Auto-Seat use accessibility needs?

For structured seating needs — like a wheelchair space or a spot near an entrance — Auto-Seat matches guests to a table that can meet them, as long as a suitable table exists. A free-text accessibility note isn’t matched automatically; it stays on the record for you to arrange around.

Will private notes appear on the printed seating chart?

No. Private planning notes, dietary details and accessibility information stay in your planning record — they aren’t automatically printed on guest-facing charts, which show name and table.

Are these details private?

Yes. Sensitive guest information is yours. Your plan is saved privately in your browser by default and syncs securely to your account when cloud sync is enabled.

Keep every important detail with the right guest

Track attendance, meals and private guest needs beside the seating they affect — without reconciling separate wedding spreadsheets.

Organise your guest details

Free to start · No credit card required · Private details stay in your planning record