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Guides · 6 min read

Wedding guest list template

A great guest list does three jobs at once: it gets invites out, it makes RSVPs and meals easy to track, and it feeds your seating chart without a single rewrite. Here's the exact template our planners use — plus tips for the fields couples most often forget.

The columns that actually matter

Skip the fluff. These twelve fields cover every wedding we've ever planned.

  • Full name

    Guest's full name as it should appear on place cards.

  • Group / Side

    Bride, groom, family, work, college — useful for seating.

  • Email & Phone

    Primary contact for sending invites and RSVP reminders.

  • Mailing address

    For save-the-dates, invitations, and thank-you cards.

  • Invited to

    Ceremony only, reception only, or both events.

  • Plus-one

    Yes / No — and the plus-one's full name once known.

  • RSVP status

    Pending, attending, declined — update as responses arrive.

  • Meal choice

    Beef, fish, vegetarian, vegan, kids — match your caterer's menu.

  • Dietary needs

    Allergies, gluten-free, halal, kosher — share with the caterer 2 weeks out.

  • Table number

    Assign once your seating chart is locked.

  • Gift received

    Track gifts as they arrive so thank-you notes don't slip.

  • Notes

    Anything else — feuds, accessibility needs, song requests.

Copy this template

Paste into Google Sheets, Excel, or Numbers — it imports as a clean table.

Full name,Group,Email,Phone,Mailing address,Invited to,Plus-one,Plus-one name,RSVP status,Meal choice,Dietary needs,Table,Gift,Notes
Jane Doe,Bride - family,jane@example.com,+1 415 555 0100,"123 Main St, San Francisco CA 94110",Both,Yes,John Doe,Attending,Fish,Gluten-free,4,Vase,Mother of the bride

RSVP tracking that doesn't drift

  1. Set an RSVP deadline four weeks before the wedding — never less.
  2. Update the RSVP status column the same day a reply arrives. Drift kills accuracy.
  3. Two weeks out, call anyone still marked "pending." Most replies land in that final call.
  4. Lock the meal and dietary columns once final headcount goes to the caterer.

Dietary requirements, handled gracefully

Ask once, on the RSVP. A single "Any dietary needs?" question catches allergies, vegetarian and vegan guests, gluten-free, halal, and kosher. Share the dietary column with your caterer as a CSV — never as a screenshot — so they can plan substitutions per seat.

Skip the spreadsheet entirely.

Wedding Planner handles RSVPs, meals, seating, and reminders — without a single column you have to maintain.

Try Wedding Planner free →