How to Know Exactly How Many Guests Are Coming to Your Wedding

“How many people should we cater for?”

This question gives every Kenyan couple planning a wedding absolute nightmares. Cater for 300 and 500 show up—chaos, shortage, embarrassment. Cater for 500 and 300 come—wasted food, wasted money, heartbreak.

The problem isn’t your guests. It’s that asking “Je, unakuja?” ten times in different WhatsApp groups and hoping people remember to respond is not a system. It’s chaos dressed up as planning.

Let’s fix that.

Why Traditional RSVP Methods Fail in Kenya

Be honest—how are you currently collecting RSVPs? Probably some combination of:

Asking in the main wedding WhatsApp group
Asking in the family WhatsApp group
Asking in the friends WhatsApp group
Personally messaging people who haven’t responded
Asking your mother to ask her friends
Asking your partner’s mother to ask her friends
A Google Form that nobody opens
A notebook where you write names of people who said “tutakuwa pale”

By the wedding day, you have responses scattered across seven different platforms, some contradicting others, and absolutely no confidence in your final number.

This is how budgets get destroyed.

The Simple Solution: Phone Number-Based RSVP

Here’s what works for Kenyan weddings: let guests RSVP using their phone number.

With Harusi Hub, you create your guest list with names and phone numbers. When a guest visits your wedding website to RSVP, they simply enter their phone number. The system finds their name and lets them confirm whether they’re attending.

No apps to download. No accounts to create. Just phone number, confirm, done.

How to Set Up RSVP Tracking That Actually Works

Step 1: Build Your Guest List Add your guests with their name and phone number. We normalize Kenyan numbers automatically—0712 or +254712, both work.

Step 2: Share Your Wedding Link Send your wedding website link to all your guests. They can view your wedding details and click the RSVP button when ready.

Step 3: Watch Responses Come In Your dashboard shows real-time RSVP statistics:

Total guests invited
Number attending (with a breakdown of guests + plus ones)
Number declined
Still pending (haven’t responded yet)

Step 4: Follow Up Strategically Filter your guest list to see only pending responses. Now you know exactly who to follow up with instead of blasting the whole group.

Add Custom Questions to Your RSVP

Basic attendance isn’t always enough. Maybe you need to know:

“Will you need parking?”
“Any dietary restrictions?”
“What song should we play at the reception?”

With custom RSVP questions, you can ask guests anything and see all their answers in one place. Choose between open text responses or multiple choice options for quick answers.

The Numbers Don’t Lie

When you track RSVPs properly, you get real data for real decisions:

Catering: Know your actual headcount before you commit to a number with your caterer

Venue: Confirm you’ve booked enough space—or realize you can downsize and save money

Seating: Plan tables with confidence instead of panicking on the day

Budget: Allocate resources based on confirmed numbers, not hopeful estimates

What About Guests Who Don’t Respond?

Some people won’t respond no matter what system you use. That’s okay. At least you’ll know exactly who hasn’t responded so you can:

Send them a direct reminder
Ask a family member to follow up
Make an educated decision about whether to count them

The difference is you’re making informed decisions, not blind guesses.

Stop Guessing, Start Knowing

Your wedding budget is too important to leave to chance. Every seat you cater for costs money. Every empty seat is money wasted. Every unexpected guest is stress you didn’t need.

Set up proper RSVP tracking and walk into your wedding day knowing exactly who’s coming.