How to collect RSVPs online and end up with a headcount you trust
Collecting RSVPs is a short project with a fixed end: on a known date you need a number for the caterer and a list for the door. The page and the form are the easy part. The work is in the timeline around them: when the invitation goes out, when replies close, who chases the silent ones, and how the final list is made.
Work backwards from the event
| When | What happens | Who |
|---|---|---|
| Six weeks before | Event page published, invitations sent with the link | You, from your email or messaging app |
| Three weeks before | First reminder to anyone who hasn't replied | You |
| Ten days before | RSVP deadline; form closed or marked closed | You, with one change request |
| A week before | Final chase by phone or message; headcount to the venue or caterer | You |
| Two days before | Door list printed or shared | You |
Set the deadline from your suppliers' needs, not from habit. If the caterer wants numbers ten days ahead, the reply-by date is eleven or twelve days ahead, so you have time to chase.
Build the page and the form
- Describe the event in one sentence with the date, time, place and who it's for. Anticode's design engine lays out a landing page for it.
- Put the practical details where guests look. Date and time, the full address with a map link, how to get there and park, what to bring or wear, whether children are welcome, and the reply-by date beside the form.
- Choose the form. A design-engine contact form asks for name, email and a message, with no other fields. For a simple party, that's enough: ask guests to say in the message whether they're coming and who's with them. For party names and dietary needs as separate fields, a custom form tied to a site function takes up to 30 plain-text fields and stores replies like any other submission. For tap-to-choose yes/no buttons, build the RSVP as an app instead; its replies reach you through the same form pipeline.
- Send replies to a sheet. Add the Google Sheets connector, which posts each reply as a row through a small Apps Script web app you add to the sheet. Every reply is also saved in the dashboard, sealed at rest, and can be emailed to you.
- Publish and test. Reply as a guest from your phone and check the row appears.
Chasing the people who haven't replied
Anticode doesn't know your guest list and doesn't email guests, so chasing is a comparison you do: the invitation list in one column, replies in another, and the gaps are your reminders. A personal message works far better than a group one. Keep it short: the event, the date, the link, and the date replies close.
Expect late changes. A guest who changes their mind sends a new reply, so sort the sheet by time and treat the latest reply from each person as the answer. Mark changes in a notes column rather than deleting rows, so you can see what happened.
Closing replies and making the final list
- Close the form on the deadline. The form doesn't close itself or stop at a capacity. Ask for a change in a sentence ("replace the RSVP form with a note that replies have closed and a phone number for late changes") and publish.
- Clean the sheet. Remove duplicates, keep the latest reply per guest, and count yeses including plus-ones.
- Send the headcount to the venue and caterer with dietary needs as a separate list.
- Make the door list alphabetically by surname, with plus-ones under the guest who brought them.
What goes wrong
- The link is shared beyond the guest list
- Anyone with the link can reply. Ask for the name on the invitation and question replies you can't match.
- A reply never reaches the sheet
- Each submission goes to a connector once, without retries. The dashboard has every reply; check it against the sheet before the final count.
- Too many replies on the free plan
- A free site keeps a monthly allowance of submissions visible (100 by default) and holds the rest until you upgrade. For a large event, check that against your list first.
How you know it worked
On the day, the number of people at the door is close to your headcount, the caterer had the dietary list in time, and nobody turned up surprised that the venue changed. After the event, you can turn the same page into a thank-you note with photos with one change request; see post-event follow-up.
Limits
Anticode builds the page, stores and forwards replies, and lets you change the page in a sentence. It doesn't send invitations or reminders, check replies against a list, limit replies to a capacity, or sell tickets. For paid events, use a ticketing service and link to it. The RSVP website guide covers wording the questions in more depth.
Questions people ask
How to collect RSVPs online without guests creating an account?
Use a public event page with a form. Guests type their reply and send it; there's no sign-up, and published Anticode sites have no visitor accounts at all.
Can the form send guests a confirmation email?
No. Anticode can email you each reply, but it doesn't email guests. If you want confirmations, send them from your own email tool.
Can I ask about dietary needs?
In the message of the built-in contact form, or as its own field on a custom form or an RSVP form built as an app. Keep the question optional and the answer short.