Guest spreadsheet

The easiest way to keep track of your guest information is to create a 'Guest Spreadsheet' on your computer. In addition to names and addresses and responses to invitations, include columns across the top of the spreadsheet for everything relevant to your celebration. For example, dietary considerations, accomodation details, table number, gift received and thank-you note posted. Enter guests' last names in the first column and forenames in the second. Type adults' names in capital letters and children's names in lower case. If people in a couple invited do not share the same last name, leave the partner's first column entry blank, and enter their full name in the second column. This will ensure your guest numbers are accurate, that you can see at a glance who is accompanying whom and who has children.

Work to one spreadsheet. This is crucial to avoid losing information. Decide who is in charge of it. Only they should add and remove details. Alsways keep a back-up and print a hard-copy when amendments are made. When you have received all guests' replies, you can save a second copy with the names of those not attending deleted. Thus you will have a master list to work from for your table plan. You can see an example of a 'Guest Spreadsheet' on our website on the webpage "Tips & Planning" (see www.obvius.eu).